The Lutheran Hymnal

I am not impressed by the recent Lutheran hymnals, which seem to multiply as they decline in quality. How many new hymnals omit Luther's very first hymn - Flung to the heedless winds? The MDiv editors include their buddies' tone-deaf, atrocious hymns, but they cannot print Luther's first, written in memory of the first Lutheran martyrs, burned at the stake.

Flung to the Heedless Winds

1. Flung to the heedless winds
Or on the waters cast,
The martyrs' ashes, watched,
Shall gathered be at last.
And from that scattered dust,
Around us and abroad,
Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witnesses for God.

2. The Father hath received
Their latest living breath,
And vain is Satan's boast
Of victory in their death.
Still, still, though dead, they speak,
And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim
To many a wakening land
The one availing Name.


Crucial doctrinal war verses are also missing from the new hymnals. Where is "false sons within the pale" in The Church's One Foundation? Are those words too painfully frank a description of the editors? The same omissions can be found in classic Lutheran hymns, where false doctrine is denounced.

I understand The Lutheran Hymnal can still be bought at Bethany Lutheran College. Many hymnals are still circulating, since they were used and then suddenly orphaned by the watered down and feminist editions.

Below are some resources I found with Google:

A collection of links to TLH resources, from Concordia, Ft. Wayne.

Lutheran Hymnal.

Wikipedia has some details.

TLH hymn texts.