Hymns of Devotion

Description

Hymnody has long captured my heart and mind. Even from a very early age I was awed at the ability of hymn writers to convey profound spiritual insight in a concise, beautiful, and memorable way. I also found the structure and style of hymns a helpful aid in memorization, and they were then, and continue to be, a staple in my devotional life.

While always finding hymnody to be personally enriching, I never wrote these words solely for myself- from the start the intention has been to aid the church in her sung praise. In this way, I view writing hymns as an overflow of my pastoral ministry. Indeed, the majority of the church’s hymn writers have been pastors, whose careful study of Scripture and deep love for God’s people has poured from their pen into poetry. Many of my hymns have come from this same context. And so while Hymns of Devotion is first and foremost written to the glory of God, it is also written as a gift for the church.

“Devotion” means consecration, love, and loyalty. This is the posture we must take as we come to God in worship. We are giving ourselves over to Him-literally devoting our heart, soul, mind, and strength to Him. Indeed, when we worship we are forsaking all others and declaring that Christ has the first place in our hearts. That is what makes the title appropriate for the collection: as these biblically-faithful, Christ-centered words are sung, it is a means for us to strengthen our allegiance to Him. It is my prayer that these hymns will be used by God’s people for that very reason.

-Jonathan Landry Cruse
Kalamazoo, Michigan
August, 2019