The toughest part about preaching on Job is not the sermon writing, though that's challenging enough. The toughest part is that THERE ARE NO HYMNS THAT GO WITH JOB! Whether you're a hymnal person or a praise chorus person, there just aren't the despairing, pissed off, furious laments that these texts seem to require. Even the good old solemn classics call God a Mighty Fortress, orThe King of Mercy. And here's Job coming along saying, "Like hell He is!" And as for "You are the Air I Breath . . ." I could just see Job telling the happy little praise band to stuff that up their amplifier.
Any suggestions??
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No suggestions here.
Waiting to see if anyone else has ideas.
I led a small group through Job a few years ago. Our favorite activity was to 'pick the line in this week's reading most likely _not_ to show up in a praise chorus.'
Still waiting for the musical setting of Psalm 137:9
God of the Sparrow would be my pick.
Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen....
That's a toughie 'cuz everyone wants to let you out of the box. Its not okay in America or in the church to be pissed off and w/o hope which is why, imho, Job is so important to us and I'm glad to hear you are preaching from it.
Of course we are about hope but sometimes it has to be okay to be cranky and in grief and to know that God can sit with us on the mourner's bench and take it till we're ready. That is also hope.
Take a look at #2209 in The Faith We Sing; you can use just the first two verses if you want to leave folks w/o the release...
also:
John Bell has a solo piece for cello, voice & piano, "How Long O Lord" which is part of The Last Journey collection.
If you are stuck with the blue hymnal - then "When Jesus Wept" is a possibility although a reach
two other John Bell/Wild Goose possiblities:
from There is One Among Us - "My Eyes are Dim with Weeping" and from Love and Anger - "Our Burden is Heavy"
Have fun!
Great topic. The really grievable songs are my favorites. Especially those that have the "my life sucks, but dang it I'll praise God anyway" feel to them, which I think is a very Job-ish way of looking at things. My favorites are the standard "His Eye Is On The Sparrow," "Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus" by Chris Rice and for praise and worship songs "Two Times" which says "there are only two times to praise the Lord, when you feel like it and when you don't."
When Our Confidence is Shaken 202 UMC hymnal, Through it all.
I want Jesus to walk with me.
It is hard to find one that fits, anger.
Nobody knows the Trouble I've seen.
Out of the Depths I cry to you
Why stand so far away my God
Healing Rain
Come to Jesus is good to.
Have you already used "Immortal, Invisible"? That was last week's pick when I was brave enough to preach on Job (but only one time--how are you doing it for a whole month?)
I know some of the folks here are a little biased about contemporary stuff, but there is an excellent song by Andy Park called "Yet Will I Praise" that could be a fit for this. You can purchase it from the Vineyard Music web site. And there is a site called pwarchive.com where you might find a chord chart or something.
Anyhow, the refrain goes "Even when my heart is torn, I will praise you Lord; and even when I feel deserted, I will praise You, Lord; even in my darkest valley, I will praise You, Lord; and when my world is shattered, and it seems all hope is gone, yet I will praise You, Lord."
The verses are equally tender. This might be a winner, even though it could be considered a "praise chorus." But I think this is the song you are looking for.
What about "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" by Matt Redman? ("When the darkness closes in, Lord / Still I will say...")
I spoke about this dilemma with a friend who is practically a Christian music library. Here is his advice.
Go to cyberhymnal.org and search through the Scripture Allusions link. You can choose the book of the Bible and it will give you appropriate hymns for different verses.
Totally cool!
Yeah, I tried the cyberhymnal on this already. The songs that refer to Job either emphasize the "patient sufferer" or the awesome God of the whirlwind speech. Also included is a Victorian relic called "The White Coffin" about the death of a child. So, not so helpful this time. The thing about the cyber hymnal is that they can only offer stuff that is in the public domain, which usually means that it's OOOOLLLLLDDD stuff.
I'm only preaching Job for one Sunday, as the rest of October is devoted to covenant. But here are the hymns I discussed with my minister of music for that Job Sunday:
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
Do, Lord, Remember Me
Leave It There
Abide with Me
Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
My Life Is In You, Lord,
This is a Day of New Beginnings
I personally like the "happy happy joy joy" song from Ren and Stimpy.
(That is a joke, btw.)
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