(This site is not an official Living Church of God website. This site is maintained by a Living Church of God member who is solely responsible for its content. The official website of the Living Church of God is located at www.lcg.org)
by Roderick C. Merideth
by Roderick C. Merideth
I am delighted to be able to present to you, at last, our own Living Church of God hymnal! It is the fruit of the hopes, prayers and efforts of a team of dedicated men and women. I will not list them all. But it is appropriate to note that, before he died, Mr. Carl McNair and his wife, Dorothy, contributed very significantly to this project. We are grateful for their efforts and their constant encouragement of the team.
We have obtained permission to use many of the hymns written years ago by Mr. Dwight Armstrong- the younger brother of Herbert W. Armstrong. Most are based on the Psalms, which God originally inspired to be sung. We have also included a few hymns composed by other members of God’ s Church, including some by Ross Jutsum that Mr. Armstrong personally approved. We have also included, as Mr. Armstrong did, a few other favorite hymns with scripturally sound lyrics. All of us who have worked on this hymnal hope that it will be a blessing to the Church and its members, and an honor to the Great God whom we serve.
One of the primary reasons King David of Israel was a "man after God' s own heart " was the feeling of worship and adoration toward God that he exhibited throughout His life. Even the Eternal God appreciates it when His own begotten children enthusiastically lift up their voices to Him in sincere praise and adoration. Psalm 98:1-6 instructs us, “Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn; shout joyfully before the LORD, the King."
If we can learn to express our love for our Creator by the way we wholeheartedly participate in the song services each and every Sabbath, this will be an honor to the God who gives us life and breath. It will be very pleasing to God if, as we sing the hymns in this hymnal, we all grow spiritually in our feelings of love and worship toward the One who is our ultimate Father. As King David exclaimed, “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” (Psalm 104:33). May this passionate love for our Creator and our God be fully expressed by our joyous singing of the hymns in this book!
Thank God that He so powerfully used Herbert W. Armstrong to teach the fundamental Truths of God! Thank God for using Dwight Armstrong and others to compose these fine hymns. And I am sure that all of you will join me in thanking those who so patiently and lovingly worked long hour s on the many tasks required for the completion of this volume.
Let us all be extremely grateful to God that He has given us life and breath and, most of all, that we may truly "know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom you have sent." Let us passionately worship that one true God as we sing these hymns.
