Recommendation: 5/5
Comments: According to the Preface, this collection of hymns was inspired by the spiritual riches of ‘Our Own Hymn Book’, compiled by C.H. Spurgeon in 1866, and once widely used among Particular Baptist Churches. This rich collection of doctrinally sound hymns is a treasure worthy of many hours of deep meditation. The first 150 selections are devoted to versions of the psalms, the remaining 588 hymns are organized by category and subcategory. The major categories include (1) Adoration of the Truine God; (2) God the Father; (3) The Lord Jesus Christ; (4) The Holy Spirit; (5) The Holy Scriptures; (6) The Gospel Call; (7) The Christian; (8) Christian Privileges; (9) The Christian’s Future; (10) The Church; (11) Public Worship and The Lord’s Day; and (12) Times, Seasons and Specific Occasions. I have been blessed many times over in my perusals of this hymn book, discovering many hymns unfamiliar to me. Watts, Cowper, Montgomery, Doddridge, Newton, Wesley, Fawcett, Lyte, Havergal, Bonar, and Steele are all well represented in this momentous collection. The meter for each hymn is given, but there is no musical score. There is also an Index of First Lines. The volume could be immensely improved by a meter index and an author index.