7 Powerful Hymns to Sing to Uplift your Soul (with Free Printables)

There are so many hymns to sing in our Christian faith that lift up the name of our God in praise. Worshiping God through hymns of praise is a powerful way to declare God’s goodness in our lives, and to remind ourselves that we serve a great God!

Have you been feeling discouraged lately? Have life’s challenges and circumstances been weighing you down?

Worshiping God with powerful hymns to sing will keep our spiritual eyes focused on God, and not on the difficulties in life that so often surround us.

Paul in Ephesians encouraged the church to worship God by “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20

Here are 7 powerful hymns to sing when you are in need of strength and encouragement!

7 Powerful Hymns to Sing to Remind us of God’s Goodness

A Mighty Fortress is our God

When you need to be reminded of the strength and power of God, sing the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God”. I am so thankful that the Lord is our fortress and refuge, and he will shield us from the flaming arrows of the enemy!

Author: Martin Luther

Martin Luther was not only a church reformer, but a hymnist. He wrote “A Mighty Fortress is our God” in German somewhere between 1527 and 1529 (source).

Lyrics snippet:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing

Scripture: The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being our Mighty Fortress! We praise you because you are our rock, and we can confidently take refuge in you. Thank you that you are our help, our shield, and the horn of our salvation. Glory to your name! Amen.

How Great Thou Art

I love this hymn! I remember singing this hymn in church services growing up and at special events. When I think of the stunning beauty of creation, this song comes to my mind.

Whenever you sense fear and doubt rising in your soul, go outside and take a walk, and take in the glorious beauty of God’s creation around you. We serve a great God!

Author: Carl Boberg

This hymn was based on a poem written by Swedish author Carl Boberg in 1885 (source).

Lyrics snippet: 

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Scripture: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

Prayer: O Lord, you are great! We can look outside and admire the beauty of your creation. With every breath-taking sunrise, you display your glory and honor! Help us to remember each day that your power is displayed in the beauty of your handiwork. Amen.

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

This is another powerful spiritual song that is dearly loved and cherished. With the deep piano chords and the sounds of voices singing through my church growing up, we were reminded that God’s grace and mercy will never pass us by!

Author: Fanny Crosby

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was a prolific hymnist in history and wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs with more than 100 million copies printed worldwide (source).

Lyrics snippet: 

Pass me not, O gentle Savior

Hear my humble cry

While on others Thou art calling

Do not pass me by

Scripture: Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. Psalm 86:6

Prayer: Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers! You do not pass us by, but look upon us with love, grace, and mercy. Help us to daily remember that you turn an attentive ear to our cries, and bring us salvation and deliverance. Amen.

Soon Ah Will Be Done

We all know that there is so much pain and suffering in this world. This powerful spiritual song reminds us that one day, we will be done with the troubles of this world, and we will live in sweet union with our Savior in eternity!

Author: African American Spiritual

“Soon Ah will be Done” is a spiritual song that was traditionally sung in the southern fields of the United States by African American slaves. “Soon Ah-will be Done” was later musically arranged by Willian L. Dawson, an African American composer, choir director, professor, and musicologist (source).

Lyrics Snippet:

Soon Ah will be done-a with the troubles of the world

The troubles of the world

The troubles of the world

Soon Ah will be done-a with the troubles of the world

Goin’ home to live with God

Scripture: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you see our pain and you know the troubles we face in this world. Give us the strength to persevere and press through, and help us to take comfort in the truth that you have already overcome the world! Amen.

We’ll Understand it Better By and By

We don’t always understand why God allows certain things to happen in our lives. Like the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:12, For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

This spiritual song gives us hope to know that even if we don’t understand everything right now, we will understand better “by and by”!

Author: Reverend Charles Albert Tindley 

“We’ll Understand it Better By and By” was originally an advent song written by Reverend Charles Albert Tindley, who wrote forth-six hymns, and became known as the “father of African American hymnody” (source).

Lyrics Snippet: 

Trials dark on every hand

And we may not understand

All the ways the God would lead us

To that blessed promised land

But he’ll guide us with his eyes

And we’ll follow ’til we die

And we’ll understand it better by and by

Scripture: The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 29:29

Prayer: Lord, though we may not understand everything while we are on this earth, we praise you that we can trust your unchanging hand. Thank you for guiding us on your path of light and truth, and may we walk with you each day. Amen.

It is Well with My Soul

This is a beautiful hymn about the power of God’s peace and presence through the midst of life’s most tragic of circumstances. This hymn was also played at my dad’s funeral over twenty years ago. Only the strength of God can carry us through life’s difficulties “when sea billows roll.”

Author: Horatio Spafford

The hymn “It is Well with My Soul” was written by hymnist Horatio Spafford as he reflected on the tragic events in his own life. He first lost his son in the Chicago Fire of 1871, and just a couple of years later, lost all four of his daughters in a devastating ship collision in the Atlantic Ocean in 1873 (source).

Lyrics Snippet: 

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well, with my soul

Scripture: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalm 46:1-3

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you give me comfort in the midst of my darkest trials. When sorrows like sea billows roll, help me to cling to you, my rock and my salvation. Only you can give me peace in my soul during the storms in my life. Please give me the strength to face each day. Amen.

Be Thou My Vision

In my college days, this was a beautiful hymn sung in many of our chapel services. Whenever we are in need of a fresh wave of God’s presence, this hymn is a precious song that will align our hearts with the Lord and remind us that He is our vision!

Author:  St. Dallán Forgaill

This hymn is based on the poem by Irish poet St. Dallán Forgaill in the sixth century (source).

Lyrics Snippet: 

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Scripture: One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4

Prayer: O Lord, be my vision! Help me to keep my focus on you, and keep me free of life’s distractions. Whether I am awake or nestled in my bed at night, may my thoughts center on you, and may your presence be my comfort and strength forever. Amen.

6 Scriptures about Singing Hymns in the Bible

Here are six Bible verses about singing hymns in the Bible that will inspire us as we worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness!

Psalm 40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.

This is a powerful psalm written by the amazing psalmist king David. Psalm 40 talks about how God can lift us out of the slimy pits of life, and how he gives us a firm place to stand (Psalm 40:2).

When we think of the powerful and mighty God we serve, we can powerfully sing hymns of praise to his great name!

Matthew 26:30
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Right after Jesus and his disciples celebrated the last supper, they sang a hymn. This was right before Judas would betray Jesus, and before Jesus would be arrested and later crucified (Matthew 26:47).

Can you imagine singing hymns of praise hours before being betrayed, beaten, and crucified? Yet Jesus sang hymns of praise anyway, knowing what was to come. 

We can also praise God in the midst of our circumstances, because we know that after the dark moments of what seems like defeat, we know that a glorious resurrection is on the horizon!

Acts 16:25
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

This is one of my favorite stories in the book of Acts. Paul and Silas earlier had been stripped, beaten, flogged and thrown into prison for merely helping a slave girl (Acts 16:18, 22-23).

In the midst of such bitter and brutal persecution, they prayed and sang hymns of praise to God! Only the power of the Holy Spirit can infuse us with such joy in the midst of pain and suffering.

The power of their praise ultimately brought their freedom when the Lord caused a great earthquake to open the prison doors and break their chains (Acts 16:26).

Praise has the power to break the chains of bondage in our lives!

Here are a few other verses about the power of singing hymns.

1 Corinthians 14:26
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

Ephesians 5:19
…speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord…

Colossians 3:16
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Free Hymnal Printables

Take a look at these free hymn printables that you can print and keep in your prayer journal, or hang in your home! These hymn printables feature the lyrics of the well-loved hymns mentioned in this post.

You can use them in your quiet time or when you spend time with God in the morning, and may we have a song of praise in our hearts each day as we glorify our precious Lord and Savior!

Download the FREE hymn printables below.

Download At Mighty Fortress is our God HERE.

Download “How Great Thou Art” HERE

Download “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior” HERE

Download “Soon Ah will be Done” HERE

Download “We’ll Understand it Better By and By” HERE

Download “It is Well with My Soul” HERE

Download “Be Thou My Vision” HERE

In Conclusion

Singing hymns is a powerful way to praise and worship our great God, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Hymns have the power to uplift our souls and to remind us that we serve a mighty God!

Which are your favorite hymns? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Related Posts

Seven Ways to Meet with God in the Morning

Top Ten Love Songs from God’s Word

Join the Prayer Challenge!

Looking for a way to deepen your prayer life? Check out the BOLD Prayers of Jesus Challenge! In this five-day email challenge we look at five prayers of Jesus to learn how we can pray boldly and confidently!

You will receive a free prayer journal, Scripture cards, and Scripture reading plan, Bible journaling stickers, a prayer guide, and more!

Click HERE to join the challenge!