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Robert Cottrill

About Robert Cottrill

http://wordwisebiblestudies.com

Posts by Robert Cottrill:

Today in 1837 – William Dix Born

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We are indebted to William Chatterton Dix, the manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow, for a couple of fine Christmas carols: What Child Is This? and As with Gladness Men of Old. But he wrote other hymns as well. One of these is a hymn for the Lord’s Supper–which in the song is called “the Eurcharistic feast.” (The Greek word eucharisteo means to give thanks, as Jesus did at the meal, I Cor. 11:24.) The hymn is Alleluia! Sing to Jesus, and it says in part:

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the sceptre, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! King eternal, Thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary, earth Thy footstool, heav’n Thy throne:
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim in the Eucharistic feast.

Come Unto Me, Ye Weary (based on Matt. 11:28), a lesser known creation of William Dix, came to him in 1867, when he was, as he describes himself, ill and depressed. He says, “I had been ill for ma­ny weeks and felt weary and faint….Soon af­ter its com­po­si­tion I re­cov­ered, and I al­ways look back to that hymn as the turn­ing point in my ill­ness.”

“Come unto Me, ye weary, and I will give you rest.”
O blessèd voice of Jesus, which comes to hearts oppressed!
It tells of benediction, of pardon, grace and peace,
Of joy that hath no ending, of love which cannot cease.

“Come unto Me, dear children, and I will give you light.”
O loving voice of Jesus, which comes to cheer the night!
Our hearts are filled with sadness, and we had lost our way;
But He hath brought us gladness and songs at break of day.

“Come unto Me, ye fainting, and I will give you life.”
O cheering voice of Jesus, which comes to aid our strife!
The foe is stern and eager, the fight is fierce and long;
But Thou hast made us mighty and stronger than the strong.

“And whosoever cometh I will not cast him out.”
O welcome voice of Jesus, which drives away our doubt,
Which calls us, very sinners, unworthy though we be
Of love so free and boundless, to come, dear Lord, to Thee.

(2) Today in 1901 – Ralph Hudson Died

Hudson had a widely varied career. He was a nurse during the American Civil War. Then after the war he taught music at a college. In addition, he was a licensed preacher with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, was an evangelist, a singer, song writer, and compiler of the songs of others. Usually, he composed the tunes. But he occasionally wrote lyrics too, as he did for the song I’ll Live for Him.

My life, my love I give to Thee.
Thou Lamb of God who died for me;
Oh, may I ever faithful be,
My Saviour and my God!

Hudson also formed his own publishing company. A busy life! But he is not without his critics. He liked to take traditional hymns and turn them into gospel songs, by giving them an upbeat tune and adding a refrain. In so doing, he sometimes forgot that the music needs to suit the mood and subject of the words. The most painful example that comes to mind is his treatment of Isaac Watts’s great hymn of worship, Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed?

With eloquent passion, Watts pictures himself standing before the cross, wondering at the love that led Christ to die for “a worm” such as he was. (Notice especially the first stanza below, omitted from hymn books today.) He writes:

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine–
And bathed in His own blood–
While the firm mark of wrath divine
His soul in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

When the usual tune (Martyrdom) is used, this becomes a worshipful meditation on the reason for Christ’s terrible agony on the cross. But Ralph Erskine Hudson felt the hymn needed some adjustment. He gave it a new tune, with a jolly, bouncing chorus:

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away (rolled away).
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

Congregations may enjoy singing Hudson’s creation, but I believe it does grave injustice to the song’s purpose! It minimizes our confrontation with the horrific nature of crucifixion, requiring, as it does, an almost impossible 180 degree emotional turn each time singers move from the chorus to the next stanza. And the text of the chorus isn’t even biblical, at that! Even Jesus wasn’t “happy all the day!”

In my view, Mr. Hudson should have left well enough alone.

Today in 1592 – Thomas Ravenscroft Born

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Thomas Ravenscroft lived some 400 years ago. In his day, he was an acclaimed musician, who composed a great deal of church music. Unfortunately the main thing for which most know him today is the song Three Blind Mice! The rather gruesome ditty was written while he was still in his teens. (It is surely a warning to us that our legacy may not be quite what we’d hoped or expected!)

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?

(2) Today in 1976 – Earl Marlatt Died

Dr. Marlatt was an American educator who was professor of philosophy of religion and religious literature at Southern Methodist University in Texas. Though he wrote other poetry and hymn texts, he is mainly known for the hymn, “Are Ye Able,” Said the Master. The hymn was written for a service of consecration in 1926, while Mr. Marlatt was on the faculty of Boston University.

The song is unusual in that it lifts a verse of Scripture out of its context and misses the sad irony of the original. Just before Jesus went to the cross, the mother of James and John came to Him to ask if her sons could be given a prominent place in His coming kingdom. In response, the Lord asked them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”–a reference to His suffering and death. And the men answered, “We are able” (Matt. 20:22).

Knowing what was about to happen in coming days, we now see their self confidence as naive. In truth, when the time of testing came, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). But we as learn that in later years, strengthened by the Spirit of God, one after another faced persecution and even death with holy boldness. To the later faithfulness of these “sturdy dreamers,” the hymn writer alludes with his use of the text. The hymn begins:

“Are ye able,” said the Master,
“To be crucified with Me?”
“Yea,” the sturdy dreamers answered,
“To the death we follow Thee.”

Lord, we are able. Our spirits are Thine.
Remold them, make us, like Thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance above us shall be
A beacon to God, to love and loyalty.

Today in 1798 – John Morrison Died

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John Morrison was one of a number of hymn writers in the 18th century who added to the Scottish Psalter paraphrases of other passages of Scripture in addition to the Psalms. One of the best and most beautiful of these, published in 1781, was by Morrison. It is a poetic paraphrase of Hosea 6:1-4, which begins, “Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”

The prophet is speaking of the repentance of the believing remnant of Israel in the last days, But Morrison’s hymn of contrition is appropriate today for any backslidden child of God who desires to turn again to Him. The Word of God assures us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn. 1:9). For the full hymn and the tune, check the Cyber Hymnal. Morrison’s hymn says, in part:

Come, let us to the Lord our God
With contrite hearts return;
Our God is gracious, nor will leave
The desolate to mourn.

His voice commands the tempest forth
And stills the stormy wave;
And though His arm be strong to smite,
’Tis also strong to save.

2) Today in 1919 – John Sammis Died

John Sammis was an American business man, and later a Presbyterian pastor and Bible teacher. This faithful servant of God wrote a number of hymns. For example, he gave us the text of the well-known gospel song Trust and Obey. And a less common offering from Pastor Sammis is his 1910 song, He’s a Friend of Mine.

Why should I charge my soul with care?
The wealth of every mine
Belongs to Christ, God’s Son and Heir,
And He’s a Friend of mine.

Yes, He’s a Friend of mine,
And He with me doth all things share;
Since all is Christ’s, and Christ is mine,
Why should I have a care?
For Jesus is a Friend of mine.

The composer of the tune of the above song is Daniel Towner. Less common still is Pastor Sammis’s song We Know Not Yet.

We know not yet what we shall be
Though now the sons of God;
When robed in immortality
We rise above the sod.

We know not what our eyes shall see
Among the starry spheres;
What sounds of heavenly melody
Shall greet our ravished ears.

We know not, though we now receive
The earnest long before
Our foolish hearts cannot conceive
The grace there is in store.

There are things about the heavenly kingdom that we are told in the Word of God. There are many more that we shall learn when the time comes. John Sammis focuses our attention on what we do know in his refrain, which begins, “But we know…” And we do know that we’ll be with Christ for all eternity (Jn. 14:3; I Thess. 4:16-17), and be clothed in glorified, resurrection bodies like His own (Phil. 3:20-21; I Jn. 3:2).

Lord’s Day Meditation – Perfect Peace

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You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because He trusts in You.

Isa. 26:3

I wonder if we think we can accomplish more for the Lord when we are operating at a constant level of high energy and stress. Perhaps there are times when adrenalin kicks in, and we do more than we thought possible. But God never intended that we operate hour after hour, day after day like that. Not only does fruit of such frenetic labours tend to be temporal, and temporary. It may well shorten our lives, and our days of effective ministry! Soul peace is much more productive in the long run, and more conducive to our own spiritual development.

“Perfect peace” is expressed in the original Hebrew of our text as peace peace–a peaceful peace. The same construction is found in Isa. 57:19-21, where a contrast is made with the wicked who have no real and abiding peace. Thus the Bible teaches that true and lasting peace is found in a right relationship with God, and in following the paths of righteousness.

In the context, Isaiah 26:3 is a promise of millennial blessing for Israel, to be fulfilled when Christ comes back again to take up His earthly reign. It has to do with the nation’s assurance of the Lord’s protection of Zion (vs. 1-4). In that day, when the Prince of Peace reigns (cf. Isa. 9:6-7), Israel will be safe from her enemies and enjoy a pervasive sense of tranquility and rest.

Nevertheless, the promise directed to them is rooted in universal principles. It can be applied currently, as well as prophetically, personally, as well as nationally. There are related promises in both Old Testament and New. Clear assurances to all believers that God is in control, and that He will unfailingly work out His good purposes for us (Ps. 138:8; Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 8:28; Phil. 1:6; 4:6-7). When we become distressed over circumstances, we need to turn to such passages again and meditate on them.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). We can utterly trust in God’s will to do us good, His wisdom to identify that good, and His work to bring it about. The one who rests His mind on these things will find that the Lord fortifies and garrisons his thoughts with a new fullness of peace.

Think of the tranquil scene in Lk. 8:35. After the demoniac of Gadara is delivered by Christ, he is found at the feet of the Master, clothed, and in his right mind. Does this not suggest that we are more teachable, more ready and able to receive what God has for us, when we are not in a turmoil? John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a hymn about that in 1887. Actually, it was created out of the concluding stanzas of his longer poem, “The Brewing of Soma.”

The poem tells of some heathen priests who made their way into the forest, where they drank a powerful brew called soma. It produced what Whittier called “a frenzy, a sacred madness.” Then, the priests ranted and raved in their drugged state in an attempt to somehow contact and experience their god. But fellowship with the true God is not gained by such devices. As the poet’s hymn puts it:

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Today in 1884 – William Gaskell Died

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The Bible talks about Christian ministry as a process in which many have a part. Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (I Cor. 3:6). And sometimes a person who gains only limited recognition, or later fades into obscurity, can play an important part in God’s program all the same. For instance, it was his Sunday School teacher, Edward Kimball, who led evangelist D. L. Moody to Christ. Kimball is all but forgotten, but God used him to bring Moody to Himself, and Moody brought thousands more.

Another who had that kind of little-recognized influence was a man named William Gaskell. He served as pastor of the Cross Street Chapel in Manchester, England, for over 60 years. But since he was a Unitarian in doctrine, many of us would find ourselves opposed to some of the beliefs he held. Gaskell wrote many hymns, but they are long forgotten. However, it was in another area that he made an unexpected contribution.

William Gaskell was a teacher, as well as  being a pastor. He gave lectures on literature and other subjects in Manchester. But he went a step further. The city at that time had a large population of poor and underprivileged people. He took it upon himself to tutor both boys and girls who could not get an education elsewhere. Catherine Winkworth was among his students (as was her sister).

And if Gaskell’s contribution to hymnology is forgotten today, Catherine Winkworth’s certainly is not. Considered the foremost English translator of old German hymns, her name is found in nearly every hymn book. If you have ever sung hymns such as Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, or If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee, or Now Thank We All Our God, you have benefited from her service for the Lord.

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

(2) Sitting at the Feet of Jesus (Data Missing)

From the 19th century comes a lovely little gospel song that is based on the occasion described in Luke when Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, sat at the feet of Christ to hear His teaching (Lk. 10:39).

We know nothing of the author. He or she is listed simply by the initials J.H. (or sometimes J.H.T.). Asa Hull’s tune is also used for All for Jesus. (You can hear it played on the Cyber Hymnal.)

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Oh, what words I hear Him say!
Happy place! so near, so precious!
May it find me there each day.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
I would look upon the past;
For His love has been so gracious,
It has won my heart at last.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Where can mortal be more blest?
There I lay my sins and sorrows
And, when weary, find sweet rest.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
There I love to weep and pray,
While I from His fullness gather
Grace and comfort every day.

Bless me, O my Saviour, bless me,
As I sit low at Thy feet.
Oh, look down in love upon me;
Let me see Thy face so sweet.
Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus;
Make me holy as He is.
May I prove I’ve been with Jesus,
Who is all my righteousness.

Today in 1579 – William Whittingham Died

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Little is known about William Whittingham, but his work lives on long after him. In the mid-1600’s, committees of men associated with the Church of Scotland worked to render the Psalms in a poetical English translation. They hoped to create songs that were both accurate and singable. It took them several years of painstaking labour drawing on the work of others, eventually producing The Scottish Psalter.

Though this is a great and historic contribution to English hymnody, only one selection from it is commonly sung today outside of Scotland. That is the well-known 23rd Psalm. And the version we have is a composite of seven other renderings of the psalm, including work by William Whittingham.  Whittingham’s quaint opening stanza began:

The Lord is only my support,
And He that doth me feed;
How can I then lack anything,
Whereof I stand in need?

The final composite verson of the hymn follows the text of Scripture pretty closely. It begins:

The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
E’en for His own name’s sake.

(2) Today in 1921 – Edwin Excell Died

Edwin Othello Excell made a dramatic career change. For the first 12 years of his adult life he worked as a plasterer and bricklayer. But the Lord had other plans for him. It was during those years that he put his faith in Christ, eventually turning his attention to a music ministry. After receiving extensive training, he began to publish dozens of popular gospel song books. He was also a skilled song leader, assisting several evangelists in that way. And Excell composed the music for about 2,000 songs, occasionally writing the words himself as well.

One song for which he provided both words and music is Since I Have Been Redeemed. Presenting some of the blessings enjoyed by the child of God, it begins with what the Bible calls our “new song”:

I have a song I love to sing,
Since I have been redeemed,
Of my Redeemer, Saviour King,
Since I have been redeemed.

In another stanza the hymn testifies: “I have a Christ who satisfies.” And in still another, “I have a home prepared for me.” Most hymn books include only four stanzas, but there is one more. It talks about the basis for our standing before God. The Bible says that “He [God the Father] made Him who knew no sin [the Lord Jesus] to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21). And “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

With these things in mind, Edwin Excell’s hymn ends:

I have a joy I can’t express,
Since I have been redeemed,
All through His blood and righteousness,
Since I have been redeemed.

In 1900, Edwin Excell provided the tune for the Sunday School song, I’ll Be a Sunbeam (also known as Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam). He dedicated the result to his grandson, Edwin Junior. The words came from rural Missouri Sunday School teacher Nellie Talbot, who wrote them for the children she taught.

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
To shine for Him each day;
In every way try to please Him,
At home, at school, at play.

A sunbeam, a sunbeam,
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam;
A sunbeam, a sunbeam,
I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.

Jesus wants me to be loving,
And kind to all I see;
Showing how pleasant and happy
His little one can be.

I will ask Jesus to help me
To keep my heart from sin,
Ever reflecting His goodness,
And always shine for Him.

Today in 1790 – Robert Robinson Died

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In his youth, Robert Robinson was apprenticed to a barber in London and lived a wild and reckless life. But one day he heard a sermon by George Whitefield on the stern words of John the Baptist to the Jewish leaders of his day, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). The Spirit of God convicted the wayward young man and he put his faith in Christ.

Associated with the Wesleys for a time, Robinson served as a pastor in several churches. He wrote a number of works on theology, and two hymns that we know of, Mighty God, While Angels Bless Thee, and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. The latter hymn begins:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

The song is autobiographical in its confession of a proneness to wander away from the Lord. Though a man of intellectual brilliance, Robert Robinson was, in the words of Scripture, “unstable as water” (Gen. 49:4). In his later years he drifted away from God. This weakness is reflected in a later stanza of the hymn above:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

In a spiritually backslidden condition, the author was traveling in a stage coach one day. His only companion was a young woman unknown to him. In the providence of God, and not realizing who it was she spoke with, the woman quoted Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, saying what an encouragement it had been to her. And try as he might, Robinson could not get her to change the subject.

Finally, he said, with tears in his eyes, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who composed that hymn, many years ago. And I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I then had!” Gently, she replied, “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.” He was deeply touched by that. As a result of the encounter he repented. His fellowship with the Lord was restored through the ministry of his own hymn, and a Christian’s willing witness.

(2) Today in 1834 James Thompson Born

James Oren Thompson fought with Maine’s 17th Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, but for most of his adult life he served pastorates in a number of churches. He is known for one hymn only, a missionary prayer from 1885. The song says:

Far and near the fields are teeming
With the waves of ripened grain;
Far and near their gold is gleaming
O’er the sunny slope and plain.

Lord of harvest, send forth reapers!
Hear us, Lord, to Thee we cry;
Send them now the sheaves to gather
Ere the harvest time pass by.

The refrain is based on the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 9. The Bible says, “When [Christ] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (vs. 36). In response, the Lord said to His followers, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest” (vs. 37-38).

Today in 1915 – Margaret Clarkson Born

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Grain Elevator
Grain elevators like this once dotted the Saskatchewan prairies

Margaret Clarkson was born in Melville, Saskatchewan, a small city on the western prairies of Canada. She was a school teacher, an acclaimed author (of 17 books), and a hymn writer. I met her around 1985, and found her to be a sharp, no-nonsense kind of person. (I wondered if she  could have been a bit of a tyrant when she taught school!)

Margaret died in 2008. It is a mark of her personality that she had prepared her own funeral service, years in advance–prepared it to last exactly one hour. (And it did!) All these things aside, she wrote a number of fine hymns. (Check the Cyber Hymnal for a list of some of these.)

During her early years, she taught school in a remote lumber camp, and then a mining camp, in Northern Ontario. She says, “I experienced loneliness of every kind–mental, cultural, but particularly spiritual. I never found real Christian fellowship. Churches were modern [liberal in doctrine] and born again Christians almost non-existent.”

But one evening, meditating on the Scriptures, she came across Jesus’ words in John 20:21, “As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you.” She relates, “God seemed to tell me that night that this was my mission field, and this was where He had sent me.” Encouraged by the thought, she wrote a hymn poem entitled So Send I You. Presenting a starkly realistic picture of the painful sacrifice some have undergone for the cause of Christ, it says in part:

So sent I you to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing–
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

But that is not quite the end of the story. In later years, the author viewed her song with a critical eye. She came to the conclusion that, while such things were often true, they only give one side of the story. There are many positive blessings in the Lord’s work as well. So Margaret Clarkson wrote another similar hymn to balance the first. It says in part:

So send I you–by grace made strong to triumph
O’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death and sin,
My name to bear and in that name to conquer–
So send I you, My victory to share.

So send I you–My strength to know in weakness,
My joy in grief, My perfect peace in pain,
To prove My pow’r, My grace, My promised presence–
So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.

 (2) Were You There? (Data Missing)

When telling others about God’s salvation, the true believer is not speaking merely of an intellectual assent to some facts. He is recounting his own experiences of a personal relationship with the living Christ. By faith, he stood before the cross and the empty tomb, and applied the reality of them to his own heart and life.

There is a song which calls us to consider whether we have had this kind of personal spiritual experience. It is Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?, a song originating with the African-American slaves of the early 1800’s (though the tune may actually be of prior British origin). The earliest known printed version of this anonymous song is found in a book called Old Plantation Hymns, published in 1899.

The slaves could identify in a powerful way with the sufferings of Christ. His abuse at the hands of both the Jews and the Romans seemed to echo their own mistreatment. The simple song takes us through the Easter story with succeeding stanzas:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? …

Were you there when they pierced Him in the side? …

Were you there when the sun refused to shine? …

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? …

After each of these is the exclamation:

Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble,
Tremble, tremble!
Were you there when…?

And finally, the song ends with a message of hope and joy:

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Oh! Sometimes I feel like shouting glory,
Glory, glory!
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Tomorrow: Learn about a man restored to fellowship with the Lord by means of his own hymn!

Today in 1878 – Knowles Shaw Died

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When he was only 13, Knowles Shaw stood at the bedside of his dying father. “Prepare to meet thy God!” said the old man. Weighty words from Amos 4:12. And the young man promptly ignored them! A talented fiddler, he played for many community dances, living a careless, fun-filled life.

But five years later, at a rowdy dance party, Knowles Shaw seemed to hear his father’s words echoing in his heart. He says he dropped his violin bow on the spot. Sensing his values were all wrong, he determined never again to use his talent just to amuse the careless crowd. At the age of eighteen, Knowles Shaw gave his heart to Christ and prepared for Christian ministry. Records kept at the time suggest that the Lord used him to bring nearly 20,000 people to Christ.

In 1874, he wrote a gospel song called Bringing in the Sheaves. It is based on Psalm 126:5-6 which says:

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

That expresses a basic principle that can be applied to serving the Lord. A similar encouragement is given to us in Galatians, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal. 6:9). These passages remind us there is hard work involved in our service for the Lord, with heavy burdens, and perhaps even tears. But the end result is well worth it. In part, Knowles Shaw’s hymn says:

Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves;
When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.

Say what you will about any lack of polish evident in the singing on this video clip, but these folks clearly love to sing. Wow! (It takes them a stanza to warm up, but stick with it.) A “joyful noise unto the Lord” indeed! (Ps. 98:4, KJV).

(2) Sooner or Later (Data Missing)

Christians today are waiting for and looking forward to the promised return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11; II Tim. 4:8). We know He has promised to come “quickly” (Rev. 22:12, 20). Yet it has been 2,000 years since then. Has He forgotten to return? No. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

First, the Greek word translated “quickly” (tachu) can mean soon, but it also carries the idea of suddenly (and thus unexpectedly). Second, God does not count time as we do. He inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15), existing in the eternal now. The Bible says, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8). And Moses wrote of Him, “A thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past” (Ps. 90:4).

In His infinite wisdom, God has not chosen to reveal the timing of Christ’s return to us (Matt. 24:36). But we know that He is a God of truth, and sooner or later the Lord will come back again.

That became the theme of a gospel song that appears in several of our hymn books. Little is know of the author. Even her name is uncertain. She is listed as Lula W. Koch, and as Lulu W. Koch. She was born in 1892, but that is all we know. But here is a bit of her song.

Sooner or later the skies will be bright,
Tears will be all wiped away;
Sooner or later, then cometh the light,
Night will be turned into day.

Sooner or later cares will have flown,
Sunshine and gladness we’ll see;
Sooner or later God calleth His own,
With Him forever to be.

Sooner or later, our Lord knows the hour,
He’ll send His beloved Son;
Sooner or later, in His might and pow’r,
Our battles all will be won.

Today in 1594 – William Kethe Died

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Reformer John Calvin thought of the writing and singing of hymns as a dangerous liberty! In his opinion, it was like trying to add something to the Bible! For this reason, he promoted the singing of the Psalms of the Bible only, publishing poetic paraphrases of them in both French and English. One of these is a version of Psalm 100 called All People That on Earth Do Dwell.

The hymn is attributed to Scottish clergyman William Kethe. In a time of persecution, he was driven into exile in Geneva where Calvin was, along with John Knox, the Scottish reformer. There Kethe assisted in producing the Geneva Bible, a translation of the Scriptures. We have no absolute proof that he wrote the above hymn, but a number of early printings include his initials, W. Ke. The song says in part:

All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid He did us make;
We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take.

Some versions have “we are his flock” in the second stanza. Either fits Ps. 100:3. And it may in fact be a printer’s error that turned flock into “folck,” early on! The English language has changed somewhat in the 450 years since this hymn was written, but the priority of praising God remains. In the language of the original, “com ye before him and reioyce.”

(2) Today in 1840 – John Stainer Born

Knighted by Queen Victoria, Sir John Stainer was one of the preeminent church musicians of the Victorian era. An organist, a trainer of choirs, and a professor of music at Oxford, Stainer composed some 150 hymn tunes. He also produced the oratorio The Crucifixion in 1887, calling it “a meditation on the sacred passion of the holy Redeemer.” Its choral rendering of God So Loved the World is magnificent.

Note: I have a problem with the above rendition. Musically, it is well done, by a small  choir (12 voices). But it seems someone felt it would be a waste of time simply to sit and meditate on these sacred words. They called for the ushers to collect the offering while the song was sung! There is perhaps some latitude for the use of instrumental music at such times. But not vocal music. If we are in that much hurry to get the service over with, omit the offering, or place a plate at the door. But how can those assembled focus on the text while fumbling in purses and wallets and passing offering plates? Fortunately, the ushers are out of sight of the video camera after a few moments. But I believe there is a lack of due reverence in this practice.

If you have never done so, try singing Mary James’s hymn All for Jesus to Stainer’s superior tune Wycliff.

All for Jesus, all for Jesus!
All my being’s ransomed powers:
All my thoughts and words and doings,
All my days and all my hours.

(3) Today in 1882 – O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go written

This hymn was written by a blind Scottish pastor named George Matheson. On the day of his sister’s wedding, he thought about a painful experience known only to himself, one that had caused him great distress. We do not know for certain what this was, but the wedding may give us a clue. Years before Matheson himself was engaged to be married. But, with his rapidly deteriorating eyesight, he feared he’d be too great a burden on a wife. He wrote to his fiancé, releasing her from the pledge to marry him. (Other accounts suggest it was she who refused to be married to a “blind preacher.”)

It may have been the recollection of that heartbreak that caused Matheson to meditate on the love of the Lord that would never let him go. The Apostle Paul describes it this way: “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). The words of God to the nation of Israel are appropriate for Christians today as well: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3).

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go is a song that was written on a sudden inspiration on the day of the wedding of George Matheson’s sister. He says, “I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes.” The hymn begins:

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

Here is a male chorus version that uses a tune other than the traditional one. The close harmonies, and the power of a massed choir are stirring.

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