Clayton KrabyFew things can stir the heart and soul like singing out a familiar hymn with other believers. While there are many great worship songs written in the past several decades, the church has a rich tradition of singing hymns that should be preserved for future generations.
The following list provides a look at the most popular hymns in the United States, as determined by those most frequently published in the United States between the years 1737 and 1960.
Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for an embedded YouTube playlist of all these great hymns!
1. Jesus Lover of My Soul
Charles Wesley (1740)
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
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Read a Story About This Hymn
2. Come We That Love the Lord/We’re Marching to Zion
Isaac Watts; refrain by Robert Lowry
Come, we that love the Lord,
and let our joys be known;
join in a song with sweet accord,
join in a song with sweet accord
and thus surround the throne,
and thus surround the throne.
Refrain:
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
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3. All Hail the Power of Jesus Name
Edward Perronet (1780)
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
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4. How Firm a Foundation
Author Unkown (1787)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
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5. Alas and Did My Savior Bleed/At the Cross
Isaac Watts (1707)
Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
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6. Am I a Soldier of the Cross
Isaac Watts (1721-24)
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
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7. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Robert Robinson (1758)
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
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8. There is a Fountain Filled with Blood
William Cowper (1772)
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
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9. Rock of Ages Cleft for Me
Augustus M. Toplady (1776)
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
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Read a Story About This Hymn
10. There is a 5-way tie between:
Blest Be the Tie That Binds
John Fawcett (1782)
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
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Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
William Williams (1745); Translated from Welsh to English by Peter Williams (1771)
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
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Joy to the World
Isaac Watts (1719)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.
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Just As I Am
Charlotte Elliott (1835)
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
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Love Divine All Loves Excelling
Charles Wesley (1747)
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
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Source of Ranking: Worship By the Book, edited by D.A. Carson (145).
By this point, you’re no doubt asking yourself “Where’s Amazing Grace?!” While this hymn by John Newton is certainly one of the best-loved hymns of all time, it did not make the cut when looking strictly at the hymns which were published most frequently during these years.
But since it’s already in your head, listen to this great rendition of Amazing Grace.
I put together a YouTube playlist with each of the above hymns.
Listen to them below or listen on YouTube
