The Story of Our Hymns

by Ernest Edwin Ryden

Sound we Thy praises high,

And joyful sing:

Let all the holy throng

Who to Thy Church belong

Unite to swell the song

To Christ our King!

Clement of Alexandria, about 200 A.D.

GREEK AND SYRIAC HYMNS

Very soon the early Christians began to use hymns other than the Psalms and Scriptural chants. In other words, they began to sing the praises of the Lord in their own words. Eusebius informs us that in the first half of the third century there existed a large number of sacred songs. Some of these have come down to us, but the authorship of only one is known with any degree of certainty. It is the beautiful children’s hymn, “Shepherd of Tender Youth.”

Just how old this hymn is cannot be stated with certainty. However, it is found appended to a very ancient Christian work entitled “The Tutor,” written in Greek by Clement of Alexandria.