About

Hymns of Devotion is a collection of new hymns written by Jonathan Landry Cruse. They are for the glory of God and for the good of His people, the church. To that end, the texts are saturated with the language of Scripture. They employ the hallmarks of English poetry—such as parallelism, imagery, and rhyme—and embody (though in an unavoidably feeble way) the truth of God’s Word. The tunes—some old and many new—have been chosen to draw out the meaning, poetry, and nuance of each particular text. The 21st-century contributions are written by excellent composers and church musicians such as Paul S. Jones, Evelyn R. Larter, Jared M. Salyards, and Jeremy L. Strong. They are musically excellent and, above all, are singable and memorable. Thus these hymns seek to meet two essential criteria of songs in corporate worship: acceptability before God and accessibility to God’s people.

The project has been years in the making, and was birthed by Cruse’s lifelong love for all things related to hymnody. In his college years he began to explore writing hymn texts. What began as a simple hobby soon turned into a passionate project. While always finding hymnody to be personally enriching, these words were never written solely for private devotion—from the start the aim of this project has been to aid the church in her sung praise. These hymns have been sung around the world, in denominations ranging from Independent to Baptist to Presbyterian and Reformed.  

“Devotion” means consecration, love, and loyalty. This is the posture we should take as we come to God in worship. We are giving ourselves over to Him—literally devoting ourselves to Him. Indeed, when we worship we are forsaking all others and declaring that Christ has the first place in our hearts. That is what makes the title appropriate for this ongoing collection: as these biblically-faithful, Christ-centered words are sun, it is a means of strengthening our allegiance to God. Hopefully they will be used for just that reason—whether privately or corporately. Hymns of Devotion is not a final, set collection. By God’s grace it will continue to grow throughout the years and assist many in their worship of our great God and Savior.

BIO

Pastor Cruse is a native of Central Pennsylvania, where he grew up in home that loved sports, movies, and Reformed theology. He attended Temple University in Philadelphia where he studied film for a time before graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in Communication Studies and English, afterwards earning a Masters of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He and his wife, Kerri Ann, are now enjoying life in Kalamazoo, Michigan where Jonathan was ordained as the pastor of Community Presbyterian Church (OPC) in 2017. Cruse is the author of numerous articles and books on worship and the Christian life, including The Christian’s True Identity.