Doug O’Donnell—described by Kent Hughes as “among the handful of truly excellent young preachers in this country”—is the author of a new and unique book: God’s Lyrics: Rediscovering Worship Through Old Testament Songs (P&R).
The first part of the book contains five sermons preached by O’Donnell on the five great songs of the Old Testament:
- The Song of Moses: Te Deum of Triumph (PDF)
- The Song of Yahweh: An Exodus from Israel’s Apostasy
- The Song of Deborah: A Punctured Temple, a Pouring Out of Joy
- The Songs in Samuel: The Barren Woman and the Fertile King
- The Song of Habakkuk: A Time to Wait—for Wrath
The second part of the book applies the key themes found within these songs: (1) magnifying the Lord; (2) recalling salvation history, (3) rejoicing in God’s just judgments; (4) exhorting us to godliness.
Then in the third part O’Donnell provides original song lyrics (to older tunes) for each of the great Old Testament songs. He writes, ” It is time that those who are trained theologically, gifted poetically, and literature musically (and this should include a number of pastor-theologians out there) write songs based on God’s Word, even and especially the songs of Moses, Deborah, Hannah, David, and Habakkuk” (pp. 177-178). The book provides sheet music for the four-part harmonies, and you can listen to MP3 recordings of the songs below:
- First Song of Moses (Exodus 15): My Strength
- Second Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32): Why Should You Not Now Adore Him?
- Song of Deborah (Judges 5): God of Triumph
- Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10): Our King, God Does Exalt
- Song of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3): Though the Fig Tree Blossoms Not
