The First Hymn By Chris Tomlin And Ben Fielding: Lyrics & Song Review

The First Hymn by Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding is a modern day rendition of the oldest-known Christian hymn, written in the mid 200s AD. It was discovered in Egypt, inscribed on a papyrus fragment unearthed by archaeologists back in 1897.

The fragment had long been preserved at Oxford University, until Prof. John Dickson came across it in 2018 while browsing a library of ancient Greek fragments. The hymn was part of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Collection. Upon first encountering it, this was Prof. Dickson’s reaction:

My imaginations ran wild. Who wrote this, who sang it. How did it get discarded in an ancient rubbish dump? In a maybe 30-second stream of consciousness, I wondered if the song could be brought back to life, if some of my music friends could rearrange it for a modern audience, and if we could film the whole thing from Egypt to Oxford to Sydney to Nashvile.

Prof. John Dickson, quoted from Undeception’s podcast Episode 142.

The idea to rearrange the song was however set in motion 5 years later when Prof. John engaged his team, thereby conceiving the First Hymn Project.

Song factsheet

Song review

Song themes

Key to understanding this song is its context. The original writers are believed to be early Christians living in the formidable Roman Empire, rife with persecution against believers.

The 3^rd century Roman Empire was a world of many gods, imperial cults, and spiritual pluralism, where Christian monotheism stood out as radically different – exclusive, morally demanding, and dangerous to the status quo.

Christianity was illegal, and believers were persecuted for their refusal to worship other gods, or the Roman emperors. Despite this, the faith was growing. This hymn is believed to have been

From the musical styles on the ancient papyris, the First Hymn borrowed tonation from the culture of the day, possibly to appeal to a wide non-Christian audience to the one true God. To a pagan world, the words of the hymn must have been revolutionary.

Here are the themes pulled from the song:

• Reverence and sacred awe of God, even from creation
• The divine trinity – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• Sovereignty – ultimate superiority of the Christian God in a largely pagan Roman empire culture
• Generosity of God as the only giver of all good gifts
• Salvation – forgiveness through Christ, and victory in His ressurection

Scriptural review

• Silence and awe before God ‐ Authors like Isaiah, who have had visions of the presence of God portrayed an extremely fearsome depiction of the throne of God. Habakkuk 2 speaks of God’s impending judgement on Babylon, and ends on verse 20, asserting the ultimate supremacy of God. Considering all the greatness of God, all men, and creation ought to fall facedown in great awe and silence:

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2:20‬ ‭NIV‬‬
[20] The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:1‭-‬5‬ ‭NIV‬‬
[1] In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 
[2] Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 
[3] And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 
[4] At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 
[5] “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

• Sovereignty – there is no other God than He who created the universe, Yahweh.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45:5‬ ‭NIV
‬‬[5] I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

• The Holy Trinity – The Godhead, three in one is united, each with distinct roles in the believer and are all to be worshipped. To the pagan worldview, this was strange and countercultural. But all the more, Christians kept proclaiming the truth of the divine Trinity. Todate, this is one of the foundational precepts of the Christian faith most questioned by non-believers.

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬[4]
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:19‬ ‭NIV
‬‬[19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

• God as the source of not only good, but perfect gifts

‭‭James‬ ‭1:16‭-‬17‬ ‭NIV
‬‬[16] Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
[17] Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

• Redemption through Christ

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬
[7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 

Song lyrics

Did you know that you can play the song on the YouTube embed below, while following through the lyrics?

Let all be silent
The shining stars not sound
Rushing rivers still
Let the mountains bow down
In awe and wonder
In reverence we come
Who is worthy of all worship?
Who is seated on the throne?

All powers cry out in answer
All glory and praise forever
To our God
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Amen, we sing Amen

Let all be silent
The shining stars not sound
Rushing rivers still
Let the mountains bow down
In awe and wonder
In reverence we come
Who is worthy of all worship?
Who is seated on the throne?
Who is worthy of all worship?
Who is seated on the throne?

All powers cry out in answer
All glory and praise forever
To our God
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Amen
We sing Amen

To the only Giver of all good gifts
Amen
To the only One who forgives our sins
Amen
To the only God to the Risen King
Amen
To the One who died and rose again
Amen
We sing Amen

To the only Giver of all good gifts
Amen
To the only One who forgives our sins
Amen
To the only God to the Risen King
Amen
To the One who died and rose again
Amen
We sing Amen

All powers cry out in answer
All glory and praise forever
To our God
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Amen
We sing Amen Amen
We sing Amen Amen

Audience

The First Hymn is ideal for personal edification, and congregational worship.

Have you listened to the song? Let us know what you think of it!

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[Cover image credit: Facebook/Chris Tomlin]