On Sunday, I was visiting my parents’ church, Goodwins Mills Advent Christian Church. During the service we sang a hymn I had never heard sung before. The hymn, “We Are Called to Be God’s People,” (WORDS: Thomas A. Jackson, 1973; TUNE: Hayden, Austrian Hymn) took my breath away as I couldn’t recall ever singing a hymn with that clear a call to work for justice and to bring evil into the light.
Listen to the third and final stanza:
We are called to be God’s prophets, speaking for the truth and right,
standing firm for godly justice, bringing evil things to light.
Let us seek the courage needed, our high calling to fulfill,
that the world may know the blessing of the doing of God’s will.
We rightly sing of God’s grace. We praise him and laud him for being God. We sing songs to call ourselves to love God with all that we have. But when do we sing songs to remind us to work for justice, to have courage, to speak for truth and for right?
Can you think of one that speaks of our call to do justice?
[Listen to a Youtube rendition. See PDF for entire hymn.]
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
I notice themes of justice are popping up more commonly in worship music over the past two years, but nothing tops the Battle Hymn of the Republic:
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
True Piper. I forgot about that great hymn! FYI, this hymn that I referred to was written in 1973.