In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic moved worship out of traditional sacred spaces, I recorded and shared a video of Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. I included the text as an encouragement for folks to sing along. The following week, I shared another video. Each week brought a new hymn recording, and now two years later the collection contains more than 100 hymns. The videos are collected here, beginning with the most recent. I hope you enjoy these recordings that draw on a few of my favorite pages in the hymnal.
Dean’s latest album release, How Can I Keep from Singing, contains 14 selections from the Sunday Morning Hymns collection. The album is available on CD or as a download for your digital music player. You can also listen on your preferred streaming service.
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My Faith Looks Up to Thee
Ray Palmer was 22 years old when he wrote ‘My Faith Looks Up to Thee’, which Amos Wells would later describe as “the greatest hymn written by an American.” The text is included here, so please add your voice and sing along. (Recorded July 2020) -
We Sing the Mighty Power of God
Also sung as “I Sing th’Almighty Power of God,” Isaac Watts published this and other hymns in his collection, “Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language, for the Use of Children.” Watts believed it was important for children to learn hymns. Children could grow in the faith by singing the faith. He referred to the songs as “a constant furniture in the minds of children.” The text is included, so please add your voice and sing along. -
The Ninety and Nine
Elizabeth Clephane composed this text near the end of her life under the title The Lost Sheep. Ira D. Sankey set the verse to music in 1874, after discovering the poem in a newspaper while working in Scotland with evangelist Dwight L. Moody.
Doc Watson recorded a version of this hymn on his gospel album, On Praying Ground. I offer here a rendition that draws on Doc’s recording and that I included on an earlier CD of hymns, Picking the Faith. The tempo is brisk, the rhythm of the melody is different from the 6/8 meter in hymnals, and the text varies. Still, the text is included, so please feel free to grab hold, add your voice, and sing along.
Find Picking the Faith at https://www.deanphelpsmusic.com/picking-the-faith/ -
I Love to Tell the Story
“I Love to Tell the Story” reflects the evangelical fervor of the 19th century in England and the U.S. Like many gospel hymns of its time, it uses language of intimacy, of closeness in one’s relationship with Christ. The text is included, so please add your voice and sing along. (Recorded April 2020) -
I Surrender All
Judson Van DeVenter began his career as an art teacher, but he also composed over 100 hymns. “I Surrender All” offers a glimpse into the author’s decision to devote himself to ministry. Toward the end of his life, Van DeVenter taught hymnology at Florida Bible Institute, where Billy Graham studied with him. Graham popularized “I Surrender All” at his evangelistic crusades. The text is included, so please add your voice and sing along. (Recorded May 2020)
Watch more hymn videos at https://www.deanphelpsmusic.com/sunday-morning-hymns/
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at his feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly thine;
Fill me with thy Holy Spirit --
Truly know that thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to thee;
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessings fall on me. -
How Firm a Foundation
“How Firm a Foundation” was first published in 1787 in a hymnbook edited by John Rippon titled “A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors.” The name of the author behind this classic hymn is a mystery, though. In Rippon’s hymnbook, it was attributed only to “K—.” The hymn has been sung at the funerals of U.S. presidents and was sung by American troops engaged in the Spanish-American war on Christmas morning 1898. The text is included, so please add your voice and sing along. (Recorded July 2020)
How Can I Keep from Singing
First recorded by Moe Bandy, Dean's cover of this song is a tribute to a friend who left us too soon. Here's to the friends we have loved and lost.
Price: $1.00
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