The scriptures teach that there was singing at the foundation of the world (see Job 38:6-7). Christmas hymns say angels sang at Jesus’s birth. The Savior quoted Psalms throughout His life. And before He walked into the Garden of Gethsemane, He sang a hymn with His disciples (see Matthew 26:30).
Sacred music is also a part of the restored Church. In 1830, Emma Smith was directed to “make a selection of sacred hymns” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:11).
Now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is preparing a new music collection called “Hymns for Home and Church” that will replace the existing hymnbook and “Children’s Songbook.” The latest group of new hymns was released on Thursday, July 23.
“When this project is completed, it will reflect how we, as Latter-day Saints, understand and worship our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ,” wrote Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the August issues of the Liahona and For the Strength of Youth magazines.
Elder Renlund has also said, “Music is a language of the Spirit and can deepen your love and appreciation for God and His Divine Son and the Restoration of the Lord’s Church in these latter days.”
The Liahona article explained that the hymns in the new hymnbook are not just lovely melodies — “they are prayers, testimonies and expressions of faith that span generations and cultures” and they teach, comfort and connect to heaven. “The songs of Zion will help unite our hearts and focus our lives in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”
The power of music
Psalms was the songbook of Jesus Christ’s time, said Ryan Eggett, a music manager for the Church, and of all the books of scripture, the Savior quoted Psalms the most.
For example, on the cross, when Christ said, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34), He was quoting from Psalm 22:1. And when He said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) that’s a quote from Psalm 31:5, Eggett said on the Church News podcast.
The new hymns, like the Psalms, encourage all to trust in the Savior because of His love and compassion, Elder Renlund wrote in the Liahona.
“The book of Psalms and ‘Hymns for Home and Church’ attest to the Savior’s willingness to forgive our sins and mistakes and to help us in times of need. Both books encourage us to trust in Him because of His love and compassion,” Elder Renlund said.
Elder Isaac K. Morrison, a General Authority Seventy who has worked on the new Hymnbook Committee, said the new hymn “Think a Sacred Song” teaches about the power of music and lyrics.
“Think of those words that will give you power,” he told the Church News in 2024. “And the chorus is just so amazing: ‘Your heart and mind will open / to let the spirit in, / and you will feel its comfort again.’”
Music and hymns bring people closer to the Spirit and closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, Elder Morrison said.
Meanwhile, the goal of all the new hymns is to bring joy that comes from singing, Elder Morrison said. And, as Doctrine and Covenants 90:11 says, “every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language.” Having one global hymnbook is a way of communicating God’s love to all His children everywhere in their own language, he explained.
Primary General President Susan H. Porter said there are two parts of sacrament meeting that all of us participate in together: the sacrament and singing.
“When I choose to gather with the Saints, I partake of the emblems of the Lord’s sacrifice together with the other members, and then I get to raise my voice in singing with my ward or stake family. And so singing is a very important part of our worship service. It allows us all to praise the Lord and His gospel and His Son together,” she said on the Church News podcast in 2024.
President Porter pointed out how “Hymns for Home and Church” includes both Primary songs and hymns. This creates a greater opportunity not only for Primary children to learn the hymns, but for sacrament meetings, stake conferences and other worship services to include Primary songs.
“I think we’ve all noticed over the past number of years that Primary songs, the new ones being written, are so rich in doctrine. And I think members of the Church will be so excited to be able to sing them in worship services,” she said.
And as children’s songs are sung in sacrament meeting, more children are singing and doing so joyfully, President Porter said on this week’s episode of the Church News podcast.
Learning about and from the hymns
In Doctrine and Covenants 25, when the Lord talks about including music in the Church, He said, “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart” (verse 12). Eggett pointed out that the Lord did not say “the song of the voice” or perfect pitch.
“He says, ‘If you’re singing with your heart, that’s where I find the joy,’” Eggett said.
Then the Lord said, “Yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.”
Steve Schank, Hymnbook Committee chair, told the Church News these verses show the Lord has promised blessings for those who will worship Him through sacred song.
“We go to church both to offer something and to receive something,” Schank said. “We offer a broken heart, a contrite spirit, we offer praise and humility to the Lord, and then we receive something. We receive a blessing in return.”
Sister Kathleen F. Kelly of the Primary general advisory council said learning about the background of the hymns, reading the related scriptures and pondering the questions for each hymn in the About the Hymns section of Gospel Library can make the music more meaningful.
“Sometimes in the morning, I notice when I wake up, I actually have a hymn or a Primary song in my mind. And sometimes it’s the answer to the prayer that I have been seeking. So it really blesses our lives in so many ways,” she said on an episode of the Church News podcast about Primary music.
Before Sister Kelly’s husband died a few years ago, he had dementia and aphasia and did not speak. But when he went to church, he sang the hymns.
“It was such a testimony to me that those words stay with you till the end of your life. Even when you lose your ability to speak, they’re still with you,” Sister Kelly said.
President Porter’s mother-in-law faced dementia as well. In the advanced stages of the disease, she didn’t recognize anyone but she could still sing hymns.
“It’s been reborn to my soul that music somehow bypasses a lot of things in our minds and can go straight to our hearts,” President Porter said.
It may seem to some like the new hymnbook project is taking longer than first expected, she said, “but that’s because of the great care that’s been taken to make sure that as we unite as members of the Church, singing those songs, words and melodies that stay with us through our entire lives that have a profound effect on our testimony of the living Lord and His Son, that they be the right words with the right music.”
