Songs to help the Word dwell richly in you
January 19, 2010
Since I taught last Wednesday on why it matters what we sing, I have received several requests for resources for finding recordings, lyrics, and sheet music for the songs we sing. So I am compiling here a list of links that will help you find not only the specific songs we use here but also more songs like them. You can access lyrics, guitar charts, and lead sheets for free on basically all of these sites; the prices are very reasonable for downloading or ordering albums and tracks. I hope you find much here to help you as we strive to let the Word of Christ dwell richly in us.
Sovereign Grace Music: Songs we have used from here include The Lord Is, Out of the Depths, Glorious and Mighty, Let Your Kingdom Come (we learned this for the missions conference this past fall), O Great God, Completely Done (which we recently learned), Oh the Deep, Deep Love, Receive the Glory, and several others. On their website you can find song and album downloads; free lyric, guitar, and lead sheets; and super cheap piano sheet music.
Indelible Grace Music: Songs like The Love of Christ Is Rich and Free, Sovereign Grace O’er Sin Abounding, His Love Can Never Fail. This group specializes in setting old texts to new music, and for the most part they do a great job. We will be introducing more of these songs in the coming year, so buy a couple of their albums and be ahead of the game!
Matthew Smith: He is a principal member of Indelible Grace, and has recorded a few albums as a solo artist. My Lord I Did Not Choose You is an old text he set to music; his album All I Owe is excellent.
Red Mountain Music: Similar to Indelible Grace in that they take old texts and set them to new music. We have not done any songs by them (that I can recall, at least), but you could expect some to come.
Getty Music: Keith & Kristen Getty, along with Stuart Townend, write some of the best hymn-like songs being produced today. In Christ Alone, The Power of the Cross, O Church Arise, and Beneath the Cross are just a few of their songs. They don’t have as many free materials, but you can find their albums on the website, and they are certainly worth the money to own. The newest album, Awaken the Dawn, is really, really good. We’ll be introducing a song or two from that album soon, hopefully.
Sandra McCracken: Her album The Builder and the Architect is all hymns, and is very beautiful. She has written and recorded with Indelible Grace; she wrote the music for both “The Love of Christ Is Rich and Free” and “Sovereign Grace O’er Sin Abounding.”
I hope these links are a help to you. A point that I didn’t make so strongly or clearly Wednesday is that because music is so powerful for teaching, not only should we be careful what we sing when we’re together as a congregation, but we should also be careful what we listen to. Christian radio certainly has its place, but beware songs that make you “feel good” without containing much truth. I believe these sources for music are a great place to start in finding music to listen to that is both enjoyable and edifying. And I hope songs like these will help to shape us more and more into people who love the truth of the Gospel, and the God of the Gospel, above all else.
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