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Hymns

Today in 1881 – Eleanor Farjeon Born

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English writer, Eleanor Farjeon was the daughter of novelist Benjamin Farjeon. She wrote poems, novels, plays, and childrens books. In 1959 she received the Regina Medal for her work with children. She also authored the hymn, Morning Has Broken, published in 1931.

Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

Here is a multi-track piano and Irish whistle “duet” of the tune (called Bunessan). It’s not a professional performance, but is well done, and I believe it captures the haunting nature of the melody nicely.

(2) Today in 1940 – Rufus McDaniel Died

Rufus Henry McDaniel was an American clergyman with the Christian Church, serving a number of churches in Ohio. He wrote more than a hundred hymns, but, as is sometimes the case, only one remains in common use today, Since Jesus Came Into My Heart. He wrote it during a time of great heartbreak. The McDaniel’s youngest son, Herschel had just died, and he and his wife were grieving over the loss. But Pastor McDaniel felt the best way to honour their son was to write a song expressing the believer’s hope in Christ.

God honoured this declaration of faith in an amazing way. Shortly afterward, Billy Sunday held an evangelistic meeting in the city of Philadelphia. Rufus McDaniel’s hymn, used at that time, was instrumental in bringing a tough-minded police officer named Fowler to faith in Christ. And the “wonderful change” in the life of this man was influential in bringing more than a hundred more policemen to the Saviour.

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart!
I have light in my soul for which long I had sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart!

Since Jesus came into my heart,
Since Jesus came into my heart,
Floods of joy o’er my soul
Like the sea billows roll,
Since Jesus came into my heart.

I have ceased from my wandering and going astray,
Since Jesus came into my heart!
And my sins, which were many, are all washed away,
Since Jesus came into my heart!

(3) Today in 1952 – William Sparrow-Simpson Died

William John Sparrow-Simpson was an Anglican cleric who supplied the libretto for John Stainer’s oratorio, The Crucifixion. Included in that 1887 work were the words of a congregational hymn called Cross of Jesus–which has since been printed by itself in a number of hymnals.

Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect Man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!

Here the King of all the ages,
Throned in light ere worlds could be,
Robed in mortal flesh is dying,
Crucified by sin for me.

O mysterious condescending!
O abandonment sublime!
Very God Himself is bearing
All the sufferings of time!

Today in 1894 – Albert Ketchum Born

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Little is known about Albert Allen Ketchum, except that he was once a student at Moody Bible Institute, in Chicago, and lived at one time in Long Beach, California. The date of his death appears to be May 21, 1982, though Rejoice Hymns (Majesty Music, 2011) lists it as 1984. While attending Moody in the early 1920’s, he wrote the words and music for a gospel song called, Why Do I Sing About Jesus? It was one of 12 or 15 songs he submitted to Harry Dixon Clarke for publication. The song raises a good question. We certainly sing to praise the Lord, and to bear witness to what He means to us. For an article on this subject, see Why Christians Sing.

Deep in my heart there’s a gladness–
Jesus has saved me from sin!
Praise to His name, what a Saviour!
Cleansing without and within.

Why do I sing about Jesus?
Why is He precious to me?
He is my Lord and my Saviour:
Dying, He set me free!

Graphic Fanny Crosby in old age

(2) Today in 1915 – Fanny Crosby Died

Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby was the preeminent gospel song writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Not only is that indicated by the sheer volume of her work (somewhere between 8,500 and 9,000 songs), but by the number of songs she wrote that are still found in our hymn books, and still enjoyed by believers everywhere.

The blind poetess was able to express the joy and emotional warmth of the Christian life, within the context of simple, but sound, doctrine. Notice the book in her hand in the photograph. She always held a small Bible or New Testament before her when she composed her hymns. While she could not see it, it seemed to be a reminder to her of where the truths she expressed in poetry came from.

Even to list all of her more popular songs is beyond the scope of this blog. Here are just a few:

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me
Blessed Assurance
Draw Me Nearer
He Hideth My Soul
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
Meet Me There
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour
Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It
Rescue the Perishing
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
To God Be the Glory
Will Jesus Find Us Watching?

Fanny Crosby grave

Fanny Crosby’s 95 years of life (1820-1915) roughly corresponded to the life of Queen Victoria (1819 to 1901), so she lived through the entire Victorian Era. As she neared the time of her death, Fanny made careful preparations. Close by the cemetery plot where she would be buried was the grave of the famous showman and circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum. His grave was marked by a large, ostentatious monument that Fanny abhorred. She asked for a simple gravestone, and her wish was granted–a stone describing her affectionately as “Aunt Fannie,” and quoting Jesus’ words about Mary, after she anointed Him with costly oil, “She hath done what she could” (Mk. 14:8:, KJV).

In after years friends, who appreciated her enormous contribution to the Christian community worldwide, replaced the original stone with one that contains a bit more information about Fanny and her husband, Alexander Van Alstyne. It also quotes from her song, Blessed Assurance, which sums up the very essence of her personal testimony and her message:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour, all the day long.

It may be of interest to include here Fanny’s final lines of verse, written just hours before she died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage:

In the morn of Zion’s glory,
When the clouds have rolled away,
And my hope has dropped its anchor
In the vale of perfect day,
When with all the pure and holy
I shall strike my harp anew,
With a power no arm can sever,
Love will hold me fast and true.

Today in 1836 – Washington Gladden Born

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Washington Gladden was a Congregational pastor, editor of a couple of publications, and the author of 32 books. He also wrote the hymn, O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee, memorable to me personally because it is the first hymn I ever sang as a solo, many years ago.

A fine speaker, and an influential churchman though he was, Gladden did not fully believe the Bible he preached! For him, it was a book of religious teachings, but not the inspired Word of the living God–which it certainly declares itself to be (II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21).

The prime period of Gladden’s  ministry came just after the American Civil War, when the nation was experiencing both the progress and the problems of the industrial revolution. Pastor Gladden embroiled himself in labour negotiations with the Telegraphers Strike (1883), and the Hocking Valley Coal Strike (1884). He fought against the organization of the infamous “Boss Tweed,” in New York City, and was largely responsible for seeing the corrupt politician put in prison.

The man was much criticized for such activities in some quarters. Not that these efforts at social justice were wrong or unnecessary. But one could argue that a man of God has a higher calling to attend to. Washington Gladden was an early proponent of the social gospel, and he seemed less concerned for people’s spiritual need and eternal salvation than for their social and economic welfare. Nonetheless, Pastor Gladden has given us a lovely hymn about the believer’s need to walk with the Lord.

Gladden did not actually write his lines of verse as a hymn, but simply as a poem. Some lines omitted from the hymn show the passion of the man. See how he lashes out against his critics–though perhaps, in hindsight, he needed to pay more attention to what at least some of them were saying!

O Master, let me walk with Thee
Before the taunting Pharisee;
Help me to bear the sting of spite,
The hate of men who hide Thy light,
The sore distrust of souls sincere
Who cannot read Thy judgments clear,
The dullness of the multitude,
Who dimly guess that Thou art good.

Dr. Gladden’s hymn, as it appears in our hymn books, has merit as a challenge to practical Christian service. It begins:

O Master, let me walk with Thee,
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.

Here is a pipe organ meditation, variations on the tune of this hymn.

(2) Today in 1888 – James Small Died

Scotsman James Grindlay Small attended the University of Edinburgh and, following a study of theology under Dr. Thomas Chalmers, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. It is said that certain peculiarities of speech and manner prevented his advancement into pastoral ministry, but those who knew him admired his godly character. Though he wrote and compiled several volumes of verse, he has given us a single hymn, I’ve Found a Friend.

I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! He loved me ere I knew Him;
He drew me with the cords of love, and thus He bound me to Him;
And round my heart still closely twine those ties which naught can sever,
For I am His, and He is mine, forever and forever.

I’ve found a Friend, O such a Friend! He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life, but His own self He gave me!
Naught that I have mine own I call, I’ll hold it for the Giver,
My heart, my strength, my life, my all are His, and His forever.

Today in 1791 – Henry Milman Born

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Henry Hart Milman was a recognized scholar and historian. At Oxford University he won a series of awards, later writing a play that was presented at London’s Covent Garden. He became Poetry Professor at Oxford in 1821. Then, turning his attention to a study of theology, he eventually became canon at Westminster, and rector at St. Margarets’s, and dean of St. Paul’s.

Henry Milman published 13 hymns, but only one remains in common use, Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, a hymn about the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, just before His crucifixion.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry;
O Saviour meek, pursue Thy road
With palms and scattered garments strowed.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die!
O Christ! Thy triumph now begin
Over captive death and conquered sin.

Graphic Life Preserver

(2) Today in 1851 – Edwin Ufford Born

Edwin Smith Ufford attended schools in Connecticut and Maine. He was licensed to preach by the Baptists, and served congregations in Maine and Massachusetts. Saved as a young man, Edwin Ufford was inspired by a biography of Dwight Moody to devote his life to preaching the gospel. He came from a musical family, both his father and grandfather being choir directors. Ufford wrote a number of hymns, but only one remains in use today.

Pastor Ufford witnessed a lifesaving drill one day, at a spot where there had been an earlier shipwreck. At low tide, the remains of the wreck could be seen some distance out to sea. As he watched the routines practiced, the order to “throw out the lifeline” caught his fancy and echoed in his mind. Back home, he quickly produced both words and music for a song that made a spiritual application of what he had seen.

Throw out the life line across the dark wave;
There is a brother whom someone should save;
Somebody’s brother! O who then will dare
To throw out the life line, his peril to share?

Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line!
Someone is drifting away;
Throw out the life line! Throw out the life line!
Someone is sinking today.

Throw out the life line to danger fraught men,
Sinking in anguish where you’ve never been;
Winds of temptation and billows of woe
Will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow.

(3) Today in 1857 – John Driver Born

John Merritte Driver served as a Methodist Episcopal pastor in Illinois. He has give us one hymn only, Wonderful Story of Love.

Wonderful story of love;
Tell it to me again;
Wonderful story of love;
Wake the immortal strain!
Angels with rapture announce it,
Shepherds with wonder receive it;
Sinner, O won’t you believe it?

Wonderful story of love,
Wonderful! Wonderful!
Wonderful, wonderful story of love.

Wonderful story of love;
Jesus provides a rest;
Wonderful story of love;
For all the pure and blest,
Rest in those mansions above us,
With those who’ve gone on before us,
Singing the rapturous chorus,

Today in 1872 – Edith Cherry Born

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English poetess, Edith Gilling Cherry was stricken with polio in infancy, and for the rest of her brief life she walked with the aid of crutches. (Miss Cherry died at the age of 25.) Most of her poems were written before she was 15 years old. She was a deeply spiritual young woman, ever conscious of her spiritual failings.

Edith Cherry gave the glory to God for her rich and insightful poetry. When she lay dying, after suffering a stroke, she said, “It all seems so small, all I have tried to do, so small to Him.” Her mother answered, “There are your songs, dear, they will carry on your work.” But Edith quickly replied, “Ah, but they were not mine at all, they were just given to me all ready, and all I had to do was write them down.”

Miss Cherry’s beautiful hymn, We Rest on Thee, was sung on January 8th, 1956, by the five missionaries about to make contact with the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Shortly afterward, they were all martyred. Elisabeth Elliot, wife of Jim Elliot, one of the five, drew the title for her book, Through Gates of Splendour, from a line of Edith Cherry’s hymn. This great hymn should be used more often that it has been. The tune is Finlandia, by Jean Sibelius. 

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.

Yes, in Thy name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendour,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

Here a couple of clips featuring this hymn. In the first, it is being sung as a congregational hymn–reverently, and prayerfully.  On the video clip that follows, the singing is not great. But you can turn down the sound and get the inspiring story of the martyred missionaries to the Aucas in pictures with captions.

(2) Today in 1965 – Harold Loes Died

Born Harold Loes, the American gospel song writer took the middle name Dixon in honour of A. C. Dixon, the pastor of Moody Church at the time. Harry Dixon Loes studied at Moody Bible Institute, and after extensive training in music he served a number of churches with a ministry of music. From 1939 until his retirement he was a member of the music faculty of Moody Bible Institute. He wrote the lyrics for 1,500 gospel songs, and composed 3,000 tunes.

One day in 1915, Paul Rader preached a sermon in Moody Church, in Chicago. His theme was, “All that I want is in Jesus.” In the congregation was young Harry Dixon Loes, then a senior at Moody Bible Institute, where he would eventually teach. Inspired by Dr. Rader’s message, Harry Loes wrote the words and music for a song he called All Things in Jesus. It was first sung by the church’s youth group.

Friends all around me are trying to find
What the heart yearns for, by sin undermined;
I have the secret, I know where ’tis found:
Only true pleasures in Jesus abound.

All that I want is in Jesus.
He satisfies, joy He supplies;
Life would be worthless without Him;
All things in Jesus I find.

Some carry burdens whose weight has for years
Crushed them with sorrow and blinded with tears.
Yet One stands ready to help them just now,
If they will humbly in penitence bow.

Today in 1865 – Lewis Jones Born

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Lewis Edgar Jones graduated from Moody Bible Institute, in Chicago, in the same class as famed evangelist Billy Sunday. Jones became actively involved in the YMCA, holding various positions in that organization over the years. His hymn writing (of both words and music) was a sideline, but he produced quite a few songs that were published, writing under a variety of pen names, such as Lewis Edgar, Edgar Lewis, Mary Slater, and more. The song for which he is best known today is There Is Power in the Blood.

One of the criteria I would look for in choosing a new hymn book for congregational use would be its inclusion of some hymns about the blood of Christ. There are many of them. For example:

Are You Washed in the Blood?
Blessed Be the Fountain of Blood
Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness
Not All the Blood of Beasts
Nothing but the Blood
Saved by the Blood of the Crucified One
There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood
When I See the Blood

And, of course, there are many others that deal with the subject but do not have the word in the title (e.g. And Can It Be? and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross).

There has been a modern trend in some circles to remove references to the shed blood of Christ from our hymnody, and even from translations of the Word of God. It is considered to be in poor taste, and offensive to the tender sensibilities of modern worshipers. (I even heard one man argue that Jesus could have paid for our sins if He were strangled rather than crucified!) This is heretical folly. The Bible is very clear about it:

The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Lev. 17:11

As gory and terrible a place as Calvary is, it also becomes for the believer a place of wonder and worship. Peter speaks of “the precious blood of Christ” (I Pet. 1:19), and Isaac Watts glories in the cross with these words from a little used stanza of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree.

“Till He comes” (I Cor. 11:26), we are to call to mind at His Table what Christ did for us on the cross. And part of that God-given ordinance is to remember that the New Covenant was sealed and ratified by the blood of Christ (vs. 25). We rightfully celebrate the saving power of the blood of our wonderful Saviour.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

(2) Today in 1874 – Jennie Hussey Born

Jennie Evelyn Hussey (1874-1958) grew up on a farm in New Hampshire, tilled by four generations of her Quaker ancestors. In spite of a life that had a large share of difficulties and pain, she maintained a cheerful attitude. Jennie began writing in her teens, producing such varied material as patterns for crocheting and needlework, articles about flowers, stories for children, and 150 hymns. The one hymn for which she is known today is Lead Me to Calvary.

King of my life, I crown Thee now,
Thine shall the glory be;
Lest I forget Thy thorn crowned brow,
Lead me to Calvary.

Lest I forget Gethsemane,
Lest I forget Thine agony;
Lest I forget Thy love for me,
Lead me to Calvary.

May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for Thee;
Even Thy cup of grief to share,
Thou hast borne all for me.

Today in 1710 – William Boyce Born

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London born William Boyce was the son of a cabinet maker. He was a singer in the choir at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and studied organ under the organist there. Boyce became a distinguished organist, choral conductor, and composer, who received a Doctor of Music degree from Oxford. In 1736 he became an organist and composer at the Chapel Royal. He compiled the monumental three-volume Cathedral Music, assembling the best church music of the previous two centuries.

William Boyce began to lose his hearing as a young man, and was completely deaf at the age of 60. He retired from performing at that point, but continued to compose. He was a godly man, and a friend of hymn writer Charles Wesley. At Boyce’s death, Wesley wrote:

Father of harmony, farewell!
Farewell for a few fleeting years!
Translated from the mournful vale,
Jehovah’s flaming ministers
Have borne thee to thy place above,
Where all is harmony and love.

William Boyce composed the hymn tune Chapel Royal, which is used with Thomas Kelly’s resurrection hymn, Come, See the Place Where Jesus Lay.

Come, see the place where Jesus lay,
And hear angelic watchers say,
“He lives, who once was slain:
Why seek the living midst the dead?
Remember how the Saviour said
That He would rise again.”

O joyful sound! O glorious hour,
When by His own almighty power
He rose and left the grave!
Now let our songs His triumph tell,
Who burst the bands of death and hell,
And ever lives to save.

(2) Today in 1820 – Samuel Holyoke Died

Samuel Holyoke came from a distinguished American family. He grandfather was a missionary to the Natick Indians. His uncle was the president of Harvard, and his father served a Congregational church as pastor for nearly 50 years. Samuel graduated from Harvard, and then taught singing throughout New England. He wrote a number of secular and religious tunes, and for the funeral of President George Washington he composed two tunes for hymns by Isaac Watts. His tune Hingam is used for Watts’s Life Is the Time to Serve the Lord.

Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time to ensure the great reward;
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.

Life is the hour that God has given
To ’scape from hell and fly to heav’n;
The day of grace, and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.

(3) Data Missing – I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Another selection for which we have little information is this song of testimony and commitment. It appeared in America in the 1960’s, and was frequently used in Billy Graham’s evangelistic meetings. We do know it came from India. Some hymnals attribute it to an Indian Prince, though I’ve been unable to substantiate that. It was sung by new converts to Christianity in the Garo tribe in northeastern India, in what was called the state of Assam. Christian missionaries have had a long history there.

Hymnologist William J. Reynolds says he discovered the song in 1958, in a small undated collection of songs published in Australia. He arranged the tune, and give it the name Assam. The song was first published in America a year later. (I found a copyright date of 1949 in one book, but if Mr. Reynolds is correct, this may be an error.)

More important than the exact origins of this song is its simple, but powerful message. For many, it has been no small thing to say “I have decided to follow Jesus.” In some cultures, to make a public profession of faith in Christ takes significant courage. The individual may be disowned by family, and shunned by friends. He or she may lose employment and even be physically abused and imprisoned. This is a song for those who have counted the cost, and have the conviction that following Christ is worth daring all!

I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
No turning back, no turning back!

The world behind me, the cross before me…
No turning back!

Though none go with me, still I will follow…
No turning back!

I try to include a variety of musical presentations on Wordwise Hymns. Here is something different again, a demonstration of an electric piano, using the hymn tune Assam. If you are into the latest in electronic gear, you’ll likely understand what Mr. Youngblood is talking about. If not, just enjoy the music, and experience what can be done with this instrument.

Today in 1874 – David Evans Born

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Welshman David Evans attended University College in Cardiff, Wales, and received a Doctor of Music Degree from Oxford. He played the organ in a Presbyterian church in London, and was a professor of music at University College. Evans was also a choral conductor, and served as a judge at the National Eisteddfod, the largest festival of competitive music and poetry in Europe, eight days of performances entirely in the Welsh language. Evans arranged a traditional Spanish melody and it became the hymn tune Madrid, used with the song, Come, Christians, Join to Sing.

Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia! Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King;
Alleluia! Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
Before His throne rejoice;
Praise is His gracious choice.
Alleluia! Amen!

Praise yet our Christ again,
Alleluia! Amen!
Life shall not end the strain;
Alleluia! Amen!
On heaven’s blissful shore,
His goodness we’ll adore,
Singing forevermore,
“Alleluia! Amen!”

(2) Today in 1910 Harriet Buell Died

Harriett Eugenia Peck Buell pondered what it meant to belong to the family of God as she walked home from church on a Sunday morning. By the time she reached home, she had formed her thoughts into some lines of verse. She wrote them out and sent them to a Christian magazine.

Miss Buell often did that. But unknown to her, in this case, a musician named John Sumner spotted her poem and wrote a tune for it. A few months later, when attending a church other than her own, Hattie Buell was startled to hear a soloist sing her poem! It has since become a hymn entitled A Child of the King.

My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

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

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

Today in 1837 – Dwight Moody Born

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Graphic Dwight Moody

Mr. Moody was not a musician. Far from it. One evidence of his lack of musical ability came to gospel song writer George Stebbins in an unusual way. At one of Moody’s meetings, Stebbins was accompanying the congregational singing on a reed organ. But he was bothered by a strange, rasping sound during the singing. He worried that there was something wrong with the organ. During an interlude when there was no singing, he listened carefully to the sound coming from the instrument, but it seemed fine. Stebbins says:

I was not long in doubt, however, for I soon heard the voice of Mr. Moody, singing away as heartily as you please, with no more idea of tune or time than a child. I then learned for the first time that he was one of the unfortunates who have no sense of pitch or harmony, and hence are unable to recognize one tune from another or to sing in unison or harmony with others.

But in spite of this handicap, Dwight Moody had a great appreciation for the value of music in his ministry, and keen insight into what would serve best in that area. He usually asked his musicians to lead in 45 minutes to an hour of singing at his meetings, before he got up to preach–and it was not unusual for him to hold four meetings in a single day! Moody’s stamina was legendary, but this schedule frequently taxed the endurance of his singers!

Along with his music director and soloist, Ira Sankey, the evangelist did a great deal to popularize the singing of gospel songs on both sides of the Atlantic. A number of songs were introduced in his meetings, such as The Ninety and Nine. To God Be the Glory, by Fanny Crosby, remained virtually unknown until Moody and Sankey started using it in Britain. Many years later, the Billy Graham team brought the song back to America. (For more of the story, see the second item under Today in 1847.)

(2) Today in 1867 – John Fearis Born

John Sylvester Fearis had a great love for music. He took organ lessons, and was soon playing for Sunday School and church. Later, he became the director of the church choir, and taught singing classes in the towns around. Fearis wrote his first hymn at the age of 16, and went on to become an editor of choral music with the Lorenz Publishing Company.

Mr. Fearis wrote the tune of Jesse Pounds’s gospel song, Beautiful Isle of Somewhere. The author of the text sounds a little vague about the location of heaven, but it was not her intention to pin that down. She wanted to focus more on the hope of the Christian for deliverance from the trials of this life. Nevertheless, because the song is non-specific in doctrine, it is not surprising that it has been recorded by many secular artists. Here is a well rendered version by British entertainer Sir Harry Secombe.

John Fearis also wrote a tune for Fanny Crosby’s beautiful Trinitarian hymn, Be Thou Exalted–though personally, I prefer Al Smith’s tune for the latter, found in his hymnal, Living Hymns.

Be Thou exalted, forever and ever,
God of eternity, Ancient of Days!
Wondrous in majesty, perfect in wisdom,
Glorious in holiness, fearful in praise.

Be Thou exalted by seraphs and angels,
Be Thou exalted with harp and with song;
Saints in their anthems of rapture adore Thee,
Martyrs the loud hallelujahs prolong.

Be Thou exalted, O Son of the Highest!
Gracious Redeemer, our Saviour and King!
One with the Father, co-equal in glory,
Here at Thy footstool our homage we bring.

Today in 856 – Rhabanus Maurus Died

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Rhabanus Maurus was educated in France, and became the director of the Benedictine school at Fulda, Germany. He was ordained in 814 and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He served as abbot at Fulda for 20 years, and was later appointed archbishop of Mainz.

Many hymns are credited to Rhabanus Maurus, including Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire. This English version by John Cosin comes from the Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit), attributed to Maurus. Bishop Cosin produced it for the coronation of Charles I in 1625, at which he officiated. The hymn is strongly Trinitarian, and the “sevenfold gifts” mentioned are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They come from Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah (with piety, or holiness, added to the list).

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

Isa. 11:2

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire;
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost Thy sev’nfold gifts impart.

Praise to Thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And Thee, of both, to be but One;
That through the ages all along
This, this may be our endless song.

Graphic Cross2

(2) Today in 1873 George Bennard Born

The crucifixion of Christ was not an ignominious defeat, but an eternal and infinite victory. Jesus’ cry, “It is finished!” (Jn. 19:30), was not one of baffled disappointment, but an announcement that His mission was complete. He had said, “The Son of Man [came] to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Now it was done. The debt of sin had been paid. What looked like a shameful end would become a glorious new beginning for all who would trust in Him.

Those ideas led to the creation of one of the most popular hymns ever written. The author is George Bennard (1873-1958). George was only sixteen years old when his father died, leaving him to be the “man of the house” for his mother and four sisters. That seemed to instill in him a sense of responsibility, and a marked dependability in whatever he put his hand to. Later, George Bennard entered the Christian ministry. He wrote many hymns, but he is known for one in particular.

As with many of our hymns, this one was given birth during a time of great trial in the author’s life. He does not reveal what it was, but says he gave himself to prayer, and out of his hours of meditation his attention turned in a special way to the cross of Christ. It was a place of “suffering and shame,” an object “despised by the world.” Yet he says:

“I saw the Christ of the cross as if I were seeing John 3:16 leave the printed page, take form and act out the meaning of redemption. The more I contemplated these truths the more convinced I became that the cross was far more than just a religious symbol, but rather the very heart of the gospel.”

In the glow of that truth George Bennard penned The Old Rugged Cross in 1913.

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

(3) Today in 1874 – Take My Life and Let It Be written

English hymn writer Frances Ridley Havergal went to visit some friends for a few days in 1874, and she says:

There were ten persons in the house; some unconverted and long prayed-for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. I prayed ‘Lord, give me all in this house’ [meaning give me an opportunity to minister to each one here]. He just did! Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit I was too happy to sleep.

Frances passed the night reaffirming her own dedication to the Lord. Also, during those hours, the Lord gave her the words of the hymn Take My Life and Let It Be.

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

(4) Today in ? – Warren Cornell Died

Warren D. Cornell was a Methodist Episcopal pastor in the United States. In 1880 he married Jennie Roberts, and the couple had five children, a boy and four girls. [NOTE: This article originally had Cornell’s date of death as 1901. Later evidence suggests that the one who died in 1901 was Pastor Cornell’s son (also named Warren). The father died in the 1920’s or 30’s. The rest of the article seems to be correct.]

The one hymn for which Pastor Cornell is known is Wonderful Peace. It was written at a Methodist camp meeting near West Bend, Wisconsin. And, in truth, credit for the words of the song must also be given to the composer of the tune, George Cooper. Warren Cornell was sitting in the meeting tent, meditating on the peace of God. He took a piece of paper and jotted down some ideas that came to him regarding the subject. But when he got up to leave the tent, he was unaware that his notes fell to the floor. They were discovered later by Mr. Cooper, who fleshed out the poetry of the words, and added a tune.

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.

Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!

What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!

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