Hemminki of Masku expanded the hymnal of Jacobus Finno to publish Yxi Wähä Suomenkielinen Wirsikirja, originally printed in Stockholm c. 1605.

A modernized and enlarged hymnal was then approved by the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in 1938, with a Swedish-language version coming thereafter in 1943.

The most important Finnish hymn lyricists are Hemminki of Masku, Jaakko Haavio, Julius Krohn, Elias Lönnrot, Wilhelmi Malmivaara, J. L. Runeberg, Anna-Maija Raittila and Niilo Rauhala.

Raittila and Rauhala also participated in the reform of the hymnal in the 1980s and rewrote many texts of earlier authors.

An addendum to the Finnish hymnal was approved by the synod of the Church in November 2015 and introduced for use on the first day of Advent in 2016.