A Treasury of Faith: Lectionary Hymn Texts Old Testament Series A, B, and C by Gracia Grindal (review)

This volume is part of a series of hymn texts that Grindal, Professor Emerita of Rhetoric at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, has written for all pericopes of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). This 2012 edition provides hymn commentaries on the Old Testament Lessons for the three-year RCL. It lives up to its title: a treasure for both worship planning and personal devotions.

The hymns are winsome and well-crafted. Grindal is adept at mining theological insights out of the appointed biblical text and then sharing those insights in language that is fresh and applicable to the current world. At times she nearly quotes the Old Testament lesson. For example, “The Evening’s Dying Embers” (10–11), references Ecclesiastes 3: “For everything a season,/for everything an end,/for everything a reason,/I do not understand.” Other hymns make direct connections to modern life, such as “All Who Are Homeless on a Wintry Night” (16).

Grindal is superb at connecting the Old Testament reading to its Gospel pairing, particularly in communicating the centrality of Christ’s redemptive salvation. One example is “The Fruit of Knowledge Waited Eve,” (26) which describes the Fall of Adam and Eve in the first two stanzas, then concludes with a Christological narrative:

Out in the barren wildernessour Savior faced the tempter’s test.He wept within Gethsemaneand died upon a cruel tree.This knowledge is too much for us:to see him hanging on the cross,to heal the rift we caused by sin,and bring us back to life again.

Grindal excels at hymns that outline the story of specific biblical characters. She brings the narratives to life, for example: the Tower of Babel in “We Dreamed of Reaching Heaven (215); Jacob in “I Wakened in the Darkness” (248); Ruth in “The Yellow Fields of Food” (161); Namaan in “Brave Namaan Was an Army Man” (101); Elijah/Elisha in “A Bright Golden Chariot and Voices of Fire” (105); Job in “When Darkness Falls and Covers Everything” (253); Jonah in “As Jonah in the Whale” (65) and “When Jonah Heard the Lord Was Calling” (98); Mary and Elizabeth in “Somewhere I Hear the Church Bells Ringing” (219); Saul/Paul in “The Light, the Water, and the Word” (123); and Paul and Silas in “We Plant the Seeds in Springtime” (213).

Nearly all the hymns include a suggestion for a hymn tune. Some, however, were written with no tune in mind and need a newly composed melody. Grindal purposely pursued that method in some hymns, saying in her preface, “I have found over the years with this project that traditional meters produce traditional texts. Breaking the mold on occasion freshens up my rhetoric and poetry” (viii). Occasionally in the non-festival parts of the church year, the hymn text connection to the assigned Old Testament reading is weak or non-existent, but this is a minor issue. An overwhelming number of texts have a direct or close relation to the associated lectionary for the day.

The book ends with an excellent set of indices, including Topical, Biblical Source, Metrical, and First Line which make it a valuable tool for worship planning. On their own, the delight and depth of the poetry provide the individual reader with a rich source for devotional study. Combined with her other hymn text series on the Gospels and Epistles, Grindal has given the church a wonderful gift to use and enjoy for years to come.