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Hymns

Cutting Up the Pie

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There used to be a cute TV commercial depicting a young girl sharing out pieces of a dessert with two friends. Then a voice-over says, “And a big piece goes to her little brother”–who stands by, looking hopeful. Clearly she had not intended this. But when the voice insists, “And a big piece goes to her little brother,” she sighs and passes him a helping.

That got me thinking–that we sometimes view our lives like a pie. And a big piece goes to our family, and a big piece goes to our employer, and a big piece goes to our recreational pursuits, and so on. But if we are Christians, there is another issue. How big a slice of the pie belongs to God? Maybe we plan to fill the other plates first. Then, if there are left-overs, we will see they are passed on to Him. Or perhaps we readily cut him a large piece.

But all of this falls short. In truth, the whole pie belongs to Him! All we are and have comes from God, and ultimately belongs to Him. We are stewards of these things, no more. King David recognized that when he prayed regarding his people’s offering to the Lord, “All things come from You, and of Your own we have given You” (I Chron. 29:14). The Macedonian believers did too, whom Paul commends because “they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then [gave] to us by the will of God” (II Cor. 8:5).

Mary Dagworthy James reached a point in her life where she grasped that essential truth. Mrs. James (1810-1883) had been a Sunday School teacher since she was thirteen years old. But in later years she offered herself to God as a “living sacrifice,” releasing every part of her life to His control. Her service for God included assisting in the meetings of a leading evangelist of the day. Mary also penned about fifty hymns. One of these, entitled All for Jesus, reflects her commitment.

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.

All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours;
All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
All my days and all my hours.

Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.

Missing Verses

If you have a large library of hymnals, and books on hymn history, as I do, or if you check a well-researched Web site such as the Cyber Hymnal, you will discover that many of the hymns we know and love have additional stanzas that are seldom, if ever, printed in today’s hymn books.

The reasons for this are varied. Sometimes, the verses omitted are of relatively poor poetic quality, or they may express a doctrinal position that is questionable. Sometimes, it is a bow to contemporary culture–because most congregations today would be unwilling to sing eight or ten stanzas. (Often three or four seem to tax us!) Many times, however, it seems to be simply a matter of space and keeping hymn books from becoming unmanageably large.

That being said, there are some unsung treasures in the missing stanzas of our hymns. It is worthwhile doing a bit of research on this. And if you are a pastor, or worship leader, you may be able to print a missing stanza in the bulletin, occasionally, or include it on an overhead. It will be an added blessing for all who think they already know the hymn.

Following are a few examples.

Why, for instance, would editors omit this stanza of There Shall Be Showers of Blessing which contains a key principle of application:

There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.

There is a worshipful stanza of Fairest Lord Jesus that few hymn books include:

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Saviour, art to me.

Several hymn books I’ve seen leave out the following insightful stanza of More Love to Thee. The author of the song, a bedridden invalid, could make this statement from personal experience, and it is reminiscent of the testimony of Paul that he could glory in his infirmities (II Cor. 12:7-10):

Let sorrow do its work, come grief or pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Several stanzas of the poem that became the popular hymn, How Great Thou Art, have not been used with the hymn. Here is one that I’ve found a blessing:

When burdens press, and seem beyond endurance,
Bowed down with grief, to Him I lift my face;
And then in love He brings me sweet assurance,
“My child, for thee, sufficient is My grace.”

And here is the concluding stanza of the carol, As With Gladness Men of Old, which takes us beyond the bounds of time into eternity:

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

This is an often missing stanza of I Need Thee Every Hour:

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfil.

Being something of a traditionalist, I’m not always enthused by the modern trend to tamper with our old hymns. But from time to time I come across a change that seems helpful. Long ago, hymn writer Edward Bickersteth added this final stanza to Nearer, My God, to Thee:

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Saviour’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God to Thee, nearer to Thee.

I encourage you to do some research of your own. You may be surprised and delighted by what you find!

The S.P.T.H.S.

It is unfortunate that so many churches have largely abandoned the old hymns. But there is an encouraging return to them in some quarters–churches that have realized the shallowness of some contemporary choruses, and are turning back to our great heritage once again.

That many love our traditional hymnody is evidenced by the responses I’ve received concerning this blog, responses from others who quote from the old songs and tell of their enjoyment of them. Similar encouragement has been passed on from those who read my weekly newspaper column on the subject. Perhaps there is still hope. Not that we should totally abandon the new in favour of the old. But our congregations today also need the depth of insight and doctrine found in some wonderful hymns.

For many years, I conducted Community Hymn Sings, and found that folk from many different churches were interested in attending these times of fellowship and singing. The great old hymns tended to unite us across many denominational lines. While there are hymns and gospel songs that reflect a particular doctrinal position, the vast majority present basic truths upon which most can agree. They provide a rich vocabulary of praise and testimony.

It also seemed to be an extra blessing for many if the singing at these community events was done in four-part harmony. Perhaps there were too few singers in their home church who were able to read music or sustain a part. But with a larger group, specifically assembled to sing, the possibility of harmonizing was increased. At one hymn sing at least I recall having folks divide roughly into four sections–soprano, alto, tenor and bass, so that the ease of singing a part was increased.

There are endless possibilities. Have you ever heard of the S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.? It stands for the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. In daydreams and flights of fancy I’ve thought, What if we had a S.P.T.H.S. a Society for the Promotion of Traditional Hymn Singing? If we could get “branches” going in several locations, then plan an annual Festival of Hymn Singing, and get the whole bunch together…

Well, it’s an idea!

Lead the Way

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You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.

Ps. 32:7-9

In a time of temptation, King David had fallen into great sin, involving himself in adultery and murder. Then he tried to hide from God, to conceal the evil he had done (vs. 3). But finally he acknowledged his sin (vs. 5). Once again he was able to enjoy the blessed privilege of all those in right standing with God, safely hiding in Him, instead of hiding from Him.

In Psalm 143:8, David prays, “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.” And Ps. 32:8 supplies the answer. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye [upon you].” the reason we need instruction and guidance is illustrated in the first part of the psalm. Without the Lord directing us, and our own obedient trust in His direction, we will go astray. We will only avoid the paths of sin by consistently following the Lord.

God will instruct…teach…and guide. There is a wonderful progression in that. To instruct (sakal in Hebrew) is to make wise, to give understanding. To teach (yawraw in Hebrew) is to direct, and point the way. The first is an enduring inner quality; the second is situational, direction for the present case.

Then, the second provision contrasts in turn with a third. If the second perhaps has to do with pointing the way at the beginning of a journey, the third has to do with its progress. To guide (yawats in Hebrew) means to advise, to give counsel. And the Lord says He does this “with My eye.” That is, keeping an eye on you, keeping you under observation. The three operations are accomplished by the Spirit of God, through the Word of God. And what a full provision for our progress!

But it is not automatic. Vs. 9 makes an important contrast between us and dumb animals that must be controlled and virtually forced to do their master’s will. In our case, there are choices to be made. Will we seek and accept God’s wisdom, and His direction and guidance? Or not? That is up to us. Nathaniel Niles reflects upon our text in his 1873 gospel song:

Precious promise God has given
To the weary passerby,
On the way from earth to heaven,
“I will guide thee with Mine eye.”

I will guide thee, I will guide thee,
I will guide thee with Mine eye
On the way from earth to heaven,
I will guide thee with Mine eye.

When temptations almost win thee
And thy trusted watchers fly,
Let this promise ring within thee,
“I will guide thee with Mine eye.”

Principles of Giving

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Consider II Cor. 9:6-15, one of the New Testament’s key passages on the theme of Christian giving.

6  But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7  So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
9  As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10  Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11  while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
12  For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
13  while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
14  and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
15  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Paul is in the process of collecting money to aid the poor believers in Jerusalem (8:4; cf. Gal. 2:9-10). The Corinthian Christians wanted to do their part (II Cor. 9:1-2). And in the apostle’s instruction to them there are many important principles presented, relating to Christian giving in the Church Age.

  1. In vs. 6 there is the law of the harvest, that reaping is proportionate to sowing.
  2. The motive of the giver is not to be legal obligation or forced necessity, but a personal decision reflecting the joy of the Lord in the heart (vs. 7)

At one point a famous woman preacher became dissatisfied with the size of the offerings being received at her meetings. There were too many coins on the offering plates to suit her. To prevent this, she had cards placed in the pew racks to which givers were instructed to pin their offerings! It is unfortunate that by this kind of manipulation she may have missed the blessing of the widow’s mite (Lk. 21:1-4).

  1. The power to give comes from God Himself. “God is able” (vs. 8) suggests the potential is there to receive all that faith will trust Him for.  And He is involved in our giving, both in providing the means for us to give, and then multiplying the effectiveness of the gift.
  2. On receiving the gifts of obedient Christians, the receivers will be prompted to express gratitude to God (vs. 11-13). Like the cycles in nature (cf. Ecc. 1:7), what God gives us returns to Him with praise and thanksgiving (vs. 11, 12).
  3. The receivers will be encouraged to pray for the givers (vs. 14). Their focus will not be simply on the money, though surely it will be welcomed, but on their kind and generous brothers and sisters in Christ.
  4. Generous giving causes us to reflect on the greatest gift of all, God’s Son who came to be our Saviour (vs. 15; cf. Jn. 3:16). It is a basic principle: Greater than the gift of material things is the gift of one’s self.
  5. We can never out-give God. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” And what is this indescribable gift? It certainly involves all the “riches of grace” (cf. 8:9; Eph. 2:7-9; Rom. 6:23), in other words, all that is involved in our eternal salvation. However, since “he who has the Son has life” (I Jn. 5:12), it would not be wrong to see God’s gift as personified in Christ (cf. Rom. 8:32).

In the words of the hymn by William Walsham How:

We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate’er the gift may be:
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

And we believe Thy Word,
Though dim our faith may be:
Whate’er for Thine we do, O Lord,
We do it unto Thee.

Good Hope by Grace

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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

II Thess. 2:16-17

This is a prayer of the apostle for the believers in Thessalonica. It is a petition for their encouragement and strength in service. Also in the epistle we find a prayer for God’s blessing, and for His glory (1:11-12), a prayer for love and patience (3:5), and for peace (3:16). In our work for the Lord, we need all of these. And there is a companion prayer in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church:

Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

I Thess. 3:11-13

God has loved us (Jn. 3:16) and given us “everlasting consolation [abiding comfort and encouragement]” due to our secure standing in grace (Rom. 5:2). Praise the Lord for His “good hope by grace!” It is “the hope of salvation” (I Thess. 5:8). And salvation is our present possession, by grace through faith, but there are many blessings reserved for us that are yet to be enjoyed.

That is our hope–the joyful certainty of future blessing. It is “a better hope,” when contrasted with the inability of the Mosaic Law to save (Heb. 7:19), tied to “the blessed hope” of Christ’s return (Tit. 2:13). And it is “a living hope” which guarantees the eternal blessing of all who believe (I Pet. 1:3-5).

All of this becomes not only a reassurance, but a strengthening resource that we might be equipped to speak for the Lord and to serve Him. Loving words and actions are to flow out of hearts that are encouraged and strengthened by Him. Or, to put it another way, the confidence that He will enable us to serve is rooted in an appreciation for the broad scope of His saving work through Christ.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

No Singing in Church!

Most of us have come to take hymn singing in the services of the church as not only expected but necessary.

Our hymns bring us in contact with a rich Christian heritage, and congregational singing is an act of Christian fellowship. The hymns often (though not always, it is granted) expose us to great poetry and great music, giving our worship a due sense of majesty and beauty. In song, we not only worship and praise the Lord, we bear testimony to what He has done and is doing in our lives. Further, well chosen hymns support and enhance the teachings of the Word of God that are shared from the pulpit, causing them to be better remembered.

For all these reasons and more, hymn singing should continue to be a part of our church life. But that has not always been universally accepted.

The Second Baptist Church of Newport, Rhode Island, was constituted in 1656, when it is said they rejected singing as part of religious services, and omitted it for over one hundred years. In 1765, singing was introduced. After very great agitation, numerous church meetings, and much opposition, permission was given to sing one hymn or psalm during the service. Out of regard for tender consciences, those who could not endure the sound were allowed to remain out in the cold until it was concluded!

In England, the church that grew into one that Charles Spurgeon later pastored was originally against singing. When an attempt was made to introduce it, those opposed withdrew and formed themselves into a church in London, electing one of their number, Edward Wallen, as pastor. Things remained the same for nearly 40 years, until Mr. Wallen died. Then the people found it difficult to get another leader to suit their views, and so they asked his son Benjamin Wallen to be their pastor. To their astonishment, he would only accept the call on the condition that they would introduce singing! At length they yielded to this requirement and, in 1741, their meeting house began resounding with songs of praise.

How sad this is! With the Apostle Paul let us say, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding” (I Cor. 14:15; cf. Ps. 47:7). To deprive God’s people of the joy of song is to take from them a gift of God almost as essential as breathing! A church without music is a contradiction in terms.

“O come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation” (Ps. 95:1). “Sing out the honour of His name; make His praise glorious” (Ps. 66:2). “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.”

Col. 3:16

Lord’s Day Meditation – A Sacred Duty

David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep [in death, and] was buried with his fathers” (Acts 13:36).

That is our challenge–to serve our own generation. And one of the most powerful works of God in history was accomplished by the Methodists in England, in the mid-eighteenth century. That was a time when the nation was virtually a spiritual wasteland. Coarseness and violence in society were widespread, and drunkenness was rampant. Moral values were in retreat.

With few exceptions, the clergy of the time were part of the problem, not part of the solution. They did no more than was absolutely necessary to keep their positions, preferring to spend their time fox hunting, playing cards, and guzzling alcohol like their parishioners.

But against that tide of immorality God launched the dynamic ministry of John and Charles Wesley. Not only did they preach a strong salvation message, they issued a call to holy living as well. But it was not easy going. The two men often faced strong opposition in their service for Christ. And scornful abuse was shared by their converts too. It was a costly thing to identify yourself as a follower of Christ in those days. One writer says,

“They were outrageously treated–stoned, mauled, ducked [in water, until nearly drowned], hounded by bulldogs, threatened, [their] homes looted, businesses ruined.” It was said that anyone walking through a town could pick out, by their ravaged condition, the homes where Methodists lived. Commitment to serving God back then was far more than a word. It involved the sacrifice of a life upon the altar of sacred duty.

One day in 1762, Charles Wesley was pondering this truth. He read in Scripture of the responsibility assigned to the Levites in Israel to guard the tabernacle of worship. God’s command was, “You shall stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting…and keep the charge of the Lord” (Lev. 8:35). They were to see that no unauthorized person entered, and that nothing offensive to a holy God was done there. Later, the Lord said, “The Levites shall camp around the tabernacle…that there may be no wrath on the congregation…and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle…” (Num. 1:53).

As his meditation on this continued, Wesley consulted a commentary written by a man named Matthew Henry. That author said, “We shall every one of us have a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, one generation to serve.” Those glowing words became the basis for Charles Wesley’s hymn, A Charge to Keep I Have. God’s Word says of King David, “He…served his own generation by the will of God” (Acts 13:36). No greater charge and challenge confronts us. Will you do that today?

Wesley’s hymn reads in part as follows, with one change. The third line of the opening stanza was originally, “A never-dying soul to save.” But this almost seems to imply “by my own efforts”–a notion Charles Wesley would reject as unscriptural (cf. Eph. 2:8-9). It is sometimes altered to what you see here.

A charge to keep I have–
A God to glorify,
Who gave His Son my soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.

To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfil;
O may it all my powers engage,
To do my Master’s will.

The Golden Age of Hymnody

Graphic Golden Age

The Golden Age of Hymnody was roughly the period from 1700 to 1900. In calling these two centuries hymn writing’s Golden Age, I do not mean to imply that no worthwhile songs were written either before or after. Of course they were. Nor am I suggesting that all that was written during this period is of the highest quality. But, generally speaking, the quality and quantity of what was written in those two hundred years is unsurpassed and, in my view, never will be surpassed.

The Reformation laid the foundation by emphasizing the authority of the Word of God. And the Lord used the great spiritual awakenings that followed in the eighteenth century to infuse our hymnody with devotional fervour and spiritual power. Doctrinal depth and precision was thus wedded to spiritual warmth and insight.

A quick reminder of something I covered in an earlier post: Colossians 3:16 says we are to sing to one another, and to the Lord. Though we often use the word “hymns” generically, there is a difference between hymns and gospel songs. Both have value and deserve a place in our congregational singing, but they are not the same–though some songs actually incorporate both elements.

  • Hymns. These can be described as the “to the Lord” congregational songs, songs of praise and prayer.
  • Gospel Songs. The nineteenth century brought an increase in the number of gospel songs. These can be described as “one another songs,” songs of teaching and testimony.

The Lord gave gifted hymn writers to the church in the years referred to, men and women who often wrote songs in the hundreds and even thousands. Some of the key individuals active in this period are: Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Newton, James Montgomery, Fanny Crosby, and Philip Bliss. (These few people alone produced over 16,000 songs!) These, plus a host of others, have given us the major portion of our English hymnody.

There are other factors too. Practical changes in society amplified the impact of the hymns that were produced. For instance, developments in both the area of more rapid communications and in ease of travel provided for the wider dissemination of songs that were written.

Many of the songs we’ll look at in this blog are from hymnody’s Golden Age. I encourage you to keep on reading and singing these hymns. In my view, any local assembly that does not continue to use this wonderful heritage is robbing the congregation of a valuable means of glorifying God and its people of a means of edifying one another.

Mr. Perronet’s Joke

Edward Perronet (1726-1792) was born in England, the descendant of a distinguished French family that had fled the continent in a time of religious oppression. Like his father before him, Edward sought to enter Christian ministry, and he joined with the Wesleys in their evangelical outreach. Brothers John and Charles Wesley were an outstanding team. Charles wrote many hymns that are still in use. John was usually the preacher. In his lifetime, he traveled about 250,000 miles on horseback, and preached some 42,000 sermons!

But Perronet served the Lord, under very difficult circumstances during his time with the Wesleys. This was in the 1740’s and 1750’s when the “Methodists” as they came to be known were suffering much persecution. Their street preachers were often violently attacked. This note appears in Wesley’s diary: “From Rockdale we went to Bolton, and soon found that the Rockdale lions were lambs in comparison with those of Bolton. Edward Perronet was thrown down and rolled in mud and mire. Stones were hurled and windows broken.”

John Wesley was always hoping to encourage new preachers. As he got to know Edward Perronet, he saw the quality of the man, and asked him to preach to one of the assembled crowds. Perronet refused, thinking how poor a message he could offer in comparison to the dynamic Wesley. This went on for some time. And each time Wesley asked him to speak, the young man deferred to him. Finally, John Wesley adopted a new and bold strategy. Instead of asking beforehand, he stood while a meeting was in progress and announced, “Mr. Perronet will now speak to us.”

How could he refuse? It would embarrass not only himself but his leader as well. So, slowly he stepped forward and took his place before the assembled crowd. Every eye was on him–and no doubt a few jaws dropped!–as he declared, “I will now present the greatest sermon ever heard on earth!”

Then, Edward Perronet proceeded to read the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 5–7, and sat down. (Talk about quick thinking!)

Peronnet went on to become a pastor. And the faithful servant of God wrote a number of hymns, but almost none are used today. Edward Perronet might have been long forgotten, except for a most significant contribution to our hymnody. In 1779 he penned what has been called the “National Anthem of Christendom:” It summons us to worship in this way:

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all!

Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all!

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