Yielded

Words: C. F. Warren (no information)
Music: Robert Harkness (b. March 2, 1880; d. May 8, 1961)

Note: Of the author, C. F. Warren, we know nothing. It could be one of those cases when the composer of the tune received the words, with a request to provide a tune, without knowing much about the author. We know this happened to him with the little song In Jesus.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Yield–it’s one of our multipurpose words. It can mean to give up, or give out. When a suspected thief raises his hands and yields to the police, he’s giving up. But when a garden produces baskets of juicy tomatoes, that’s what the plants have given out. That’s the yield.

But, when you think about it, there’s been some yielding on the part of the gardener, before that. If he’s wise, he’ll follow the accumulated wisdom regarding how to get the best crop. He knows the soil must be broken up, and fertilized, and watered. He knows the seed must be planted at the right time, and in the right way, and weeds must be controlled. If he refuses to do what’s needed, the final yield will suffer.

The first use of the word yield is found in the account of creation. God provided for each plant to yield fruit “after its kind,” in order to provide food for human beings (Gen. 1:11-12, 29).

Later, when the Lord gave the land of Canaan to Israel, He promised that it would yield food for them (Lev. 25:19). However, the abundance of the crop was conditioned on their obedience to Him. If they would keep God’s Law, they’d have plenty (Lev. 26:3-4). If not, He warned the crops would fail (Lev. 26:18-20).

Sadly, there were times of spiritual backsliding, but godly King Hezekiah called the people of Israel back to the Lord with these words:

Do not be like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He gave them up to desolation, as you see. Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord…that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.

II Chron. 30:7-8

A double use of yielding has its application in the spiritual realm for the Christian. In fact, the Bible often uses garden imagery to illustrate what it means to live a fruitful life, and how that’s to be accomplished. And yielding to the Lord (obedience) will bring a yield of spiritual fruit in one’s life. the Scriptures speak of a couple of different kinds of spiritual fruit–inner fruit and outward fruit.

☼ The inward fruit is godly character, Christlikeness, the kind of qualities described as “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).
☼ The outward fruit is the good things that happen in the lives of others, through our service for the Lord (Jn. 15:16; Rom. 1:13).

As a loving parent would do, God disciplined the people of Israel. The Bible later makes this comment, which could be applied to Israel, and is certainly true of our individual lives today.

Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives….Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Heb. 12:6, 11

A parable of the Lord Jesus talks about seed falling on different kinds of soil (Matt. 13:3-9). In the story, the seed represents the Word of God, and the soils picture different conditions of heart in the hearers, with the good soil describing those who accept God’s message, recognizing how it applies to their lives (vs. 18-23).

If we humbly yield to the Lord, determined to do His will, we will be spiritually fruitful, yielding both the fruit of godly character and blessings for others in our service for the Lord. And there’s a gospel song from 1926 that talks about that, called simply Yielded. Like some of our hymns about personal dedication (such as All to Jesus I Surrender, or Have Thine Own Way, Lord), these are strong words. We must determine whether this reflects our sincere heart’s desire.

1. Lowly and humbly, Lord, here I bow,
Contrite and broken, help me just now;
Patient and still, Lord, O let me be
Fitted for service, cleansed, Lord, by Thee.

Yielded, Lord, to Thee,
Yielded, Lord to Thee;
Wholly Thine forevermore,
Yielded, yielded, yielded, Lord, to Thee.

3. Keep ev’ry thought, Lord, in Thy control,
Let Thine own presence now fill my soul;
Self on the altar, yielded to Thee,
Jesus my Saviour, faithful to be.

4. Ready and willing Thee to obey,
Silent, if need be, have Thine own way;
In full submission all do I give,
Nothing withhold, Lord, in me now live.

Questions:

1. What are often the obstacles in our lives to fully yielding to the Lord?
2. What do you think the author means by “Silent, if need be,” in stanza 4?

Links:

• Robert Harkness (The Cyber Hymnal)
• Yielded (Hymnary.org)