The following is a list of songs I like to sing during the Advent Season. Most of the these songs listed are approved by the URCNA, with a few deletions and additions.
| Hymn | Words By | Tune |
| Advent of Our God, The | Charles Coffin, 1736 | St. Thomas, Aaron Williams, 1770 |
| All My Heart This Night Rejoices | Paul Gerhardt, 1656 | Warum Sollt Ich, 1666 |
| All Praise to Thee, Eternal Lord | Martin Luther, 1524 | Canonbury, 1839 |
| Angels We Have Heard on High | Traditional French Carol | Gloria |
| Angels from the Realms of Glory | James Montgomery, 1816-25 | Regent Square, Henry Smart, 1867 |
| Blessed Be the God of Israel (Benedictus) | Luke 1:67-79 (Carl Daw, 1989) | Forest Green, English trad. melody |
| Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus | Charles Wesley, 1744 | Stuttgart, 1715 |
| Comfort, Comfort Ye My People | Johannes Olearius, 1671 | Thirsting, Louis Bourgeois, 1551 |
| Great and Mighty Wonder, A | Germanus of Constantinople (634−734) | Es Ist Ein Ros, German, 15th cent. |
| Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | Charles Wesley, 1739 | Mendelssohn, arr. W. H. Cummings, 1850 |
| How Bright Appears the Morning Star | Philip Nicolai, 1599 | Wie Schon Leuchtet, Nicolai, 1599 |
| Joy to the World! | Isaac Watts, 1719 | Antioch, Lowell Mason, 1830 |
| Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence | Liturgy of St. James, 4th cent. | Picardy, traditional French |
| Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates! | Psalm 24 | Truro, 1789 |
| Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming | German hymn, ca. 1500 | Es Ist Ein Ros, German, 15th cent. |
| My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord (Magnificat) | Luke 1:46-55 (Song of Mary) | Pentecost, 1868 |
| My Soul Shall Magnify the Lord (Magnificat) | Luke 1:46-55 (Song of Mary) | Uffingham, Jeremiah Clarke, 1701 |
| O Come, All Ye Faithful | Latin hymn, 18th cent., tr. Frederick Oakeley, 1841 | Adeste Fideles, in J. F. Wade’s Cantus Diversi, 1751 |
| O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | 12th-13th cent. Latin hymn, tr. John M. Neale, 1861 | Veni Emmanuel, 13th cent. |
| Of the Father’s Love Begotten | Aurelius Prudentius, 4th cent. | Divinum Mysterium, 12th cent. |
| Savior of the Nations Come | Ambrose of Milan, c. 397 | Nun Komm, Der Heiden Heiland, from Geistliche Gesangbüchlein, 1524 |
| Songs of Thankfulness and Praise | Christopher Wordsworth, 1862 | St. George‘s Windsor, George Elvey, 1858 |
| To Us a Child of Hope is Born | John Morrison, 1781 | Belief, traditional English melody |
| What Child is This | Traditional English Carol | Greensleeves, traditional English melody |
| While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks | Nahum Tate, 1702 | Christmas, G. F. Handel, 1728 |
Some may object that “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”; and “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” were written by Charles Wesley, an Arminian.
I omitted the following for various reasons:
“Once in Royal David’s City,” written by Cecil Frances Alexander, a laywoman; “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Phillips Brooks, an Episcopalian minister, also for mystical words; “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” by Edmund H. Sears, a Unitarian minister; “Away in a Manger” and “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” for not being suitable for worship services.
But the most prominent omission is “Silent Night, Holy Night,” written by Joseph Mohr, a Roman Catholic priest, in 1818.
Although these hymns are based on God’s Word, they are not metrical versions of God’s inspired Word. The Advent Canticles and “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates (Psalm 24) are the only inspired songs. My prayer is that more metrical versions of God’s inspired Word on the birth of of our Savior will be composed.