I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.
Today’s song is Thy Loving Kindness is Better Than Life from the 1970s.
Back when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, I always had strong opinions about music. In 1969, I was 7-years-old, and I thought hippies were really silly. I’d see long haired teen guys around Cork. I wanted to be a proper man, not a hippy. But throughout the following decade, I listened to a lot of hippy music – until I got into punk rock. And I thought that was silly before I got into it too 😀.
I have a vague recollection of Christian folk music too, which I didn’t like. Now and again, you’d hear something like Michael Row the Boat Ashore in Mass. It felt like an effort to win over young people. But I was more into rock music.
When I committed my life to Christ, I initially went along to a Pentecostal church, and I spent a lot of my early years in the charismatic and Pentecostal scene, as well as being a member of a Baptist church. And I started to like all the newer choruses. Nowadays, I’m very nostalgic about them all. It was interesting how I went from punk rock to liking all these in such a short space of time. But that can happen with all kinds of music. I always wanted to like classical music, but I only succeeded when I heard it in the soundtrack to episodes of Inspector Morse. And then I got into it.
Of course, I had other motives for liking the Christian choruses. They were about worship. But that alone mightn’t be enough. Many Christians, don’t like worship music that’s not aligned to their particular movement. But nowadays, I like it all. It can be a bit of a challenge, but I find that when I spend enough time, I get to like it. I’m getting into the very modern stuff, but I still love the old stuff best. But its the same with other areas of life. If I see a picture of an old bus, I love it. And I resent new buses 😀. But I still use them.
Anyway, I do remember singing this one back in 1980. Whenever I think of the 1970s choruses, I always wonder if I’ll find any trace of them on YouTube, but thankfully, I found a few performances of this one.
It’s based on the following passage:
Psalm 63:3-4
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
 and in your name I will lift up my hands.
Hibernia Gospel 