Sickly Sweet Hour of Prayer
Friday, May 20, 2011 | Author: Kurt
Some things annoy me. One thing that really annoys me is when someone gets that far-away look in their eye and proclaims, “Oh, how I miss those old hymns! Their lyrics were just so theologically rich and deep!” Now, I totally understand the frustration felt after singing the same stanza 20 plus times in a row, over and over again, repetitively during a modern praise chorus. (And they don’t even use synonyms). That’s enough to drive even the angelic beings before God’s throne crazy.

But "those old hymns” can be horrible! They often reek of downright heresy.

Case in point: “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, written in 1845 and contained in most hymnals. Check out this doozy!

SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER, SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
MAY I THY CONSOLATION SHARE
TILL, FROM MOUNT PISGAH'S LOFTY HEIGHT
I VIEW MY HOME, AND TAKE MY FLIGHT
THIS ROBE OF FLESH I'LL DROP AND RISE
TO SEIZE THE EVERLASTING PRIZE
AND SHOUT, WHILE PASSING THROUGH THE AIR
FAREWELL, FAREWELL, SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER

Wow. Since when did the Bible teach us to start looking forward to escaping the husk of our flesh so we could float far far away into the nebulous ether of “heaven”, leaving prayer far behind? Compare to Chris Tomlin’s “I Will Rise”. The modern praise song wins the “Award for Theological Excellence” by a long shot.

Just a quick breakdown of why this hymn is so awful:
  1. The Bible teaches that death is an enemy, not a friend which liberates us from our body. (1 Cor 15:26)
  2. Death is the sowing of our corrupted body into the ground, so that on the day of resurrection it will germinate and sprout into our perfected and glorified physical body. Our body puts on immortality. (I Cor 15:43 and 53)
  3. Prayer will continue into eternity and will be amazing. (Rev 4:11)
Beware of hymns! Heresy lurks amongst the pages of those good ‘ol hymns.
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