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Hymns

Today in 1788 Charles Wesley Dying

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So much could be said about this man, one of our greatest hymn writers. He wrote more than 6,500 songs, and our hymn books still contain many of them over two centuries later. His hymn, Jesus, Lover of My Soul, is considered one of the finest in the English language, yet it is a model of simplicity. The entire song includes only 3 or 4 words of more than two syllables.

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

I’ll take a moment to comment on another song that may have been written by Charles Wesley. Though it was listed as Anonymous in its original publication, many attribute Come, Thou Almighty King to him. About 12 years before, the British national anthem God Save the King came into popular use. It is thought that perhaps the hymn was written to remind Christians that they were accountable to a higher power than the king of England! The hymn originally was sung to the tune used for the national anthem (used by Americans with My Country ‘Tis of Thee). Try it, and see. The British anthem and the hymn certainly contain a number of similar phrases, particularly:

(From God Save the King)
Send him victorious, happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us, God save the King.

(From Come, Thou Almighty King)
Father all glorious, o’er all victorious,
Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!

After 50 years of active ministry, Charles Wesley was nearing journey’s end. (He died on March 29th–check tomorrow’s blog.) On his deathbed, he quoted one of his greatest hymns, And Can It Be? It seems to have been written shortly after his conversion in 1738, and was originally entitled Free Grace. The rhetorical questions of the first stanza are meant as an expression of sheer wonderment. The second stanza below (actually the third in the hymn) is absolutely stunning. It is virtually unmatched in our hymnody as a poetic expression of the librating power of the gospel.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain–
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Check out the following video of a large congregation singing And Can It Be? I would likely take it a bit slower. But overall, this is how this great hymn should be sung!

(2) Today in 1919 – Elizabeth Codner Died

Thirsty Land

Gifted with her pen, Elizabeth Harris Codner had been the editor of a missionary magazine when she was only 17 years old. Later, she and her husband served at a mission in the city of London. In 1860 word reached them of a spiritual revival taking place in Ireland. Mrs. Codner talked with a group of young people who were excited by the stories of what God was doing. She counseled them not to be satisfied with hearing how the Lord was blessing elsewhere. What about themselves? Did they not want to enjoy the refreshing touch of God as well?

The words of Ezekiel 34:26 came to her mind: “I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.” She challenged them, “While the Lord is pouring out such showers of blessing upon others, pray that some drops will fall on you.” It was this encounter that inspired Elizabeth Codner to writer her hymn, Even Me.

The original last line of the first stanza was “Let some droppings fall on me.” Not only do we not usually speak of rain as “droppings,” it seems more like what birds leave behind! Thankfully, the line was later changed to what you see below.

Lord, I hear of showers of blessing,
Thou art scattering full and free;
Showers the thirsty land refreshing;
Let some drops now fall on me;
Even me, even me,
Let some drops now fall on me.

Love of God, so pure and changeless,
Blood of Christ, so rich and free;
Grace of God, so strong and boundless
Magnify them all in me;
Even me, even me,
Magnify them all in me.

Here is an unusual rendering of Mrs. Codner’s hymn. It does not stick strictly to William Bradbury’s tune, nor does it use many of the original words, but I believe it is worth a listen. African American opera singer Leona Mitchell virtually turns the hymn into a traditional Spiritual. Interesting, to say the least.

Today in 1816 – George Elvey Born

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George Job Elvey was born into a musical family and started his musical career as a boy singer at Canterbury Cathedral. Later, he received training at the Royal Academy of Music, eventually being awarded a doctorate. Mr. Elvey provided music for many important state events. He was knighted by Queen Victoria after he wrote his Festival March for the wedding of her daughter Princess Louise. (John Campell, whom she married, wrote the hymn Unto the Hills, and later became Governor General of Canada.)

Elvey’s tune St. George’s Windsor was named for St. George’s Chapel, in Windsor, where he was the organist for 47 years. We use it with the hymn Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. His tune Diademata is used with the hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heav’nly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

With the understanding that I do not endorse Mormon theology, I offer a rendition of the latter hymn using Elvey’s tune, performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It is sung a little too quickly for my own taste, but is otherwise excellent, here is Crown Him with Many Crowns.

(2) Today in 1842 – George Matheson Born

Chains

When an individual trusts in Christ, he is set free. And “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36). “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (II Cor.3:17).

But there are other passages that speak of the Christian being a slave, and in bondage. “Having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God…” (Rom. 6:18). We are to be  “bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6).

So which is it? Are Christians slaves? Or are we free? There is an old saying, “He who is captive to his compass has the freedom of the seas.” In other words, the person who uses a compass and navigational charts is able to travel freely to his destination, and has good chance of reaching it in safety. Similarly, in the Christian life, following the principles of the Word of God is not confining but liberating because they keep us safe from spiritual danger.

George Matheson wrote a hymn about that. In spite of progressive blindness, Matheson became  a clergyman in the Church of Scotland. Because of his ability to memorize, listeners to his preaching were sometimes unaware of his disability. After about three decades in pastoral work, he turned his attention to writing, and produced several hymns. His hymn O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go is best known. But we should also consider the insightful paradoxes in Make Me a Captive, Lord.

Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms, and strong shall be my hand.

My heart is weak and poor until it master find;
It has no spring of action sure, it varies with the wind.
It cannot freely move till Thou has wrought its chain;
Enslave it with Thy matchless love, and deathless it shall reign.

Today in 1862 – He Leadeth Me written

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Graphic Christ as Shepherd

Joseph Henry Gilmore had an interesting and varied career. For a time, he worked as private secretary to his father (then governor of New Hampshire). In addition, he was editor of the local paper. Gilmore also received theological training, and served as the pastor of several churches.

While still a young man, he was asked to fill in as “pulpit supply” at a church in Philadelphia. He selected Psalm 23, “the Shepherd Psalm,” as his passage, and spoke movingly of  the Lord’s tender care. After the service, he and his wife were entertained at the home of one of the members. With the theme of the psalm still inflaming his heart, the young preacher took a pencil and jotted down a few simple lines of poetry. Passing them on for his wife to see, he promptly forgot about them.

Several years later, Gilmore was called to speak in another church, with the possibility that the congregation might invite him to serve as their pastor.  He says, “Upon entering the chapel, I took up the hymn book, thinking, ‘I wonder what they sing.’ The book opened up at his own poem, set to music. He said later, “That was the first time I knew my hymn had found a place among the songs of the church.” It turned out his wife, admiring the poem so hastily penned, had submitted it to a publisher without his knowledge. As a result, the author had been a blessing to many, without even knowing it!

He leadeth me, O blessèd thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, over troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.

(2) Today in 1886 – Cleansing for Me published

This hymn was one of many written by Herbert Howard Booth, son of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. In the early 1880’s, he served in France, even writing some of his early hymns in French. Later, he directed ministries of the Salvation Army in England, Canada, and Australia. Around 1902, he made an extensive lecture tour in America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Lord, through the blood of the Lamb that was slain,
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me;
From all the guilt of my sins now I claim
Cleansing from Thee, cleansing from Thee.
Sinful and black though the past may have been,
Many the crushing defeats I have seen,
Yet on Thy promise, O Lord, I now lean,
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me.

From all the sins over which I have wept,
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me;
Far, far away by the blood-current swept,
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me;
Jesus, Thy promise I dare to believe,
And as I come Thou wilt surely receive,
That over sin I may never more grieve,
Cleansing for me, cleansing for me.

Would you like to do more to promote hymn singing in your church? Check out 77 Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing.

Today in 1823 – Godfrey Thring Born

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Godfrey Thring grew up in an English home, severely disciplined as a child. His father wanted him to have a career in the military, but a strong-willed mother pushed him into training to serve in the Anglican Church. He did become a clergyman, and though he seemed ill-suited to the role in some ways, he discharged his duties faithfully in a succession of churches.

Thring is remembered today chiefly as an author, editor and compiler of hymns. It is said his Church of England Hymn Book set a higher literary standard than anything else available at the time. Among the dozens of hymns he produced is God of Mercy, God of Might.

O God of mercy, God of might,
In love and pity infinite,
Teach us, as ever in Thy sight,
To live our life to Thee.

And Thou who cam’st on earth to die,
That fallen man might live thereby,
O hear us, for to Thee we cry
In hope, O Lord, to Thee.

And may Thy Holy Spirit move
All those who live, to live in love,
Till Thou shalt greet in heaven above
All those who live to Thee.

Godfrey Thring also added several stanzas to Matthew Bridges hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns. Thring contributed:

Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

(2) Today in 1843 – Robert McCheyne Died

More than 150 years ago, there lived in Scotland a famed preacher named Robert Murray McCheyne. Though he died prematurely at 29 years of age,  McCheyne had a powerful impact on the Church of Scotland. In his brief years of ministry, he worked as a pastor and an evangelist, produced several books, and he wrote a number of hymns. In 1839, he went to Palestine to check on the possibility of his denomination launching missionary work among the Jews. Pastor McCheyne’s several hymns were published after his death in a book with the imposing title Songs of Zion to Cheer and Guide Pilgrims on Their Way to the New Jerusalem!

One of these songs was a fine hymn called Jehovah Tsidkenu (or, I Once Was a Stranger). Tsidkenu (pronounced sid-KAY-noo) is a Hebrew word meaning righteousness. It is used in a title for the promised Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah predicts a day when the Lord would raise to David a branch (that is, one of his own family) who would reign as a King and have the title “the Lord our Righteousness [or Jehovah Tsidkenu]” (Jer. 23:5-6).

The thrust of McCheyne’s hymn is that, in his blindness, spiritual truth is meaningless to the lost sinner. Unless God awakens his conscience to view Christ and His saving work in a new way, his response will likely be “Who cares?” But by the Spirit’s prompting and transforming power, all that changes.

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see–
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free–
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Today in 1820 – Fanny Crosby Born

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Graphic Fanny Crosby Birthplace

Frances Jane Crosby was born in Putnam County, New York, and her birthplace is pictured here. She would live for 95 years, and have a wide and influential ministry for the Lord, in spite of her blindness. (She would be more likely to say “because of my blindness,” believing it had been the means of focusing her attention more on things eternal.) For some interesting information about Fanny’s death, see the second item under Today in 1894.

How can we do justice to the unparalleled output of this amazing hymn writer? It is simply impossible even to list her thousands of songs. The Cyber Hymnal currently lists 780 of them, but even that just scratches the surface.

There is the jubilant Praise Him, Praise Him:

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honour give to His holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.

And the heartfelt ‘Tis the Blessed Hour of Prayer:

’Tis the blessèd hour of prayer, when our hearts lowly bend,
And we gather to Jesus, our Saviour and Friend;
If we come to Him in faith, His protection to share,
What a balm for the weary, O how sweet to be there!

Blessèd hour of prayer, blessèd hour of prayer,
What a balm for the weary, O how sweet to be there!

’Tis the blessèd hour of prayer, when the Saviour draws near,
With a tender compassion His children to hear;
When He tells us we may cast at His feet every care,
What a balm for the weary, O how sweet to be there!

And Rescue the Perishing, which has been called the greatest missionary hymn written in America. Of the writing of it, Fanny says:

As I was addressing a large company of working men one hot August evening, the thought kept forcing itself upon my mind that some mother’s boy must be rescued that very night or perhaps not at all. So I requested that, if there was any boy present, who had wandered away from mother’s teaching, he would come to the platform at the conclusion of the service. A young man of eighteen came forward and said, “Did you mean me? I have promised my mother to meet her in heaven; but as I am now living that will be impossible.” We prayed for him; he finally arose with a new light in his eyes; and exclaimed triumphantly, “Now, I can meet mother in heaven; for I have found her God.”

A few days before, Mr. Doane had sent me the subject “Rescue the Perishing,” and while I sat there that evening the line came to me, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying.” I could think of nothing else that night. When I arrived it my home I went to work on it at once; and before I retired the entire hymn was ready for a melody. The next day my words were written and forwarded to Mr. Doane, who wrote the beautiful and touching music as it now stands.

That was in 1869. Fully 34 years later, the man who had come to the Saviour that night introduced himself to Fanny Crosby, and said he was still going on with the Lord.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

This quartet version of Fanny Crosby’s hymn is a bit ragged with cut-offs in spots, and the song would have benefited from some variety (a unison verse, a solo, some variation of the harmony in a stanza, etc.), but I’m sure the song was sincerely sung, and the group has possibilities.

Graphic Snow2

(2) Today in 1839 – Eden Latta Born

Eden Reeder Latta was a boyhood friend of hymn writer William Ogden. He taught school for a time in Iowa, and wrote over 1,600 songs and hymns. Among the hymns he has given us is Whiter Than the Snow.

For some years in the 1940’s, my father directed the Dayspring Male Quartet, that had its own weekly radio program out of Station CHML, in Hamilton, Ontario. Then, in the 1950’s my father was asked to train a quartet to accompany Canadian evangelist Barry Moore on a time of ministry in Europe with Youth for Christ. They sang (and recorded) Mr. Latta’s gospel song Whiter Than the Snow.

Blessèd be the fountain of blood,
To a world of sinners revealed;
Blessèd be the dear Son of God;
Only by His stripes we are healed.
Though I’ve wandered far from His fold,
Bringing to my heart pain and woe,
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
And I shall be whiter than snow.

Whiter than the snow,
Whiter than the snow,
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
And I shall be whiter than snow.

Father, I have wandered from Thee,
Often has my heart gone astray;
Crimson do my sins seem to me—
Water cannot wash them away.
Jesus, to the fountain of Thine,
Leaning on Thy promise, I go;
Cleanse me by Thy washing divine,
And I shall be whiter than snow.

In March of 1799 – Thomas Olivers Died

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We know that Thomas Olivers died in March of 1799, but historians are unsure of the precise date. (Likewise, the date of his birth remains obscure.) However, I did want to include him and his wonderful hymn.

Thomas Olivers’ parents died when he was only 4 years old. He was apprenticed in time to a shoemaker, got in with some rough companions, and led an immoral and profligate life. Today he might be described as a juvenile delinquent, and he was notorious in town. But one day he heard George Whitefield preach on Zech. 3:2, which tells us:

The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

It is a reference to the God’s preservation of Israel, and His deliverance of the people from the Babylonian Captivity. Whitefield apparently applied it to the Lord’s desire to rescue lost sinners, brands to be plucked from the fire. Olivers heard and responded, trusting Christ as his Saviour, and his life was miraculously transformed.

John Wesley later recognized how gifted the young man was, and engaged him as a Methodist evangelist. He preached the gospel boldly, in spite of some violent opposition, traveling over 100,000 miles on horseback, in England and Ireland, during 25 years of fruitful ministry.

Thomas Olivers also wrote a number of hymns, though only one remains in common use. Critics have judged it to be one of the finest in the English language, and it has an unusual background. Mr. Olivers was visiting in the home of hymn writer John Bakewell around 1770, when he attended a service at a synagogue in London, and heard a Jewish cantor named Meyer Lyon (also called Leoni) sing the Yigdal, a Hebrew doxology. (It is quite possible that Jesus Himself sang this melody.) Olivers was so impressed with it he decided to use it for a hymn that expressed Christian truth, also emphasizing its connection with Judaism. He called the result A Hymn to the God of Abraham.

The song is loaded with Bible references and allusions. It is worth reading through all 12 stanzas of this great hymn (see The God of Abraham Praise in the Cyber Hymnal). Below are three of Olivers’ stanzas. Note the remarkable statement in the third, “He calls a worm His friend”! It is an expression the Lord also uses of the nation of Israel:

“Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. (Isa. 41:4)

Though believers today may balk at calling themselves “worms,” it aptly describes lost sinners as both weak and despised. (Olivers no doubt remembered his early years, and he knew what he was!) There is nothing worthy in any of us by which we merit salvation. Nor have we the power to save ourselves. It is all by what the hymn writer calls God’s “all sufficient grace.”

The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love;
Jehovah, great I AM! by earth and heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name forever blessed.

The God of Abraham praise, at whose supreme command
From earth I rise–and seek the joys at His right hand;
I all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame, and power;
And Him my only portion make, my Shield and Tower.

The God of Abraham praise, whose all sufficient grace
Shall guide me all my happy days, in all my ways.
He calls a worm His friend, He calls Himself my God!
And He shall save me to the end, through Jesus’ blood.

(2) James Proctor (Data Missing)

James Proctor is another individual for whom we have no definite dates, though we know he lived in the latter part of the nineteenth century. And Jim was an atheist for most of his life. Though he had early Christian training–had even attended Sunday school–he turned his back on it all in his teen years. Reading many books written by atheists and agnostics convinced him that religion was not for him. He became the president of the Free Thinkers Society, in Manchester, England, and continued to speak out against Christ and the gospel.

Mr. Procter even wrote some lines of poetry, mocking Christianity. They reveal his troubled heart, along with his continuing refusal to consider Christ as the answer. The poem begins:

I’ve tried in vain a thousand ways
My fears to quell, my hopes to raise.
But what I need, the Bible says,
Is ever, only Jesus.

But it was written sarcastically. He didn’t believe that, and sneered at the weak-minded fools who did–until something happened.

Jim Procter took seriously ill. He was sure he was going to die, and the thought of facing eternity filled him with agonizing dread. As with many before him, that terrible foreboding finally drove him to the cross. He asked his sister to send for a minister of the gospel. The pastor came to his bedside and faithfully presented the gospel, with the result that the sick man trusted Christ as his Saviour. A short time later, he began a slow recovery.

One day, his sister was sitting by his bedside, and he asked her to open the drawer of his bureau and take out a piece of paper–the poem just described. Jim told her he wanted to finish it, to dictate two more verses for her to write down. With great excitement her brother expressed his newfound faith with these words:

He died, He lives, He reigns, He pleads;
There’s love in all His words and deeds–
There’s all a guilty sinner needs
Forevermore in Jesus.

Though some should sneer, and some should blame,
I’ll go with all my guilt and shame;
I’ll go to Him because His name,
Above all names, is Jesus.

Mr. Procter’s sister attended an R. A. Torrey evangelistic meeting in Manchester, in November of 1903. There she gave the text of her brother’s poem to the evangelist’s associate, hymn writer Robert Harkness (1880-1961), explaining the remarkable circumstances that led to its creation. He thanked her, and soon after wrote some music to go with it, calling the little song, In Jesus. This is surely the only hymn written from two completely different points of view, a testimony from an atheist, who later became a Christian.

Today in 1819 – Joseph Webster Born

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Joseph Philbrick Webster was born in Manchester, New York. He studied music under Lowell Mason, and was skilled in playing the flute, violin and piano. In addition to giving music lessons, Webster directed a quartet, and wrote over a thousand secular ballads and hymns. The most popular of the former was Lorena, for which Webster wrote the tune. A song about a lost love, it was popular during the Civil War.

The years creep slowly by, Lorena,
The snow is on the grass again.

During the latter years of his life, Joseph Webster lived in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Of his hymns and gospel songs, the only one that is still in use is Sweet By and By, for which Webster again wrote a tune for Sanford Bennett’s text.

There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

Here is a rendering of the Bennett/Webster song, sung as a congregational hymn, without accompaniment. Just lovely! Wouldn’t you be delighted to have parts-singing like this in your church? (If you do, God is greatly blessing you!)

(2) Today in 1836 – Edgar Stites Born

Edgar Page Stites was a direct descendant of John Howland, who came to America on the Mayflower. He served in the Civil War, and then became a pilot on the Delaware River. He was licensed to preach by the Methodist denomination and for a time served as a missionary in Dakota. Mr. Stites was the cousin of hymn writer Eliza Hewitt, and he wrote a number of hymns himself, including Trusting Jesus, and Beulah Land.

The word “Beulah” is Hebrew for married, and it is found in Isa. 62:4, which says:

You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah [beloved of the Lord], and your land Beulah; For the LORD delights in you, And your land shall be married.

The text refers prophetically to the special relationship the nation of Israel will have with Jehovah God in Christ’s coming Kingdom, and the tender affection He has for her. In the New Testament, the comparison of the marriage relationship to that between Christ and His church (II Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25) provides a similar assurance. For Edgar Stites, the image of Israel’s place of blessing paralleled the joy of his own fellowship with the Lord.

I’ve reached the land of corn and wine,
And all its riches freely mine;
Here shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.

O Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land,
As on thy highest mount I stand,
I look away across the sea,
Where mansions are prepared for me,
And view the shining glory shore,
My heav’n, my home forever more!

My Saviour comes and walks with me,
And sweet communion here have we;
He gently leads me by His hand,
For this is heaven’s border land.

Today in 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach Born

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Graphic J S Bach

A sincere Christian, Johann Sebastian Bach declared his life’s purpose to be the creation of “well-regulated church music to the glory of God.” And he went further, saying that, in his view, “Music’s only purpose should be for the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.” (Worth thinking about!)

Bach is recognized today as one of the greatest, and most prolific, composers who ever lived. When all of his musical scores were collected, the result filled 60 volumes! The works included chorales, cantatas, masses, oratorios, passions, concerti, and solo pieces for almost every musical instrument. Composer Richard Wagner praised his productivity as “the most stupendous miracle in all music.”

Given all this, it may be a shock to learn that Bach died in relative obscurity in 1750. Only ten of his compositions had been published during his lifetime, and he was buried in an unmarked grave. It would take generations of musicians, who latter poured over his manuscripts, to give him the high place that is his due.

Bach came from a musical family. More than 50 musicians bearing that last name are recognized now. But Johann Sebastian Bach far outstripped them all. Early on, he developed into a fine singer, and demonstrated ability to play the violin and other instruments. But in his own time he was known chiefly as a master of the organ. Once, when praised for his wonderful organ playing, he turned aside the compliment with humour, saying, “There is nothing very wonderful about it. You have only to hit the right notes at the right moment and the instrument does the rest!”

Dozens of hymn tunes have been adapted from Bach’s compositions, or he himself arranged and harmonized the music of others to serve that purpose. (The Cyber Hymnal lists 30 tunes.) To make use of the text of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring at the end of one of his cantatas, Bach arranged a tune by Johann Schop, creating a sublime piece of music. It seems to echo the prophecy of the martyred Tribulation saints in heaven:

They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Rev. 7:16-17).

Jesu, joy of man’s desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
With the fire of life impassioned,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings;
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
Theirs is beauty’s fairest pleasure;
Theirs is wisdom’s holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.

The following video provides a beautiful rendition of this soaring hymn–though the recording is clipped a little too tightly at the beginning and end.

Bach’s last work, dictated from his deathbed, seems a fitting conclusion to his life. It is entitled Before Thy Throne I Come.

(2) Today in 1748 – John Newton Converted

The process by which the great pastor and hymn writer John Newton came to Christ took several days, beginning with a fearful conviction of sin on March 10th. Still later came the dawning of his understanding that the slave trade in which he had been involved was wrong.

There are many gems in Newton’s 280 hymns that are unknown and unused today. (For a thought-provoking hymn on the Christian life, see I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow. And consider the testimony song How Lost Was My Condition:

How lost was my condition
Till Jesus made me whole!
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin-sick soul.
Next door to death He found me,
And snatched me from the grave;
To tell to all around me
His wondrous power to save.

A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eyes of faith,
At once from danger frees us,
And saves the soul from death.
Come then to this Physician,
His help He’ll freely give;
He makes no hard condition,
‘Tis only look and live.

(3) Today in 1894 – Lance Latham Born

Lance Brenton Latham was a musical prodigy. He started taking piano lessons at the age of 3, and was soon able to play anything in the hymn book from memory, when his mother called out the page number! As a gospel musician, he gave many piano concerts. (I heard him myself, in his old age.)  As well as the lasting contribution he made to children’s ministry as the founding father of the Awana Youth Association, Mr. Latham has given us the music for Blessed Calvary.

I look at the cross upon Calvary,
And oh, what a wonder divine,
To think of the wealth it holds for me—
The riches of heaven are mine.

Blessèd Calvary! Precious Calvary!
’Neath thy shadow I’ll ever abide.
Blessèd Calvary! Precious Calvary!
’Twas there Jesus suffered and died.

Today in 1861 – Charles Tillman Born

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Among other things, Charles Davis Tillman was an evangelist, a gospel composer and soloist, and a music publisher. He was the first to publish the song Old Time Religion, after he heard African Americans singing it at a camp meeting in South Carolina. The refrain for the song has gone through some changes since the earliest version, which was:

Oh! This old-time religion,
This old-time religion,
This old-time religion,
It’s good enough for me.

This became in Tillman’s hands, “‘Tis the old-time religion,” and later still the refrain became the rather demanding (and rude?), “Gimme that ol’ time religion.” In the song, this refrain in each case is followed by simple stanzas such as:

It was good for our mothers…

Makes me love everybody…

It will take us all to heaven…

Though it says little, the repetitious song is important because it marks an early blending of traditional spirituals with gospel music that eventually became the genre Southern Gospel.

The following version of the song requires a bit of explanation. It comes from a scene in the award-winning motion picture, Sergeant York, the true story of the amazing exploits of World War I hero, Alvin York. (All the more incredible given that Mr. York was a pacifist and didn’t want to fight!) This remarkable man (played in the film by Gary Cooper) was a drunkard and a hell-raiser in the hills of Tennessee, until the Lord got hold of his life. I believe he was genuinely converted, and later in life he did a lot of good with the notoriety he’d gained. The film is well worth seeing.

Charles Tillman also wrote the music for Life’s Railway to Heaven. Another hymn for which he wrote the melody, Ready, is still found in a number of books. (Some credit the text to Mr. Tillman himself, others to A. C. Palmer, but it seems the author is uncertain. The letters S.E.L. or Sel. found in some books don’t signify a person’s name, but stand for “Selected”–another way of indicating Anonymous, or Author Unknown.)

Ready to suffer grief or pain,
Ready to stand the test,
Ready to stay at home and send
Others if He sees best.

Ready to go, ready to stay,
Ready my place to fill,
Ready for service, lowly or great,
Ready to do His will.

Ready to speak, ready to warn,
Ready o’er souls to yearn,
Ready in life, ready in death,
Ready for His return.

(2) Today in 1870 – May Moody Born

Moment by Moment organ

May Whittle Moody was the daughter of evangelist and gospel song writer Daniel Whittle, and the wife of evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s son William. She attended the Royal Academy of Music, in London, and later assisted both her father and D. L. Moody in their evangelistic work. She also worked as a gospel song book editor, with Charles Alexander.

May wrote the tune for her father’s song, Moment by Moment. The music was composed on the little organ pictured here. I photographed it myself on a visit to Moody Bible Institute some years ago. (That’s Mrs. Moody’s picture on the wall above the organ.)

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;
Living with Jesus, a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;
Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Today in 1710 – Thomas Ken Died

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Thomas Ken was a clergyman in the Anglican Church, serving briefly as chaplain of the royal court and of the British fleet. He became a bishop in 1685, and was one of several imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to sign a Declaration of Indulgence that Charles II hoped would restore Catholicism to England. Ken was later acquitted. The year of his death is disputed. Historian John Julian lists it as either 1710 or 1711.

In 1674, Thomas Ken published a Manual of Prayers for the students of Winchester College, a boys’ school he himself had attended. In the manual, among other selections, were the author’s beautiful Morning Hymn and Evening Hymn. During Ken’s time, the Church of England used only the Psalms for congregational singing. For that reason, he stipulated the hymns in his manual were strictly for use in private devotions. It is ironic, therefore, that both hymns end with what we now know as the Doxology, which has likely been sung more times, by more congregations in Christendom, than any other hymn!

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Thomas Ken’s Morning Hymn says, in part:

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

And his Evening Hymn fittingly ends the day with:

All praise to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done,
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

(2) Today in 1935 – May Stephens Died

May Agnew Stephens was born in Kingston, Ontario, in 1865. She joined the Salvation Army and served in New York, helping to edit their War Cry magazine, and training staff in their Candidates Department. Around 1897, she began serving as a pianist and song leader at Albert Simpson’s Gospel Tabernacle. In 1902, she married Harold Stephens, who later became the pastor of Parkdale Alliance Tabernacle in Toronto. For about 20 years, she and her husband were traveling evangelists in Canada, the United States, and Britain.

In 1903, Mrs. Stephens produced one of her several gospel songs, called Never Thirst Again, (or sometimes, What! Never Thirst Again? using the first line of the refrain). It takes its inspiration from the words of the Lord Jesus to the Samaritan woman who came to get water at Jacob’s well, in Sychar (Jn. 4:5-6). (A Greek Orthodox Monastery has been built over it now. Jacob’s well is seen in the photograph. It is about 125 feet deep, and still produces water.)

Jesus said:

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn. 4:13-14)

There flows from Calvary a stream
For every sinner’s pain,
And he that drinketh, Jesus said,
Shall never thirst again.

What! never thirst again?
No, never thirst again;
What! never thirst again?
No, never thirst again,
For he that drinketh, Jesus said,
Shall never, never thirst again.

Earth’s fountains fair but mock our souls,
Like desert phantoms lure,
And they that drink, the fainter grow,
The keener thirst endure.

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