Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the Worlds Greatest Hymn Stories by Robert J. Morgan

Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the Worlds Greatest Hymn Stories Reviews

• 
  Erica

  4.5⭐ I love reading the stories behind hymns and this book was well written with more of a devotional flare.
• 
  Trisha

  This wonderful devotional is perfect for anyone who loves Hymns and wishes to know more about the stories behind the songs. This is not just another dry musical history lesson. The stories within are rich in warmth and detail, joining with deeper thought and emotion behind the hymns.
  
  I have many happy memories of singing the hymns. When I was younger the extended family would gather around the piano at my grandparent's home. Grandma would play and sing as would we all. We each had our favorites, and we would sing for what seemed like hours.
  
  This past fall my husband, son and I happened upon the church where The Old Rugged Cross was first sung in its entirety for the first time in 1840, Pokagon Township, Michigan.
  
  I enjoyed learning more about these wonderful songs that bring such happy memories.
• 
  Rod Innis

  This is a great book. It is a great book for old folks (like me) that remember many of these old hymns. It is good for young folks who need to be introduced to many of these old hymns. Some of these hymns are so filled with Biblical truth, put to music, and singing them is a great way to be reminded of those truths and to use them to worship the Author of those truths. The stories about the writing of the hymns so often shows the sovereign hand of God in the lives of His people.
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  Beth Anne

  I got this book for free from Book Sneeze in exchange for my review. I had read some of his original book and really enjoyed the stories behind the hymns. I like this book, but probably would have enjoyed it more if it was the "normal" edition. Some of my favorite hymns had less than spectacular stories, which I was bummed about at first, but now I think that it a better look at reality. Not everyone has an amazing conversion story...God uses the normal, everyday parts of life for his glory just as much as the spectacular.
• 
  Owen

  An interesting collection of stories related to some of the best known hymns. I enjoyed it, but I felt that some of the stories were not that compelling - perhaps chosen only because the author wanted to include the hymn in the book. It is nice to have a collection of hymns in my home. I miss singing them!
• 
  PJ Wenzel

  Very encouraging and illuminating. I loved all the mini-biographies and getting more time to see how poetry can be set to music. Especially powerful was how broad and deep the impact of tragedy and grief can be for good when people take the time to write down their thoughts in poetic form. Even years and years later their words are encouraging people.
• 
  Elisabeth

  I loved the experience of reading / singing this book. I read it as part of my daily quiet time, taking one song a day. I enjoyed learning a bit about the hymn and then I found a version of the song on Spotify I could sing along with, eventually creating a playlist of my favorite hymns.
• 
  LiteraryCat

  I found this book in my church library and thought it would be interesting to find out the history and deeper meaning behind some of the hymns that I grew up with. Out of the 150 songs included in this book, I knew maybe 5 the rest I haven't heard of and couldn't really find myself relating too. I was sad when I realized the song "Then Sings My Soul" actually was not included in this book and I wondered why.
  
  I did like that one page had the hymn and the next gave the history behind it. When reading the history it was almost like reading a devotion with it. We see how some of the composers struggled and were affected by life around them that they NEEDED to get it into song format. Many of these songs were their prayers to God, pleading and crying out to him. That gave me a deeper meaning and understanding to these songs. I loved seeing some songs that are geared more towards Christmastime included, but also thought that could have been a book of it's own.
  
  It did get a little frustrating when the same line was used a lot "it was during this time he(she) penned this hymn." It felt generic, repetitive, and cheap. There was a biographic portion about the author to try and tie in the time and feeling into the song. While for some hymns this worked, but for others I wondered "what did that have to do with the song." But regardless of those minor issues this is still a great book to read for those who love music and hymns. I recommend it if you want a good devotional to read or give as a gift.
  
• 
  Carol Ghattas

  I so enjoyed this book. Robert Morgan takes us into the lives of some of the greatest hymn writers and musicians in history, reminding us that behind every song is a story -- sometimes painful, but always pointing us to God. That's the beauty of the hymns. It's a great book to read before sleeping at night, as it enables you to go to bed with a song in your heart and a reminder that God puts a melody in each and every one of us who follow Christ. This was a gift from a dear friend, and I'm very thankful for it, as it cheered my soul.
• 
  Stephen Rose

  Frustrating. I liked the idea behind this book. One page for the hymn and the next page for a short history behind it and it’s author. I was really enjoying it before I got to the Star Spangled Banner. By definition it does qualify as a Hymn, a song of praise and honor, but by context, it’s really disturbing that it’s included in hymns to God.
  Additional disappointing inclusions are:
  The Battle Hymn of the Republic
  America the beautiful
  
• 
  Sinar

  This is more like a song book with histories behind the songs written there. Good outlook and pretty complete. I just hope they will come up with the second and the third book to collect as many songs as possible.
• 
  Aaron Will

  Excellent book and resource. It has the words and music to the 150 hymns. It's very inspiring to see the way some of these songs came together and in many cases the working of the Holy Spirit to bring it about. And also very encouraging as a worship leader desiring to write original songs!
• 
  Addie

  I received this wonderful book as a gift. It contains 150 grand timeless and best-loved hymns (written with musical notation i.e. playable/sing-able) and a story about each (on facing pages). The stories always start with a scripture reference and usually provide some sort of personal application. Usually they will include a biographical sketch of the hymn writer and some background information about the hymn. Since hymns are written out of life experience, these often strike an emotional chord. Three indexes in the back of the books help you locate any hymn by its title, author/songwriter, or first line. The book has heavy ragged edge paper and self-flaps on the heavy paper cover. The hymns are in chronological order from the 14th century to 2002. The stories of the writing of the hymns are very interesting and leave my singing the tunes throughout the day. Some patriot and Christmas songs are also included. Each hymn and story would also make a wonderful Sunday School lesson. A friend in Michigan shared that her Ladies' Class had a very special program using this book. First they sang the song, then someone would read the story about the hymn, and fololwed by a group discussion . I'm looking forward to getting Volume 2 and 3.
• 
  Glen

  There is a deep spirituality in the rhythmic theology of beloved hymns. Contained in this work is an excellent collection of songs and the inspiration that led their moving lyrics. I experienced many a sacred moment with the Lord as I stopped to sing some of my favorite stanzas.
  
  Hymnists were not creating in the abstract. These short chapters demonstrate that with potent images of faithful men and women who endured crushing hardships only to then composed anthems of worship to God. Other writers exemplified for us a life-time fidelity to Christ that never wavered despite the vicissitudes of their journey. Knowing their stories deepens my love of the messages they proclaimed.
  
  You can enrich your devotional reading by pondering these 150 stories. Or, you may simply want to select those essays concerning your favorite hymns. Either way, it is worth the effort to sit and hear from those who have gone before us.
  
• 
  Kay

  
  I love hymns and have made a life-long study of them and their histories. Knowing that, a friend gave me this collection of 150 Christian hymns and the histories behind them. I played through each hymn as well as reading the histories. That took a while to get through them all. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There are three hymns in this collection that move me a lot and I wish that they were in our church’s hymnbook:
  1. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
  2. Holy, Holy, Holy
  3. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
  I love those beautiful hymns and their powerful message. This book introduced me to some hymns I have never heard before. I loved reading the stories and histories. I made many notes and markings as I read. This will be a nice reference book to have.
  
• 
  Rosie

  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the stories behind so many of the hymns I grew up singing in church. The songs are arranged in categories that include Christmas carols, Easter hymns, and patriotic songs with the remainder being other familiar hymns. The sheet music is on the left-hand page with the story of the author/composer on the right side.
  
  Many of these writers were pastors, evangelists, and other type of seminary workers, but others were just ordinary people: shopkeepers, writers, poets, newspaper editors, etc. I particularly enjoyed reading about the many hymns written by Fanny Crosby. Overall, this book would be a great recommendation for any music lover but also to anyone interested in hymnology. It was wonderful reading about how God was able to inspire many people at different times to write the words and music to these classic songs.
• 
  Beth

  I found out about this book from my daughter who had ordered it and I knew I wanted to have one as well. The book includes 150 well known hymns and the stories of the writers and musicians who composed them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learning about how these songs came to be. Many of them I was familiar with, some I had not heard in awhile and others were new to me. I decided to read the description of each hymn and then listen to it on You Tube. I was able to find all of these songs sung by someone, most of the time I had several or more people to choose from. It was the perfect way to enjoy both the history and inspiration of this book by also hearing the songs. I would highly recommend going through this book by reading and listening!
• 
  Michael

  It was whatever. More of a focus on the good old days than anything. Even the purpose of the book is just to glory in the old days. He did a fair job researching and everything, but he's clearly one of those old-timey guys. I don't really see the point of owning the book. If I wanted to know the history of old songs I don't sing, I think this would be a great place to start. As I'm not interested in moving the church backwards 400 years, I have no need of this book. Very well made, and would make a great gift for the elderly who have lived their whole life going to church but are not overly interested in serving the community.
• 
  Joanne

  Enjoyed reading about the history of many old & loved hymns. It was exciting to read that Fanny Crosby was in my hometown of Lynn, MA in a type of crusade there. Also read stuff about folks I knew about such as George Beverly Shea & Billy Graham. There were a lot of stories about hymns and people I never heard of but it was still very interesting to read about all the history of how these hymns were made anyhow.
• 
  Stacy

  This is such a fun book I've added to my devotional time. Most of the hymns I know, but there are a number of them I was unfamiliar with and am very happy to have another resource for hymns. I enjoyed the short biographical sections as well and the Bible verses that went along with them. At the end of the book the author encourages the reader to start writing hymns, even if you are the only one who will see them.
• 
  John

  Although, I don't usually worship in a church that uses hymns extensively, I grew up singing many of these classic hymns. Reading the book, requires the reader to imagine singing the hymn before reading the exposition about it. There are many well known songs that have such a meaningful story behind them. Robert Morgan has presented a wealth of important background to the old familiar hymns. Church worship is a critical part of a believers experience and Morgan has made it better.
• 
  Mar

  The book was okay. It gives a history of hymns and their stories. I used it for devotions, but it isn't really a devotional per se. It gives the hymn (music and lyrics on one side of the page) and then some background information on the song or writer on the next page. Some music I knew more than others. Some interesting tidbits along the way, such as that Thomas Chisholm wrote "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "Living for Jesus".