Hosanna In Excelsis - David and Barbara Leeman

Rich theological truths set to unforgettable music. That's what you're in store for today on Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. Christmas songs and Christmas carols are all around us, and I think it's a wonderful way to introduce the gospel in a non-threatening way to the world. I think we need to help those growing up in this culture today to understand there's a whole different issue at Christmas, and Santa is not God.

Welcome to Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times bestseller, "The 5 Love Languages" . Today, a husband and wife musical team join us to lead us into the hymns and carols of Christmas. David and Barbara Lehman have put together a fantastic resource for this festive time of year. It's titled Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season.

You can find out more at the website, FiveLoveLanguages.com. And here we are, Gary, less than a week now before Christmas, and I'm guessing your heart as a pastor is to really help people encounter the real meaning of what we celebrate at Christmas. Well, you're right, Chris. You know, I think sometimes the jingle bells and Santa Claus kind of takes over in people's minds, and I'm all for whatever, you know, is joyful. But the most joyful thing about Christmas is the birth of Christ, you know. So the more we can do to focus people on that, yeah, I think that's what every pastor, every Christian really desires.

Yes. David and Barbara Lehman are both graduates of Biola University School of Music. David's a retired director of music and worship. Barbara has taught music at a private Christian school in Texas. Together, they wrote and published Hosanna, Loud Hosannas, which is a student hymnal that's widely used in churches and Christian schools and homes. Our featured resource today, though, is their book, Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas season. I'm holding it in my little hands right now, and it's such a great resource.

You can find out more about it at FiveLoveLanguages.com. Well, David and Barbara, welcome to Building Relationships. Thank you.

Thank you so much. It's a great privilege. David, you and Barbara have created a company and a website called HosannaHymnals.com.

Tell us why you started that endeavor. We have always believed that the greatest is what we offer to God, the finest, the best of anything. And we also believe that in regard to music. And so as Chris mentioned a moment ago, some years ago, we put together a book that we say it's for students of all ages, but it's a list of 115 hymns that include the biographies of the author and composer and then a devotional about it. Schools have used them as their primary book for chapel.

A lot of homeschoolers use it. About two years ago, we felt we needed to do one of just Christmas hymns. And so that, along with the student hymnal, has formed this Hosanna Hymnals company. And that's what we're doing.

Well, I'm excited about this book. I think it's going to help a lot of us focus in on the heart of Christmas. Barbara, why is singing so important? What happens when we sing together?

Two really good questions. When I speak to young moms, first grade moms every year, teaching them why singing is important and why music is important, I said, well, the first thing I think is because it's important to God. Take your Bible and open it to the middle and you will find the largest book of the Bible there called the Psalms. It's basically a hymn book right in the middle of the Bible. And these were written to be sung. It's not just poetry. They're Psalms to be sung in praise to God. So God has given us this huge amount of poetry and beauty to praise Him with.

So that's why it's important, number one. Number two, I tell them that it's important that we sing because we are redeemed people. We have a song to sing. The very first hymn recorded in the Bibles in the book of Exodus after the crossing of the Red Sea and the people had left their enemies behind and they were rejoicing.

And the first thing they did was saying, I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously the horse and rider thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. That is our song.

We are redeemed people. So it's important that we sing and it's important that we sing together because it creates a solidarity. The family becomes united.

The generations become united. The hymns that we have chosen are cross-denominational, so the denominations become united in one voice of praising God for our redemption. David, many churches have moved away from traditional hymns and they sing more contemporary songs. What are we missing by not singing the hymns that people have been singing for hundreds of years? If you think of our song canon in churches, what we generally sing, as like a photograph book of history of your family, by not singing the hymns, it's as if we've pulled out all the pictures of Grandma and Grandpa or Great Grandma and Great Grandpa and said, we only want to see the people that are alive today. There's nothing wrong with seeing the people that are alive today or singing contemporary songs. But shouldn't we look at what the legacy was left for us by people who wrote these hymns hundreds, even thousands of years ago that are so good, there's such quality that we still sing them today.

They've passed that test of time. So while we think that we can sing all kinds of hymns and songs and hymns and spiritual songs, according to the Apostle Paul, we wonder if we've left off too many of the ones that really nurture us and feed us, both on the Christian wisdom that people like Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts and others bring to us. But we really give only what's contemporary the priority. And there's, again, nothing wrong with the contemporary. We're not against that. We're just saying, don't throw out that which has stood and served us and still teaches us today. I hear you saying we need the old and the new together. That's right. Yeah, yeah.

I certainly agree with that. You know, Barbara, you and David created a unique devotional for the Christmas season. What did you want to show the reader about the songs that you chose? I think a lot of what Dave has just said that we want to bring to them from the Christmas season, some of the greatest Christian spiritual poetry that's ever been written. We want them to learn these songs and pass them down to future generations and preserve them. Secondly, it is so difficult sometimes at Christmas time to focus on what's true and real.

Moms are caught up. I raised four children and I remember the days that I could hardly wait until Christmas was over, just because it was so much work and so much stress. And I think that's more and more there. So I think that getting into these hymns and these carols and sing them together brings us back to what is true and what is simple and what is good and what is beautiful. And the third thing is that I think children first hear about Jesus and understand Jesus at the nativity.

They relate to the baby. And when we did our first hymnal, we started with the Christmas section because this is where children start with Jesus as he's a little child in the manger growing up. And also Christmas songs and Christmas carols are all around us. And I think it's a wonderful way to introduce the gospel in a non-threatening way to the world. David, can you give an example of a Christian carol and give us some of the background of it so that our listeners get a feel for what you're doing in this book?

Sure. But even before I do that, if I might, Dr. Chavin, I'd like to add to what Barbara just said. The sad thing of our world today is that when you ask many people, what's your favorite Christmas song, at least young people and children are going to say jingle bells or Santa's coming to town. We really believe that this is needed to bring back into the home some of the wonderful songs. I think it was John MacArthur that said it's so ironic that Santa Claus has become a godlike character who visits every home, who knows whether you've been naughty or nice. And if you were nice, he gives you a good gift.

And if you're naughty, he gives you coal. I think we need to help those growing up in this culture today to understand there's a whole different issue at Christmas and Santa is not God. And so we chose songs that not only talk about the birth, but that explain the incarnation because that's the doctrine that is so vital.

I mean, we can't really believe in the resurrection unless we believe in the incarnation that God became man. And so there's so many carols I could give you an example of, but perhaps the finest one and actually is very popular is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. And it was written by a pastor, Charles Wesley, the music by one of the finest composers in history, Felix Mendelssohn.

And what's so remarkable about Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is that it's filled with the theology and scripture that tells us what the incarnation was and that gives us the gospel. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. You know, I sang for a lot of years in a large symphony chorus in Dallas and was around people of all stripes, denominations or not.

Probably majority were not believers. And yet we would sing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in our Christmas concerts and I always wondered, what in the world do they think this is about? Born to give them second birth. They have no idea what they're singing. They just happily sing it because it's a pretty tune. But if you look at it as a believer and you study that text, you'll see so many quotations from scripture packed that really helps people understand the incarnation.

Yeah. And I think in families, as we sing songs like that and discuss them with our children at whatever age they may be, we're helping them understand the concept of God becoming man. This is Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. Our guests are David and Barbara Lehman, authors of Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season. You can find out more at FiveLoveLanguages.com. Well, coming up, the oldest Christmas hymn, Straight Ahead on Moody Radio. O'er to raise the sons of Earth, O'er to give them second birth, Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

O'er the land of the fathers have begotten, There the world's begun to be, Here's our friend, Omega, He loves us the ending here. This is Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times best seller "The 5 Love Languages" . If you want to hear a past program, take an assessment of your love language, or see our featured resource today. Go to FiveLoveLanguages.com. It's written by David and Barbara Lehman, and it's titled Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season.

You can find out more at FiveLoveLanguages.com. Barbara, before the break, David gave us one of the great hymns at Christmas time. How about one of the carols that has meant a lot to you, speaks deeply to you? One of my favorite carols in the book is probably the oldest text that we have in the book. It comes from the fifth century, and it's carol number eight, Of the Father's Love Begotten.

The tune name is Divinum Mysterium, Divine Mystery, and it makes the incarnation and the birth of Christ so mystical and so beautiful. And I love it because it basically originates in John 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And then verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Those words are mysterious when you read them in a way, and the carol, I think, underscores that. Of the Father's Love Begotten, ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He.

Of the things that are and have been, and that future you shall see, ever more and ever more. It's put a playing song chant from the 12th century that is so well paired with the words. And then the second verse has a phrase in it talking about that Mary has, by the Holy Ghost, conceived and bore the Savior of our race. And the Babe, the world's Redeemer, first revealed His sacred face. When I first thought that to the children that I was teaching, it just grabbed me in a way that suddenly in the manger we had all of human history, we had from the promises and the prophets and the history of Israel, suddenly the promise was here and there was His face right before them.

And that just that explodes my imagination. I think of Simeon in the temple. 400 years of silence, he was aware of that since they had heard from the prophets, and yet he held in his arms and wanted to behold that sacred face. And what a blessed story that is. In our Christmas chapel that we did every year at my school, this was held a very special place, this particular song. And the children that read that scripture before it from John 1 were usually a first grader and a second grader.

And these children would read that. It was a service of lessons of carols that we put together for our Christmas program. And after they would read that, we would sing that carol. It was just a very moving and stunning moment in our in our chapel.

Yeah. So you're looking back with a lot of memories of that particular carol with with young children. That's wonderful. David, what do you hope happens as individuals or our families go through this devotional together? Well, obviously, we're hoping that they begin to love these hymns that can feed their souls, feed their families' souls. We hope that it draws them together. There's something about singing together that's unique. I never saw it exemplified more than years ago after 9-11, when all of the Congress stood on the steps of the Capitol and sang together, God bless America.

Why did they do that? What caused them to think that singing was important at this point? Well, it's almost indefinable, but it obviously drew them together and allowed them to say as one, this is how we feel right now. And that's what we do with Christmas. If we sing together as a church, as a small group, as a Sunday School class, or as a family, it draws us together. It unites us in what we believe and what we think we should be doing about this time of the year.

A lot of us are wishing they could still get on the steps and sing together. Well, COVID might be the thing that brings us together eventually, I don't know. Barbara, you divided this collection into three sections. Tell us what they are and why you divided them this way. Well, the Christmas season has three portions to it. And I think in America today, we think about Christmas Day, and Christmas is one day of the year. But in the Christian year, it begins four Sundays before Christmas with Advent. Advent is a word that means waiting or coming. And we're celebrating the waiting or the coming, not only of Christmas that year, but we're remembering the long wait that Israel had waiting for their Redeemer. And I think it's important that we remember that and we teach our children that.

And then I have a little poem again, back to my teaching days. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, an Easter Alleluia and a Pentecost event. Christian year, Christian year, celebrate the seasons of the Christian year.

As our children learn that every year, it helped them. I felt like it helped introduce the gospel story through the life of Christ to children. I did not grow up in a liturgical church that celebrated the different seasons of the Christian year, but I found that I grew to love them as an adult when I understood them better, when I understand the coming of Christ and waiting and lighting the Advent calendars. That brings great meaning and anticipation to something besides opening up presents on Christmas morning. And then, of course, Christmas is our second section, and in our book, we call it the Nativity. All the songs in that section starts before Christmas, but they're all songs of the angels and the Nativity, the story of the birth. And then after Christmas day begins the season of Epiphany.

I think this one is probably the least known of the three, the three sections of the three seasons of the Christmas year to us. And yet to me, it's wonderful because Epiphany is about the story of the three wise men coming. They follow the light. Light is a sign of Epiphany. Epiphany is a word that means, I get it.

I finally understand. It's an Epiphany to me. The light bulb goes on. And the light bulb that goes on that is so amazing is that Jesus did not just come to the Jewish people, the Israelites. He came for all of us.

We Gentiles are the ones who were afar off and brought near. So I think Epiphany is totally appropriate for us to celebrate after Christmas, because it's the part of the Christmas story where we come in that includes us. And I love teaching that to the children every year as we go through those, the various carols. I wanted to make note to it that we have a section that describes each of those in our book, the Nativity, but we also placed poetry, old English poetry that we found by Robert Herrick before Advent. What sweeter music can we bring than a carol for to sing? The next two sections of John Milton poem on Christmas morning. We took selections from that to help just add beauty to the book describing a more beautiful way, those three seasons of Christmas.

Yeah. You know, I'm guessing, Barbara, that a lot of us who did not grow up in liturgical churches really have never really sensed the depth of what you just walked us through, you know, Advent, Nativity, Epiphany. And that's why I think this book is going to be kind of a fresh light on the whole Christmas season for many Christians who did not grow up in liturgical services. So, you know, to me, I think you're giving a great service just in those three things and focusing on those three things.

Thank you. David, we usually use the term Christmas carols, but you're calling them Christian hymns. What's the difference?

Well, they're really synonymous, but with a distinction. A carol is not necessarily a sacred song. The people who call Jingle Bells a Christmas carol, maybe as Christians we wouldn't, but through the world, that's what's seen. And generally the word carol defines something that's a little bit lighthearted and you can dance to it, has that sense.

But these songs in the book could be called carols, but we call them hymns because hymns are always a sacred text, a text about a deity. And so that's what they are to us. But again, they're both. Yeah. Okay. So we have a choice. We can sing Christmas hymns or Christmas carols.

I like that distinction because I think you're exactly right. Barbara, give us another carol and give us the story. Again, this is a carol by association.

I love by association. It's called Once in Royal David City. It was written by an Irish woman, Cecil Alexander, who started writing poetry very young and continued to write. And she decided to do a set of poems to teach children the meaning of each of the phrases of the Apostles' Creed. And she wrote Once in Royal David City for the part of Decreed that says, Born of a virgin and laid in a manger, born of the Virgin Mary. And so it begins with telling that sweet, simple story. Another word about her that I just wanted to say is that I want us to remember that these people who wrote these were, they were poets, they were learned people.

And this particular author, one time she wrote a poem called The Burial of Moses, and it caused Alfred Lord Tennyson to say that it was one of the few poems by another author that he wished he himself had written. And I tell that story just to say it elevates who we're reading and the worth of why it is important for us to pay attention to these kind of old, dusty poems, maybe that we haven't thought about in a long time. Again, this song is used in the Lessons in Carol service that King's College does.

And each year it begins the service. And several years ago at the encouragement of one of our parents, school parents and board members, his name is Stephen Nielsen. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Stephen, but he's a concert pianist who used to be part of the duo, Nielsen and Young. And he suggested to me, Why don't we do a service of Lessons in Carols?

And then he proceeded to help us each year put this together. And also, I just want you to know that the piano recording we have of all these carols is Stephen Nielsen playing. So you can sing as a family being accompanied by a concert pianist if you care to do that. Anyway, at the beginning of the service, we have the service starts with my great privilege every year was to choose the child that would learn the first verse and would sing it a cappella unaccompanied to begin the service. And the most poignant point of that service to me was after a beautiful prelude, the church is quiet, probably a thousand, twelve hundred people sitting in silence, and they're all waiting for one thing. They're waiting to hear that small voice from the back of the room begin a cappella and walk down the aisle singing this one simple, beautiful verse together alone. And then we join on the second verse, the whole congregation. To me, that was more moving than any Christmas pageant that you could ever put on, because it was a group of people and parents and students and children joining together and singing that wonderful story and waiting for that moment when the story was told, Once in Royal David City stood a lonely manger shed. And then it goes on to talk about Jesus as our childhood pattern and our eyes at last shall see him.

It takes us on to have it all of the stories there. Well, this is Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. Our featured resource today is Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season. You can find out more at FiveLoveLanguages.com. You can also hear a podcast of today's program or see when Gary's coming to your area for a seminar. And you can find out more about our guests, David and Barbara Lehman.

Just go to FiveLoveLanguages.com. Barbara, in this past segment, you gave us a visual picture of a student, a young student, maybe a first grader, singing a cappella, the first stanza of this song. So we got this picture in our minds now.

We're seated there with these twelve hundred people. Read that stanza again and let us all experience the truth about which this child is singing. Well, happily. Once in Royal David City stood a lowly cattle shed where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed. Mary was that mother mild. Jesus Christ, her little child.

Wow. I think all of us can feel that, you know. We can see that child singing it and we can see what the child is singing about. So I did that because I want our listeners to get a feel for what this devotional book can really do for them individually as well as for the family. So David, give us another carol and the story. Let me talk about one that when it was written in the eighteen hundreds would never have been sung in church. And the reason is it would have been considered much, much too frivolous, too happy. And they were sober and severe in their celebration of worship.

And yet it was probably used because the people loved it so much. But no one claimed the authorship. It's totally anonymous because they didn't want to be censored by the church. You have any guess as to what that carol is? It's God rest you, merry gentlemen.

Oh, yes. So we don't know exactly when it was written, a precise date. And obviously who wrote it?

Somewhere in the eighteen hundreds. And it brought joy to people. Charles Dickens employed the song in A Christmas Carol, but it was way too much joy for Scrooge.

He rejected it at all. He proclaimed. But we think it's a wonderful song. It's a little bit more horizontal in direction than vertical toward God. It's really to encourage one another. God rest you, you see, and don't let anything dismay you.

Remember, Christ, our savior, was born on Christmas Day to save us from Satan's power when we had gone astray. And then it always ends with this short refrain. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. Two pillars that the songwriter said we need in our lives.

And boy, is it not true today. Comfort and joy. And so it's a great song to take. We always try to do some caroling in our neighborhood. I play the accordion and I strap it on and grab another few Christian families and walk up and down our street singing songs like God rest you, merry gentlemen, and others that are familiar.

Because we think it's a wonderful way to share Christ at Christmas with our neighbors. Yeah. Well, I hope COVID will not keep you from doing that this year. Maybe they can stand six feet apart while they sing, okay? Of course, of course.

And at least we're outside. Absolutely. You know, Barbara, I know that you have a heart for those who feel intimidated about singing with others, you know, in a public gathering or maybe sometimes even in the family. They feel like they can't sing well, you know, and so they're reticent.

What would you say to those people? Well, the first thing I would say to them is sing. God has given us a gift of song to all people and every person that can speak can sing. And I think that the culture has given us a different message telling us, well, there are singers and there are listeners. And I often have people say to me, oh, you don't want to hear me sing. And I would like to say to them, oh, yes, I would love to hear you sing. And I think that the fact is that people feel because of this performance mentality that we've had, which has really only been around the last couple of hundred years. I think before that everyone sang more.

That was the only music. If you wanted music, you provided it for yourself. But that performance mentality has given us a sense that we're being judged by our singing and no one should ever feel judged by their singing. And so I would simply encourage people, even if you haven't grown up singing or you're not used to it, just try.

Just get it out there. I think parents of young children know that your young child can learn to sing. It's much harder as an adult, but little children can all learn to sing. And so that's one of my vocations in life is to encourage people to sing. You know, I'm thinking also if you're standing in a congregation singing and you happen to be a musician, I mean, you know, a trained musician, I hope in hearing the person next to you maybe missing a note here or there, you would just say, God bless them. I'm glad they're singing. Amen. Amen.

Absolutely. Well, David, there's a song you included that I don't think I've ever heard. Why did you include, and here's the name of the song, on Jordan's bank, the Baptist cry? Well, it's not talking about Baptist by denomination. It's talking about John the Baptist, who obviously had a very important part in the Christmas story because he was a foreteller of Jesus.

And I think he needs to have some recognition for that. And so this great hymn, it is true. I'm not surprised you don't know it. Not very many people sing it, although would you believe it's found in one hundred and forty five modern hymnals? But it was written in the late sixteen hundreds and by a person who was trying to teach people against some of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. And it's only the first verse that really refers to John the Baptist. From there on, it goes on to exclaim the Christmas story, the mystery of the incarnation, and it guides us through our repentance. That is part of the Advent expression. So it is in our Advent part of the book, and it encourages the gift of grace by which without we're doomed as flowers, bright for a season, then gone.

We know that the only way that our current political issues and social problems will be solved is by the power of Christ and the grace of forgiveness. And so it has that all in this book, in this song. And we just felt we have forty three hymns. And it was not easy choosing which ones should go in this. We stopped at forty three because we wanted one for every day at the beginning of Advent, which is four weeks, the Sunday, four weeks before Christmas Day and then through January sixth, which is the epiphany. And so that's how we came up with forty three. And we tried to use all the most familiar carols, the first Noel's and Silent Night and so forth.

But then we were able to include a few of these like on Jordan's Bank that are not as familiar. To you, O Christ, our praises be, Whose adorn, search, our people free, The praise of other we adore, And holy spirit evermore. It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of gold, The angels fending near the earth, To touch their hearts of gold.

These on the earth, goodwill to men, From hands of gracious King. Thanks for joining us today for Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. And thanks for telling a friend about the program, too.

Maybe you know someone who would benefit from our conversation. You'll find a link to the podcast or stream at FiveLoveLanguages.com. Plus, you'll see the resource, Hosanna in Excelsis, Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas Season. It's written by our guests, David and Barbara Lehman. Also, the music you're hearing throughout the program is from a recording David and Barbara produced, both instrumental music as well as vocals. And you can find out more about that recording by going to HosannaHymnals.com.

That's HosannaHymnals.com. Barbara, this year, 2020, has been an unusual year and a difficult year for many, many, many people. Why should these Christmas hymns offer unique encouragement and guidance as we near the end of this year? Well, the message of Christmas is basically a message of hope. Christmas isn't the end of the story.

It's the beginning. And the end of the story we haven't experienced yet. We're still looking forward to it. And I think it's important that we remember that, first of all, that Jesus Christ is coming. We're still waiting for the second Advent.

And when He comes, He will rule the world. And that gives me a lot of hope. Also, I was thinking that during this time, so many churches are not meeting and not singing. Of all the times that we're in our homes, we want to be singing, and we want to be singing this story, and we want to be singing the songs of hope. What else is going to take our eyes off of what we've been just saturated with for this whole entire year of all the bad news? And so I think that that's it. It's a resource that families can use to fill our homes with the singing and the story of the gospel and the truth of God and the story of Christmas when many of my friends that I know around the country haven't been going to church.

That would be my simple answer. David, give us an example from the book of how this might be. Well, another hymn that may not be familiar to a lot of people, it's a Lutheran hymn, but it was written in the city of Zitau, Germany, which is near the Czech and Polish borders, probably in around 1638, by a German pastor who was living, and all of the people that he wrote this for were living, during what is considered one of the longest and most destructive wars in European religious history. It's known as the Thirty Years' War, in which whole regions died of famine and disease as well as the army's killing. And so we think we have it pretty bad today.

I'm sorry. It's nothing like during the Thirty Years' War in Germany. But this man was able to encourage them to rejoice. Listen to this text. O rejoice, you Christians, loudly! For our joy has now begun, wondrous things our God has done.

Tell abroad His goodness proudly, who our race has honored thus, that He deigns to dwell with us. Joy, O joy beyond all gladness! Christ has done away with sadness. Hence all sorrow and repining, for the Son of grace is shining. That's just the first verse. Oh, it's powerful. It is so powerful. And the music that was written to it helps it to be defined like few hymns. It just rises with the encouragement of a melody you can't hardly get out of your head. And then it's the prayer, the last stanzas, Jesus, guard and guide thy members, fill them with thy boundless grace, hear their prayers in every place, fan to flame, faith's growing embers, grant all Christians far and near holy peace, a glad new year.

I just love that. That's a great prayer for us right now. It really is. And one of the reasons we chose it was that fifty years ago yesterday, Barbara and I were married. And we had this son at our wedding, because we loved it so much. And I happen to know that it's also Chris's anniversary yesterday. And so the Fabries and the Leamons celebrate together that God has given us great joy in our marriages. Well, maybe we should all just sing that right now.

Or maybe not. Number 38 in your book. Barbara, give us another. These are exciting.

Give us another example from the book. Well, one that is familiar to all of us and stays on the same theme that I love, joy to the world. The Lord is come. First, I love it because it says the Lord is come. Not that he has come, but he has come. But it's sort of that eternal present.

He is come. And this is a Christmas carol that we actually begin that season of Epiphany with, because there's really no mention of Christmas per se in this carol. It's talking about the Lord coming, but it's not talking about a manger or angels.

I'm sure it is referring to the first coming as well as the second. But it's taken from Psalm 98, where I sing to the Lord a new song for he has done marvelous things. He has a right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Then it goes on to talk about the mountains and the hills and heaven and nature say that Isaac Watts so wonderfully put into the hymn. But it ends with, I love it.

It ends with Psalm 98, 9. For he comes to judge the earth, he will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. And I think all of us just long for that day. We look around us and we see who is ruling us and who is in charge. And we long for the day that King Jesus comes back and judges the world in righteousness and equity.

He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love. And I think that's again, there's our hope that we look for at the end of this year, at the beginning of next year. So that's always a favorite hymn for me to sing any time of the year.

Oh yeah. Every Christian longs for the coming of Christ again. David, in the 43 hymns that are in this book, we mentioned earlier that there's some of them that people probably will not know. What can they do to learn these hymns and to sing them?

Well, I think the easiest way is to get a copy of our recording. We put all 43 hymns and we recorded them each twice, one with voices, a mother and a father and three children. So it kind of patterns what the family could sound like, but it also obviously teaches the song. And then right after that is that same song with just a piano for you to sing along. These aren't highly produced with orchestra or anything.

They're simple. And so you can both learn them and sing with them if you get a copy of this recording, which is by the way, on a USB card, because it would take way too many CDs. You can download it or stream it, I should say, like from Spotify, but it's limited. They wouldn't give us that many 86 spaces to put our songs on.

So the best way is to get the USB, plug it into your computer or whatever you use for listening to music. Barbara, you all do include a few of the newer carols in the book. Just tell us about one of those. Well, let's see, we have two of the Getty songs in there that I think we've talked about before, Joy Has Donned. But there's one that I really love that is written by a Lutheran pastor whose name is Yaroslav Vida, and it's called Where Shepherds Lately Melt, number 13. And I think what I love about it is, as Dave puts it, it sort of puts the poet into the sandals of the shepherds, being in that nativity scene, where shepherds lightly melt and kept the angel's word. I come in half belief, a pilgrim strangely stirred. But there is room and welcome there for me. There is room and welcome there for me.

It's the third stanza that I love. How should I not have known Isaiah would be there? His prophecy is fulfilled.

With pounding heart I stare. A child, a son, the prince of peace for me. A child, a son, the prince of peace for me. To me, that just says everything. There he is.

In that moment, again, Isaiah, all the prophecies that I've read about the Messiah, there they are in that stable, in that manger. Yeah, yeah. And it's good to know that there are some folks in our generation who are writing hymns.

That's true. Yeah, that's powerful. Well, David and Barbara, it's been great to have you with us today on Building Relationships.

Thank you for putting this together. I know it grows out of your whole life ministry, and it's very, very rich. It's going to help a lot of people, I think, and I'm encouraging our listeners to take advantage of this. Well, thank you. It's been our privilege to be able to share it with your listeners. And in real essence, there were 43 other authors to this book besides us.

Yes, I see. And they bring the value that's timeless to this book. Thank you so much for inviting us. What a resource that you want to pick up every year and maybe pass along to your children, grandchildren. David and Barbara Lehman have put together Hosanna in Ex-Chelsea's Hymns and Devotions for the Christmas season. You can find out more at FiveLoveLanguages.com or if you'd like the instrumental version or the vocals that we've been playing throughout the program today, you can find out more about that at HosannaHymnals.com.

Again, HosannaHymnals.com. And next week, your questions and comments from our listener line. Our final Dear Gary broadcast of 2020 comes your way in one week. Before we go, let me thank our production team, Steve Wick and Janice Todd. Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman is a production of Moody Radio in Chicago in association with Moody Publishers, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Thanks for listening.