In Timothy Shoup’s Praise and Honor: Hymn-Inspired Devotions, each hymn is introduced with a short reading. Each devotion then focuses on one stanza of the hymn, connects it to Scripture, and points to life application. As you read through this book, you will benefit from devotions that both amplify the theological truths found in each stanza and bring more meaning to each hymn.
“For more than forty-five years, I’ve been sitting in pews and singing hymns. After reading Praise and Honor, I will never sit in a pew and sing a hymn the same way,” says Clay Reisler, a digital learning specialist with Pulaski Community School District. “Pastor Timothy Shoup insightfully and immediately draws you in to the convicting yet comforting value of each line in the hymns. Personal conversations and events of real people place meanings of words from ancient hymns directly on the heart. Words written hundreds of years ago piece the events of today to actions of tomorrow. I’m amazed at how he takes so many life events and intertwines them with powerful lines and stanzas. Truly incredible.”
This devotional book will help Christians, hymn enthusiasts and those desiring to better understand, gain more from the hymns they may already know and help them learn additional hymns by revealing the poetic sermon that each hymn or hymn stanza truly is.
The devotions focus on fourteen hymns, most from Lutheran Service Book (LSB), selected to mark milestones in the life of every Christian—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for instance, as well as Christmas and Easter. Some may be familiar to you while others may be new, but all are packed with meaning. May they all further your appreciation for the rich hymnody of the Church and point you to the Lord of Life.
Milestone LSB Hymn Title
1. Baptism 594 God’s Own Child I Gladly Say It
2. Confirmation 685 Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus
3. Resisting Temptation 533 Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure Eternal
4. Marriage 860 Gracious Savior, Grant Your Blessing
5. Confessing Sin 761 Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
6. The Lord’s Supper 621 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
7. Prayer 552 O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life
8. Advent Hope 357 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
9. Christmas Peace 369 Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
10. An Influential Person — Give Ear, O Zion, to God’s Call
11. Good Friday 451 Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
12. Easter Triumph 486 If Christ had Not Been Raised from Death
13. Comfort 710 The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want
14. Daily Praise 941 We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God
What people are saying about Praise and Honor:
For more than forty-five years, I’ve been sitting in pews and singing hymns. After reading Praise and Honor, I will never sit in a pew and sing a hymn the same way. Pastor Timothy Shoup insightfully and immediately draws you in to the convicting yet comforting value of each line in the hymns. Personal conversations and events of real people place meanings of words from ancient hymns directly on the heart. Words written hundreds of years ago piece the events of today to actions of tomorrow. I’m amazed at how he takes so many life events and intertwines them with powerful lines and stanzas. Truly incredible.
Whether you have been attending church your entire life or are new to the faith, these devotions provide in-depth knowledge to apply the hymns to daily living. I have a new understanding of hymns that I’ve been singing for years due to the insightful commentary. Bookmarking and underlining while reading has provided me with a premier devotional reference for understanding and applying timeless hymns to my life.
—Clay Reisler, digital learning specialist
Praise and Honor: Hymn-Inspired Devotions by Pastor Timothy Shoup is a treasury of meditations based on old hymns and new. Stanza-by-stanza insights into these fourteen carefully chosen hymns bring to the reader a wealth of personal reflections, both enhancing and enriching the hymn’s content. Choosing one key line from each stanza provides the focus for this series of Christ-centered, theologically rich devotions. Written by a true hymn lover, Pastor Shoup’s love for the sung truths of the Gospel and the Word of God contained in each hymn will bless the reader and be a deep well from which the thirsty may draw again and again and again. Thank you, Pastor Shoup!
—Stephen Starke, pastor and hymnwriter
Incorporating extensive research into the Lutheran Confessions, commentaries, historical background, and knowledge of music, Timothy J. Shoup writes with the heart of a pastor and master teacher. He uses personal illustrations from his life and ministry to help his readers. You will want to have your Bible at hand as you delve into this book; indeed, more than a devotional, I found it to be a deep dive into God’s Word. Quoting the author, “My desire here is to spark thanksgiving to the Lord for the work of our authors, musicians, and translators.” That desire is fulfilled in this gift to the Church.
—Janice Wendorf, Lutheran Women’s Missionary League past president
We have largely gotten out of the habit that goes back to Martin Luther’s time of using hymns to guide and nurture our meditation on God’s Word. Shoup leads readers into that practice effectively with insightful, sensitive pondering that engages well-selected hymn texts. His meditations plumb the depths of these texts not only to inspire readers but also to cultivate their own use of the rich tradition of Christian hymns for prayer and praise.
—Robert Kolb, professor emeritus of systematic theology, Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri
For more information on Praise and Honor, contact Lindsey Martie, public relations, by phone at 314-268-1303 or by email at lindsey.martie@cph.org
About the Author
Rev. Timothy J. Shoup is administrative pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in Bonduel, Wisconsin. He is passionate about good hymnody and the means thereby of proclaiming confessional, evangelical theology. He has been in parish ministry for thirty years.
