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Hymns

Whose Child Are You?

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One day in 1920, a young woman jumped from a Berlin bridge, apparently attempting to commit suicide. When she was rescued, she said her name was Anna Anderson. But was it? We may never know. Sad to say, because of her troubled mind, she would be in and out of a mental institution for years to come.

A Startling Claim

Some time later, Anna claimed she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. But the Tsar’s whole family had been murdered years before–or so people thought. So had one of them escaped? Or was this an imposter? Or was she simply deluded? Anna (or Anastasia) seemed to have a great deal of inside knowledge about the royal family. She eventually went to court to try to establish her claim. But even today, years after her death in 1984, her true identity remains in doubt.

An Important Question

Whose child are you? The answer provides a significant fact about you. We often have particular physical or mental characteristics passed on from our parents. And certain rights and privileges go with our family relationship, including our right to inherit what once belonged to others.

Something similar happens in the spiritual realm. When Jesus told the Jewish Pharisees, “You do the deeds of your father,” they thought he was speaking of their ancestor Abraham. But then Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8:41, 44).  (Ouch! How that must have stung their foolish pride!)

The Bible calls sinners “the sons of disobedience,” and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:2, 3). Because of their spiritual heritage, the lives of unbelievers are marred by sin, and they have inherited God’s eternal judgment. Not a happy prospect. But everything changes when the individual trusts in Christ as Saviour. Through faith, he or she experiences a new birth, a spiritual birth (John 1:12-13), and becomes a part of the family of God.

A New Relationship

We each need that inner transformation. The Bible says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus….Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 3:26; 4:7). What a privilege, to be an heir of God! In the joyful words of a hymn written by Harriet Buell in 1877,

I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Saviour,
I’m a child of the King.”

Lord’s Day Meditation – A Labour of Love

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God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister (Heb. 6:10).

Not that we are saved by doing good works. But these are “things that accompany salvation” (vs. 9). There ought to be a unique familial love among the people of God. It is an affection engendered by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and an evidence of our common salvation. “By this all will know that you are My disciples,” Jesus says, “if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:1).

Notice how the writer of Hebrews emphasizes the character of God with a negative and an understatement: “God is not unjust to forget.” Of course not! Not only is the Lord neither unjust nor forgetful, His justice is perfect, and His record of our deeds is complete and absolutely accurate.

And what an encouraging reminder Hebrews 6:10 provides! To help God’s people is to show love to Him. The Lord’s close identification with believers is a frequent theme of Scripture.

  • Paul (then known as Saul) learned of it on the road to Damascus. With a stabbing question, the glorified Christ described his persecution of Christians as what it really was, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4-5).
  • Flaunting our Christian liberty to the detriment of those who are spiritually weak is described this way in God’s Word: “When you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ” (I Cor. 8:12).
  • Christ’s familiar assurance in Matthew 25:40 relates to the coming Great Tribulation of prophecy, but it applies in principle today as well: “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren [i.e. helping and encouraging them], you did it to Me.’”

How can we give gifts to an unseen Christ? The answer is we honour and bless the Head by building and strengthening the body (Christ’s spiritual body, the church). Conversely, to harm the body dishonours the Head. Let’s not let up in faithfully serving the family of God. Notice vs. 11. “Show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope, until the end.” In the words of John Bode’s 1866 dedication hymn:

O Jesus, I have promised
To serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me,
My Master and my Friend.

Hymns and Gospel Songs

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Colossians 3:16 talks about music in the local church. It says we are to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” But what are these three types of sacred music?

1) The Psalms

That seems simple enough. It refers to the 150 songs in the Old Testament book of Psalms. But did you know that for a time many were convinced that was all the church should sing? In the eyes of some, writing new hymns was like trying to add to the Bible–which would be sinful. John Calvin believed that. But it is a point on which he and Martin Luther (a hymn writer himself) took opposite views.

In 1696 Nicholas Brady and Nahum Tate collaborated to produce a new metrical version of the Psalms “fitted to the tunes used in churches.” Fine. But they had the boldness to include, in a supplement, sixteen new hymns. This caused an uproar! On one occasion, Tate was visiting a friend when the time came for family devotions. The maid explained her refusal to take part, saying indignantly,

“Sir, as long as you sung Jesus Christ’s Psalms, I sung along with ye; but now that you sing Psalms of your own invention, ye may sing by yourselves!”

It was a teen-aged Isaac Watts (1674-1748) who finally turned the tide in this debate. He argued that if churches sang only the psalms of the Bible, they were missing the great truths of the New Testament, about the life of Christ, His death and resurrection, as well as other crucial subjects. Finally, his father, a deacon in their church, told him to go ahead and see what he could do. With that, Watts began turning out a hymn a week for years. Through his life, he wrote about 600 of them! It is for his valuable contribution to sacred music that Watts is known as the Father of English Hymnody.

Bottom line: “Psalms” are the Psalms of the Bible. And perhaps, for our purposes, we could broaden the category to include any portion of Scripture set to music.

2) Hymns and Spiritual Songs

The distinction between hymns and spiritual songs is less clear. It has been suggested that the hymns may have been congregational numbers and the spiritual songs were solos, but that is not a widely held view.

Look again at Colossians 3:16. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Notice the phrases I’ve put in italics. Most likely, what we have with these two classifications is the difference between “to the Lord” songs and “one another” songs. Selections that are called hymns are more particularly addressed to the Lord Himself, in praise or prayer. Spiritual songs (now commonly referred to as gospel songs) are songs of teaching and testimony in which we address one another.

Some examples may help to make it clearer.

  • Hymns: My Jesus, I Love Thee (talking to the Lord); How Great Thou Art; Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
  • Gospel Songs (or Spiritual Songs): What a Friend We Have in Jesus; All the Way My Saviour Leads Me; Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus (meaning, Let’s you and I do that).

Often there’s not a hard and fast division. Some songs do both. For example, the hymn Praise the Saviour, Ye Who Know Him is clearly addressing our fellow Christians. But a later stanza of the hymn turns to the Lord with a prayer, “Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving / To Thyself and still believing.”

In the nineteenth century, gospel songs were also commonly called Sunday School songs. An early pioneer in this style of hymnody was William Bradbury (1816-1868), who provided tunes for songs such as He Leadeth Me, and Sweet Hour of Prayer. These “Sunday School songs” had a strong evangelistic emphasis, and taught basic truths of Christian experience. They were often simpler in vocabulary, making them accessible to all, including children.  But it is not right for purists such as Louis Benson to disdain them as unworthy. Their endurance speaks to the place they have found in the hearts of many believers. We need both, hymns and gospel (or spiritual) songs, just as the Scripture says.

Determining the exact terminology to be used–hymns or gospel songs–is not that important. In fact, the word hymn is commonly used for both. Many times, when we call a piece of music a hymn we simply mean it is a sacred song. In this blog, the term hymn will be used frequently in that generic sense. But even if we don’t classify each song in its technically correct category, there is an important point to be made here.

With some of our songs we talk to God, and with others we talk to one another. And there should be some kind of balance of both types in our singing. Remember, the Lord is present when we meet in His name (Matt. 18:20). Shouldn’t we speak to Him? How would you like friends and family to throw a party in your honour, and then spend the evening talking to one another and never talk to you! Let’s make use of the best of both.

The Value of the Hymn Book

A number have been commenting on my purpose for writing about hymns. In that regard, I came across the following statement of John Wesley’s dated 1779. About the hymn book, he wrote:

In what other publication have you so distinct and full account of scriptural Christianity; such a declaration of the heights and depths of religion, speculative and practical; so strong cautions against the most plausible errors, particularly those now most prevalent; and so clear directions for making your calling and election sure; for perfecting holiness in the fear of God? [The latter phrases being taken from II Pet. 10:1 and II Cor. 7:1.]

Not all of our traditional hymns and gospel songs quite live up to Wesley’s lofty description, and we must be careful to base our theology on the Word of God, not on our hymns. Still, this statement beautifully reflects the Bible’s exhortation to be “teaching and admonishing one another” with our congregational singing (Col. 3:16).

About a century after Wesley, Bishop J. C. Ryle commented:

Good hymns are an immense blessing to the church of Christ. I believe the last day alone will show the world the real amount of good they have done. They suit all, both rich and poor. There is an elevating, stirring, soothing, spiritualizing, effect about a thoroughly good hymn, which nothing else can produce. It sticks in men’s memories when texts are forgotten. It trains men for heaven, where praise is one of the principal occupations. Preaching and praying shall one day cease for ever; but praise shall never die. 

Twentieth-century pastor and influential author A. W. Tozer said this:

I say without qualification, after the Sacred Scriptures, the next best companion for the soul is a good hymnal….To read or sing a true hymn is to worship with a great and gifted soul [meaning the author] in his moments of intimate devotion….Every Christian should have laying beside his Bible a copy of some standard hymn book.

Men such as Wesley, Ryle and Tozer were convinced that sacred music should be used not only for praise and worship, but for instruction and testimony, to the edifying of the body of Christ. And that the hymns and gospel songs of the church have a place in personal and family devotions as well. I enthusiastically agree! And the hymn book gives us a shared vocabulary with which to do that.

Hymns and the Bible

Hymns and the Bible go together like lightning and thunder, like spring and springing flowers. Or they should. (A couple of weeks ago, I woke up to see the ground covered with snow. Snow! In mid-May! What should go together doesn’t, always!) Anyway, back to my point. In Christianity, the Bible and the hymn book are closely associated. And a biblical faith is a singing faith.

  • Psalms, the longest book in the Bible, is actually an ancient hymn book. The Psalms were written to be sung.
  • Over 400 times in our English Bibles words such as music and singing are used–and “praising” God often means singing His praises.
  • Nine times in the Bible we are told that believers have a “new song” to sing. (Not necessarily meaning that it was written recently. The idea seems to be that it expresses a fresh experience with God.)
  • Singing will be an eternal occupation of God’s people. The book of Revelation pictures the scene in that coming day, saying, “They sang as it were a new song before the throne [of God]” (Revelation 14:3).

About Church Music

The early church was given some important instruction with regard to singing. Colossians 3:16 says:

Let the word of Christ [God’s Word, the Bible] dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing [exhorting, urging] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace [or thanksgiving] in your hearts to the Lord.

Notice several things there:

  • Our singing in church makes use of different kinds of music. (In a later blog we’ll go into the difference between “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”)
  • Our singing is aimed in two directions at once. We’re singing to “one another,” and we’re singing “to the Lord.”
  • Our singing is to be instructional and motivational, as we urge each other forward in our life and service for Christ.
  • Our singing is also to be an expression of worship and praise to God, in gratitude for all He’s done for us.
  • Our singing is to be Bible-based, rooted in the richness of insight gained from our meditation on the Scriptures.

The Most Important Thing

This brings us back to the connection between hymns and the Bible. There may be lots of reasons church congregations sing, and many different styles of singing. (Some of them worthy, and some that definitely need to be challenged!) But Colossians 3:16 tells us what God is looking for.

Our first concern about our hymnody (our sacred songs) should not be: Is this the newest on the market? Is it sung by such-and-such a recording star?  Is it popular? Does it have a great beat? Is it fun to sing? Does it show what good singers we are?

Our first concern must be: Is it biblical? Does it clearly communicate the truths of the Word of God? And is the setting (the tune and the musical arrangement) suitable to support and enhance the biblical message? Lord willing, these crucial tests will be at the heart of any discussion of what songs we will use in the services of the church.

Lord’s Day Meditation – The Work of the Lord

There’s a hymn by Isaac Watts that begins:

Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise Thy Name, give thanks and sing,
To show Thy love by morning light
And talk of all Thy truth at night.

On this Lord’s day, let us consider the “sweetness” of the work of the Lord, the delightful privilege that is ours to be His servants. The Word of God discusses the nature and motivation for our service in the following passage.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58).

  • Therefore–because we know God will give the ultimate victory through Christ (vs. 57).
  • My beloved brethren–my dear fellow-Christians. In the body of Christ we are part of a loving family relationship with other believers.
  • In the work of the Lord–doing the will of God. Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). We assist Him in that work as we call others to faith in Christ (evangelism), and build them up in the faith (edification). It is also a part of our calling to praise and worship God (exaltation).
  • Be steadfast–it’s in a continuous tense in the Greek language Paul used: keep on being steadfast (firm, settled, strong in purpose).
  • Be…immovable–a continuous tense again: keep on being firmly persistent, standing your ground.
  • Be…always abounding–overflowing, exceeding the bare minimum, excelling in what you do for Christ.
  • Knowing that your labour [your service] is not in vain [not empty or purposeless, never wasted or futile] in the Lord [in the cause of Christ].

Sticking at it is sometimes difficult, especially if we take too short-sighted a view. We need an eternal perspective which involves a belief in the resurrection (Paul’s theme in First Corinthians 15). Our labours might sometimes appear to be “in vain” within temporal limits. But let’s ask the Lord to help us see the Big Picture, so we can begin to understand how what we do for Him contributes to the eternal purposes of God.

Church Service Ideas: About Love and The Heart

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With the month of February we will have another Valentine’s Day celebrating love and romance. Since the concept of love is much distorted by the world, it may be a good time to remind your congregation about the real thing.

Perhaps you could build an entire worship service around the subject, preaching from a passage such as First Corinthians 13. There are some fine hymns on the theme: And Can It Be?; O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go; Jesus Loves Even Me (Bliss’s hymn is a favourite of mine.); My Jesus, I Love Thee (written by a Canadian teen-ager around 1862); More Love to Thee; and The Love of God (with the sublime poetry of that third verse).

And here is a Bible study on the human heart which you are welcome to use with your Sunday School class or study group: The Human Heart.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (Resignation)

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Question: Gloria asks, “Do you have a story for Resignation also known as “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need”? We are using it throughout Lent. Thanks.”

Shepherd with his sheep

Answer: There is not much information available on the hymn itself. I’ll give you what I know, and also tell you a bit about the author. “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” is a paraphrase of Psalm 23. It was written by Isaac Watts and first published in 1719, when he was 45 years old. “Resignation” is not the name of the hymn, but a name given to the tune frequently used with the song. It is a traditional American melody whose origins are obscure.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was both a pastor and a brilliant scholar, authoring some 60 books. He was also a hymn writer who has given us about 700 hymns. Considering that he died 260 years ago, it is a measure of the quality of his work that many of his hymns (around 25) are still in common use. Watts is called “the Father of English Hymnody,” because it was by his efforts that the church of his time broke away from singing only the words of Scripture (chiefly psalms). It was believed that to sing anything else in the house of God was a heresy tantamount to adding to the Word of God! But young Isaac argued with his father (a deacon in the church) that to focus on the Psalms meant they were missing important New Testament truths, particularly about the saving work of Christ.

Deacon Watts said sternly, “That old hymnal was good enough for your grandfather, and your father, so I reckon it will have to be good enough for you!” But the son was not to be so easily discouraged. He responded, “Father, I have [a hymn] which is better. Will you listen to it?” And his father was willing to hear what his son had composed. The words were indeed prophetic. The hymn begins, “Behold, the glories of the Lamb, / Amidst His Father’s throne; / Prepare new honours for His name, / And songs before unknown.” History records that Deacon Watts rose from his seat, put his arm around Isaac, and apologized for his hasty words. The congregation sang the hymn the next morning. It was such a blessing the people asked for more. The year was 1692–when Isaac Watts was only 18. But he began turning out one new hymn a week for them, a practice he kept up for years.

A compilation of these (including the hymn you ask about) was published in 1719 with the descriptive title, The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Applied to the Christian State and Worship. (They went in for long titles back then!) But the title is helpful, because it clearly explains the purpose behind Watts’s work. He had published Hymns and Spiritual Songs a few years earlier (in 1707, and a re-edited version in 1709). I mention that work because it contained the author’s masterpiece, still considered among the greatest two or three hymns in the English language–“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

Watts lived to the age of 75, which was exceptional in that day. But in 1712 he had to retire from pastoral ministry, due to failing health. He went to live with the family of Sir Thomas Abney, and became a tutor to his children. Perhaps the hymn in question was written during his time of infirmity and suffering, which would give it particular poignancy. We know the author laboured from 1700 to 1719 on the book which first contained the hymn in question. When the volume was completed he wrote, “May that God, who has favoured me with life and capacity to finish this work for the service of His churches, after so many years of tiresome sickness and confinement, accept this humble offering from a thankful heart.”

Day By Day

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Question: Nancy asks, “Do you know the story behind the hymn “Day by Day? I would appreciate this information. Thank you.”

Answer: In his autobiography, Out of the Depths, hymn writer John Newton makes this practical observation: “Sometimes I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of a year to a great bundle of [fire wood], far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once; He mercifully unties the bundle, and gives us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we chose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday’s stick over again today, and adding tomorrow’s burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.”

It is well said. So often our fretting over yesterday’s failures and our speculation about tomorrow’s possible problems robs us of present peace. In discussing the crippling danger of anxious care, the Lord Jesus reminds us, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34). As creatures of time, we live in the present moment, and that is where the Lord has promised to help us. We are invited to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). And His pledge is, “As you days, so shall your strength be” (Deut. 33:25).

Of course this does not preclude planning for the future. “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” (Lk. 14:28). Setting goals and evaluating our resources is one thing. Worrying and stewing over things that are beyond our control is quite another. Even with the best of preparation, tomorrow will have its unexpected challenges–and its blessings, too. We must leave that in God’s hands, looking to Him for the wisdom and strength to do His will (Heb. 4:16). His promise is, “My grace is sufficient for you” (II Cor. 12:9).

One who learned to take each day as it came was Carolina Sandell Berg (1832-1903). Lina Sandell, as she was commonly known, was married in 1867, to C. O. Berg, a merchant in the city of Stockholm. Mrs. Berg was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, in Sweden. She wrote numerous hymns that were used of God in the revivals that touched Scandinavia in the late 19th century. Her early contributions gained her the nickname “the Fanny Crosby of Sweden.” But one day in 1852 tragedy struck. She and her father were traveling by sea to Gothenburg when the ship pitched, suddenly. Pastor Sandell was thrown overboard and drowned. It is said that the songs which flowed from the young woman’s grieving heart afterward had a new spiritual depth. They breathed a simple, child-like faith, and an keen awareness of the presence of her loving Lord. She had learned the importance of trusting Him moment by moment.

“Day by Day” is one such hymn. It says, “Day by day and with each passing moment, / Strength I find to meet my trials here; / Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, / I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. / He whose heart is kind beyond all measure / Gives unto each day what He deems best— / Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, / Mingling toil with peace and rest.” Then the last stanza is a prayerful appeal. “Help me then in ev’ry tribulation / So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, / That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation / Offered me within Thy holy Word. / Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, / E’er to take, as from a father’s hand, / One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, / Till I reach the promised land.” That is how to deal with all the days God gives us–one by one–with our eyes on Him, and our trust in His unfailing Word.

Views & Reviews: Old Recordings of Hymns

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Would you like to know how hymns were sung, and how they sounded, a hundred years ago and more–back in the day when some of the authors (such as Fanny Crosby and others) were still alive? Though experimental recording was done as early as the 1870’s, recording music for sale and distribution was still in its infancy in 1898-1910. Nevertheless, there are some examples available from that period.

Edison cylinder recordings
Edison cylinder recordings

Ira Sankey (1840-1908), the gospel singer who worked with Dwight L. Moody, recorded a number of hymns late in his life. His voice had lost much of its quality by then, but the work is interesting, nonetheless. (Seven of those songs are available on a CD called “There’ll Be No Dark Valley–Hymns and Sacred Songs Sung by Ira Sankey.”) There is also a CD collection of 28 “Hymns and Sacred Songs” by various soloists, groups and instrumentalists. Either of these can be ordered (quite inexpensively) at http://www.tinfoil.com where many other old recordings can also be found.

You may find the style amusing at times, as it is quite different from what many are used to today. But there is a sincerity and warmth that comes through these remarkably clear recordings that has its own charm. Highly recommended.

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