Tue 28 Apr 2009
to those who always think older hymns are deeper than modern songs
Posted by philio under worship , musicTo those who always think older hymns are deeper than modern songs, I give you…
God of Earth and Outer Space
from the Baptist Hymnal of 1970:
God of earth and outer space, God of love and God of grace,
Bless the astronauts who fly as they soar beyond the sky;
God who flung the stars in space, God who set the sun ablaze,
Fling the spacecraft through the air, let man know Your presence there.God of atmosphere and air, God of life and planets bare,
Use man’s courage and his skill as he seeks Your holy will;
God of depth and God of height, God of darkness, God of light,
As man walks in outerspace, teach him how to walk in grace.God of man’s exploring mind, God of wisdom, God of time,
Launch us from complacency to a world in need of Thee;
God of power, God of might, God of rockets firing bright,
Hearts ignite and thrust within, love for Christ to share with men.God of earth and outerspace, God who guides the human race,
Guide the lives of seeking youth in their search for heavenly truth;
God who reigns below, above, God of universal love,
Love that gave Nativity, love that gave us Calvary.
[disclaimer: I love hymns. I am not a hymn-hater. I just hate the argument that “hymns are deep and modern songs are shallow”. That opinion is unfortunately all too common, completely discrediting the work of God in today’s writers.]
April 28th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
You have inspired me to write the next great space hymn! Which will be written entirely in klingon! Or exclaimation points!
April 29th, 2009 at 3:11 am
Philio, you should know that just one nutjob hymn does not make the argument any less valid. Just like one really great modern song doesn’t mean that all modern songs are any great.
One really bad picture doesn’t make that photographer a bad photographer. One bad pitch doesn’t make a bad pitcher. It’s all about consistence and the overall quality of something…
I’m not making an argument for either side of the hymn/modern song debate, I just don’t want hymns to get a bad wrap from this “Space Praise”
April 29th, 2009 at 10:30 am
People really argue this? Huh.
Hymns are defined as songs I grew up singing and hated at the time, but now find beauty in. I think I would have enjoyed singing about astronauts in church, so this song clearly wouldn’t count as a hymn.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I’m pretty confident this is the best song ever written as an ode’ to astronauts. Someone saw a need and responded by writing songs that addressed vital issues of NASA programs in the 1970’s. It was a much riskier game back then.
I can’t wait till someone writes a modern hymn for God to bless computer programmers.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
“Fling the spacecraft through the air, let man know Your presence there.”
I don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel blessed by these lyrics. You and Duke should sing this at the next regional gathering, Shane & Shane style.
p.s. I think that someone might have sampled this hymn to write “God of Wonders”
May 6th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
oh my. Me and Joel used to search for that hymn when we were younger and pretend we knew how to sing it….because it made us laugh. Joel can still recite like the first two verses from memory.
December 15th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Scott - I know I’m way late on responding to this (shows how often I check the “approve comments” section of my wordpress dashboard).
To be clear, I wasn’t saying hymns were bad. I was merely addressing an argument that people make that says something like “praise songs are ok, but I just like hymns cause they’re always so much deeper.” I was just making a fun example of how that generalization is simply not true.
Believe me, I know there are PLENTY of bad modern songs, just as there are many bad hymns.