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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.

Today in 1805 – George Bethune Born

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George Washington Bethune was a Dutch Reformed pastor in the United States. When he was 45, he was offered the post of chancellor of New York University, and then the provostship of the University of Pennsylvania, both of which he turned down, declaring that he had been “called to the ministry.” He wrote a number of books, and quite a few hymns, but only There Is No Name So Sweet on Earth remains in use.

There is no name so sweet on earth,
No name so sweet in heaven,
The name, before His wondrous birth
To Christ the Saviour given.

We love to sing of Christ our King,
And hail Him, blessèd Jesus;
For there’s no word ear ever heard
So dear, so sweet as “Jesus.”

So now, upon His Father’s throne,
Almighty to release us
From sin and pain, He gladly reigns,
The Prince and Saviour, Jesus.

(2) Today in 1819 – John Bakewell Died

We know that preacher and hymn writer John Bakewell trusted Christ as his Saviour at the age of 19, but of his earlier life little is recorded. When he moved to London, he became a friend of John and Charles Wesley, and of Augustus Toplady (author of Rock of Ages). John Wesley dined in his home on Bakewell’s wedding day, and was given a tour of the house. Wesley’s stern evaluation, “Fine enough, in all conscience, for a Methodist!” John Bakewell was licenced to preach by the Methodists, and proclaimed the Word of God for about 70 years, dying at the advanced age of 98.

Only one of Mr. Bakewell’s several hymns remains in common use, Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus. The hymn was later revised by Augustus Toplady to bring it into conformity with Calvinist doctrine. What we have now is the combined work of Bakewell, Toplady and a man named Martin Madan.

Hail, Thou once despisèd Jesus! Hail, Thou Galilean King!
Thou didst suffer to release us; Thou didst free salvation bring.
Hail, Thou universal Saviour, who hast borne our sin and shame!
By Thy merits we find favour; life is given through Thy name.

Jesus, hail! enthroned in glory, there forever to abide;
All the heavenly hosts adore Thee, seated at Thy Father’s side.
There for sinners Thou art pleading; there Thou dost our place prepare;
Thou for saints art interceding till in glory they appear.

(3) Today in 1831 – Robert Walmsley Born

Englishman Robert Walmsley was a jeweler by profession, but he also wrote some hymns. As a Christian layman he was connected for 28 years with the Manchester Sunday School Union, and many of his hymns were written for the annual Whitsuntide Festival (Whitsunday recognizes Pentecost and the birth of the church). The one hymn that remains of Walmsley’s is Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love.

Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you:
Wonderful love, wonderful love,
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell
Joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame:
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.

Today in 1842 – Hannah Burlingham Born

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Hannah Kilham Burlingham was raised in a Quaker home in England, but she joined the Plymouth Brethren in her early twenties. Many of her religious poems and translations appeared in the British Herald. The Cyber Hymnal lists over 40 hymns that came from her pen, but only one has remained in current use, I’m Waiting for Thee. It is a plaintive and lovely little song set to George Root’s tune Jewels (also used with the children’s hymn When He Cometh).

I’m waiting for Thee, Lord,
Thy beauty to see, Lord;
I’m waiting for Thee—
For Thy coming again.
Thou’rt gone over there, Lord,
A place to prepare, Lord,
Thy home I shall share
At Thy coming again.

’Mid danger and fear, Lord,
I’m oft weary here, Lord,
The day must be near of
Thy coming again.
’Tis all sunshine there, Lord,
No sighing nor care, Lord,
But glory so fair
At Thy coming again.

(2) Today in 1864 – Something for Thee published

American Baptist pastor Sylvanus Dryden Phelps (1816-1895) served churches in Connecticut and Rhode Island. He wrote several hymns, but only one, Something for Thee (also known as Saviour, Thy Dying Love) is still in use. Robert Lowry wrote the tune for this hymn, and he said concerning the text:

It is worth living 70 years, even if nothing comes of it but one such hymn….Happy is the man who can produce one song which the world will keep singing after the author shall have passed away. May the tuneful harp preserve its strings for many a long year yet, and the last note reach us only when it is time for the singer to take his place in the heavenly choir.

Phelps was 46 at the time, and Lowry was 36, so the latter seems to be making a general reference to the Bible’s “three-score and ten” (Ps. 90:10), and the productivity of one’s lifetime. Whether or not we would go to Mr. Lowry’s heights of praise, it is a fine hymn.

Saviour, Thy dying love Thou gavest me.
Nor should I aught withhold, dear Lord, from Thee.
In love my soul would bow, my heart fulfil its vow,
Some offering bring Thee now, something for Thee.

Give me a faithful heart, likeness to Thee.
That each departing day henceforth may see
Some work of love begun, some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won, something for Thee.

Today in 1621 – Georg Neumark Born

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Georg Newmark was a German poet who, through many hardships, attained an education and in 1652 was appointed court poet, librarian and registrar to the Duke of Weimar. He produced 34 hymns, many written during times of great suffering. That gives a special poignancy and spiritual meaning to his hymn, If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee.

If thou but suffer God to guide thee
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
He’ll give thee strength, whate’er betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trust in God’s unchanging love
Builds on the rock that naught can move.

Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And set a bound to everything.

Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word: though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed. 

(2) Today in 1820 – Mary Kidder Born

We must be certain that, when we are called to stand before the Lord, our names will be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 20:15; 21:27). That issue concerned Mary Kidder years ago. Born Mary Ann Pepper, it is said she was blinded in her teens, but slowly recovered her sight. And she lived most of her life in New York City. We know little more about her, except that she had a gift for writing poetry. Mrs. Kidder penned  about a thousand hymns, but only one or two remain in common use. In a song published in 1878, she asks, Is My Name Written There? meaning in the Book of Life. Good question!

Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold;
I would make sure of heaven, I would enter the fold.
In the book of Thy kingdom, with its pages so fair,
Tell me, Jesus, my Saviour, is my name written there?

Is my name written there,
On the page white and fair?
In the book of Thy kingdom,
Is my name written there?

Lord, my sins they are many, like the sands of the sea,
But Thy blood, O my Saviour, is sufficient for me;
For Thy promise is written, in bright letters that glow,
“Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them like snow.”

Another of Mrs. Kidder’s songs has the title Did You Think to Pray? Another good question! Perceptive and convicting, it says:

Ere you left your room this morning,
Did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ our Saviour,
Did you sue for loving favor,
As a shield today?

O how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day;
So when life seems dark and dreary,
Don’t forget to pray.

Here is a quartet practice by four young men (it being a rehearsal accounts for a bit of kibitzing). Work on the song is still in process, but overall I think they’re doing well with a nice arrangement of Don’t Forget to Pray.

(3) Today in 1867 – Benjamin Hanby Died

Benjamin Russell Hanby was the son of a United Brethren clergyman. And though he only lived for 34 years, his was a full life. He served as the principal of an academy, and as a pastor, and worked with a music publisher writing both Sunday School songs and some popular secular music too. One of the latter, My Darling Nellie Gray (for which Hanby’s sister wrote the tune), tells the sad story of a black man’s sweetheart being carted off in chains to be a slave.

Benjamin Hanby’s hymn, Who Is He in Yonder Stall? was published in 1866. Though the opening stanza refers to the Christmas story and the song is sometimes sung as a carol, it is one whose subject extends through the all the earthly life of Christ and on into eternity.

Who is He in yonder stall
At Whose feet the shepherds fall?
Who is He in deep distress,
Fasting in the wilderness?

’Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
’Tis the Lord! the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!

Lo! at midnight, who is He
Prays in dark Gethsemane?
Who is He on yonder tree
Dies in grief and agony?

Who is He that from the grave
Comes to heal and help and save?
Who is He that from His throne
Rules through all the world alone?

Today in 1770 – William Gardiner Born

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English composer William Gardiner was born in Leicester. At the age of 6 he sang a solo at the wedding of his friend’s father. He learned to play the piano and the viola, and as a teen-ager wrote a march for the British troops returning from the American Revolutionary War. He was an admirer of Beethoven and Haydn. In 1843, the became a member of the Historical Institute in Paris.

Mr. Gardiner has left us two or three hymn tunes, including the lovely Belmont, which works well with God Moves in a Mysterious Way, and The Lord’s My Shepherd.

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

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

The tune Belomont is used as well with Reginald Heber’s By Cool Siloam’s Shady Rill. You can check out the latter hymn on the Cyber Hymnal. Or here is a lovely version by famed Scottish tenor Kenneth McKellar (followed in the video clip by his reverent renditions of Speak No Sinful Action, and God Be in My Head).

(2) Today in 1824 – Stand Up and Bless the Lord written

Scottish hymn writer James Montgomery was the son of a Moravian clergyman. He wrote more than 400 hymns, quite a number of which are still in use. Montgomery’s hymn, Stand Up and Bless the Lord, was produced on this date in in 1824 for the anniversary celebration of the Red Hill Wesleyan Sunday School, in Sheffield, England.

Stand up and bless the Lord
Ye people of His choice;
Stand up and bless the Lord your God
With heart and soul and voice.

God is our strength and song,
And His salvation ours;
Then be His love in Christ proclaimed
With all our ransomed powers.

Graphic Sunshine

(3) Today in 1859 – Henry Zelley Born

A gospel song on the theme of sunlight was written in 1899 by Henry Jeffreys Zelley (1859-1942). Pastor Zelley faithfully served the Lord, during a ministry over fifty years long. He was considered an exceptional Bible scholar, and his spare time was spent writing poetry.

On one occasion a man named George Harrison Cook brought the pastor a tune, asking if the latter could write some appropriate words for it. Cook was involved in a lifelong ministry of music, singing, playing, composing, and training other musicians. It was not the only collaboration of Zelley and Cook, but this one produced Heavenly Sunlight. A scholar he may have been, but the simple truth of Henry Zelley’s hymn is within the grasp of all.

Walking in sunlight all of my journey;
Over the mountains, through the deep vale;
Jesus has said, “I’ll never forsake thee,”
Promise divine that never can fail.

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding my soul with glory divine:
Hallelujah, I am rejoicing,
Singing His praises, Jesus is mine.

Shadows around me, shadows above me,
Never conceal my Saviour and Guide;
He is the light, in Him is no darkness;
Ever I’m walking close to His side.

In 1942 Charles E. Fuller, who founded the Old Fashioned Revival Hour radio broadcast in 1925, adapted the song’s refrain for use on its own. Heavenly Sunshine became a widely popular little chorus four decades after the hymn was written.

Here is a video clip of the winner of the Children’s Piano Hymn Competition, in Korea, giving us a skilful rendering of Henry Zelley’s song.

Today in 1826 – William Sherwin Born

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William Fisk Sherwin studied music under Lowell Mason. He later worked at the New England Conservatory of Music, and taught singing in Massachusetts and New York. Sherwin was a music editor with Biglow and Main Publishers (who published many of Fanny Crosby’s songs). He took a special interest in the Sunday School, and produced books of songs for that ministry. Sherwin was also the first director of music at the Chautauqua Camp. In the latter capacity, he provided the tunes for Mary Lathbury’s Break Thou the Bread of Life, and Day Is Dying in the West.

Though he produced mainly music, Mr. Sherwin did write a few song texts himself, including God’s Great Love. You can see and hear Sherwin’s original on the Cyber Hymnal, but below is part of Al Smith’s slightly altered (excellent) version, including an added refrain. You will find this, with his own tune, in Living Hymns, an evangelical hymnal I highly recommend.

Grander than ocean’s story,
Or songs of forest trees;
Purer than breath of morning,
Or evening’s gentle breeze;
Clearer than mountain echoes
Ring out from peaks above,
Sounds forth the glorious heav’nly anthem
Of God’s eternal love.

God’s great love, mighty love!
Love that sent Jesus to die for me,
Love that is greater than any sea;
Love for us all–how can it be,
That God loves me!

Richer than all earth’s treasures,
The wealth my soul receives;
Brighter than royal jewels,
The crown that Jesus gives;
Wondrous the condescension,
And grace beyond degree!
I would be ever, always singing
The love of Christ to me!

Another gospel song for which Mr. Sherwin wrote both words and music is Sound the Battle Cry, speaking of our need to stand firm against the devil (our “foe) and resist his attacks (Eph. 6:10-11; I Pet. 5:8-9).

Sound the battle cry! See, the foe is nigh;
Raise the standard high for the Lord;
Gird your armour on, stand firm every one;
Rest your cause upon His holy Word.

Rouse, then, soldiers, rally round the banner,
Ready, steady, pass the word along;
Onward, forward, shout aloud Hosanna!
Christ is Captain of the mighty throng.

O! Thou God of all, hear us when we call,
Help us one and all by Thy grace;
When the battle’s done, and the vict’ry’s won,
May we wear the crown before Thy face.

(2) Today in 1933 – Ada Whiddington Died

Little is known about Ada Anne Fitzgerald. We know she married Richard Whiddington, and their son Richard became Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge. It is thought that Ada may have been active in the Keswick movement in England. She has left us only one hymn, Not I But Christ. It’s theme reflects the desire of John the Baptist that “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30).

Not I, but Christ, be honoured, loved, exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

O to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
O to be lost in Thee,
O that it might be no more I,
But Christ, that lives in me.

Today in 1823 – Henry Twells Born

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The classroom was almost deserted. It was examination time, and all but one young man had finished and gone home. Far down the room, in the gathering shadows, sat the lone student, his brow knotted over the paper before him. Behind a high desk at the front was the stern school master, Henry Twells. He raised his eyes and watched the young man at his labours. Then, his gaze drifted to the window. Somewhere beyond the trees, the late afternoon sun was dropping below the horizon, and the blue-gray twilight was settling in. The scene caused the weary man’s thoughts to turn in a new direction.

He remembered a time when the Lord Jesus, after a long Sabbath day of ministry, retired to the home of Simon Peter (Lk. 4:38-40). But, before long, a commotion arose at the door. Stepping outside, Jesus was met by a gathering crowd of people. Strict Jewish law had prevented them from arriving earlier. No burdens were to be borne on the Sabbath, and they had burdens indeed. As soon as the setting sun touched the rim of the horizon, the day of rest was officially over. And all across the city of Capernaum those who had any who were sick brought them to the feet of Christ.

The loving heart of Christ must have ached with compassion as He saw that confluence of human suffering and the sea of eager faces. Illness had touched home after home, and current remedies had proven inadequate. But now, anxiety was tempered with new hope, as they laid their precious burdens before the Saviour. Patiently, He walked among them, speaking a kindly word here and there, and gently touching those who were sick. The Bible says, “He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them” (Lk. 4:40).

In 1868, Englishman Henry Twells saw it all, as though it were happening before his eyes. Then, emerging from his reverie, he drew a piece of paper toward him and began to write. For a few minutes, nothing was heard in the room but the scratching of two busy pens. But before the student had completed his work, his instructor had created a lovely new hymn-poem about the healing ministry of Christ, At Even, Ere the Sun Was Set.

For the sake of space, I rarely include all the stanzas of the hymns discussed in this blog. I have made an exception here. The hymn as a whole provides a moving compendium of the things that trouble us, and points us to the answer.

At even, ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around Thee lay;
O, with what divers pains they met!
O, with what joy they went away!

Once more ’tis eventide, and we,
Oppressed with various ills, draw near;
What if Thy form we cannot see?
We know and feel that Thou art near.

O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel;
For some are sick, and some are sad;
And some have never loved Thee well,
And some have lost the love they had.

And some are pressed with worldly care
And some are tried with sinful doubt;
And some such grievous passions tear,
That only Thou canst cast them out.

And some have found the world is vain,
Yet from the world they break not free;
And some have friends who give them pain,
Yet have not sought a friend in Thee.

And none, O Lord, has perfect rest,
For none is wholly free from sin;
And they who fain would serve Thee best
Are conscious most of wrong within.

O Saviour Christ, Thou too art man;
Thou has been troubled, tempted, tried;
Thy kind but searching glance can scan
The very wounds that shame would hide.

Thy touch has still its ancient power.
No word from Thee can fruitless fall;
Hear, in this solemn evening hour,
And in Thy mercy heal us all.

(2) Today in 1880 – O How Fair That Morning written

John Ellerton graduated from Trinity College, and served as a clergyman in the Church of England. He was a recognized authority on hymns, and wrote or translated 80 of them.

O How Fair That Morning is a perceptive look at creation, the effects of the fall, and the salvation God provided.

Oh how fair that morning broke,
When in Eden man awoke!
Beast and bird and insect bright
Reveled in the gladsome light;
God looked down from heav’n above,
All was life and joy and love.

Ah! the doleful change when sin
Darkly, subtly entered in!
War and pestilence and dearth
Mar and sadden God’s fair earth;
Human sorrow fills the air;
Death is reigning everywhere.

Yet rejoice; for God on high
Hath not left His world to die!
God’s dear Son, with dying breath,
Broke the power of sin and death;
Christ the tempter overthrew,
Christ is making all things new.

Today in 1607 – Paul Gerhardt Born

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A Lutheran pastor, Paul Gerhardt is also perhaps the greatest of the early Lutheran hymn writers, next to Martin Luther. Gerhardt’s life and the warmth of his preaching reflected the compassion of the Saviour. But he suffered a great deal. In The History and Use of Hymns and Hymn Tunes,  historian David Breed writes:

He was not settled permanently anywhere until he was forty-four years of age, nor married until he was forty-eight. He endured great affliction in the long illness and death of his wife, and in the lost of four out of five of his children. Finally he was dispossessed of his position, and retired to a humble parish in Lübben, where he laboured for seven years among a rude, unsympathetic people, and where he died.”

Yet out of that burdened life this marvelous hymn was born. A German prayer poem he read inspired him to compose and publish a hymn in 1653 that he called O Jesu Christ, Mein Schöstes Licht (O Jesus Christ, My Beautiful Light).  The tune commonly used is St. Catherine. In the song Gerhardt extols the love of Christ, responding to it with a great and holy passion. We know the hymn now by its opening phrase.

Jesus, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Unite my thankful heart with Thee
And reign without a rival there.
To Thee alone, dear Lord, I live;
Myself to Thee, dear Lord, I give.

O, grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone!
Oh, may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown!
All coldness from my heart remove;
My every act, word, thought, be love.

(2) Today in 1826 – Robert Lowry Born

Robert Lowry attended the University at Lewisburg (later known as Bucknell University), where he became a professor of literature. He was ordained as a Baptist clergyman, and pastored churches in Westchester, Pennsylvania, New York City, and Brooklyn, as well as several other places. He worked as a music editor for the Biglow Publishing Company, and helped editor many gospel song books. Lowry also wrote about 500 gospel tunes (as for Isaac Watts’s Come, We That Love the Lord), and many hymn texts, such as: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus, and Shall We Gather at the River.

Introduced at a camp meeting in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and published in 1876, Nothing but the Blood of Jesus is a significant gospel song because it reminds us of the eternal value of the shed blood of Christ–a doctrine that is sadly missing from much preaching today. It is based on Heb. 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission [no forgiveness].”

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The last two stanzas of this hymn are rarely printed and used today, but they are fine too.

Now by this I’ll overcome–
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home–
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing–
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring–
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Graphic River

Concerning Shall We Gather at the River, one day in July of 1864, thoughts of eternity came to the mind of Robert Lowry, then pastor of Hanson Place Baptist Church, in Brooklyn, New York. Summer that year was oppressively hot, and there was a deadly epidemic raging through the crowded city. Pastor Lowry was called upon to visit many bereaved families as death touched home after home. What could he say? What message of hope could he bring?

The Lord gave him a thought that he shared over and over. Each time, the pastor would assure the sick and sorrowing that through faith in Christ we can look forward to a great reunion day at the river of life described in the book of Revelation (Rev. 22:1-2). He encouraged them to think of meeting the departed once again by the river.

After one particularly exhausting day of comforting the distressed people of his congregation, the pastor returned home and laid down on a couch to rest. He reports that as he lay there he pictured in his imagination that beautiful heavenly scene, the glorious throne of God, and the shining crystal waters of the river. “Visions of the future passed before me with startling vividness,” Lowry says. He wondered why so much attention is given to crossing the river of death, and so little to meeting at the river of life. It was at that moment an idea for a new hymn formed in his mind. He states:

As I mused, the words began to construct themselves. They came first as a question of Christian inquiry, “Shall we gather at the river?’ Then they broke out in chorus, ‘Yes, we’ll gather at the river.”

Soon Pastor Lowry had created both words and music for a stirring gospel song.

Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.

Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we every burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown.

Here is a nice choral arrangement of the hymn. Unfortunately, the one who videotaped it was too far back. The solo stanza of the spiritual, Deep River, does not pick up well, and the attempts of the couple in the back row to take a picture, and discuss how to do so are a bit distracting. But I still enjoyed the choir. Hope you do too.

Today in 1837 – Oscar Clute Born

,

Oscar Clute graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College, then taught mathematics there for awhile, later studying at Meadeville Theological Seminary.  He held pastorates in New Jersey, Iowa and California and, during his busy life, also served as president of the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State College), and Florida Agricultural College. He has given us a single hymn, O Love of God Most Full, published in 1904.

O love of God most full,
O love of God most free,
Come, warm my heart, come fill my soul,
Come, lead me unto Thee!

Warm as the glowing sun,
So shines Thy love on me;
It wraps me ’round with kindly care,
It draws me unto Thee!

(2) Today in 1923 – Mary Thomson Died

One day in 1868, Mary Ann Faulker Thomson faced a family crisis. Her child was critically ill with typhoid fever. As she sat up with him one lonely night, it is said she made a covenant with God–that if He would spare her son she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service. It was also during those dark hours that Mary Ann Thomson began to write a fine missionary hymn called O Zion, Haste (often amended today to O Christian, Haste).

In the stanzas she has given us the author shows herself to be knowledgeable of the Scriptures. For instance, the first verse says:

O Christian, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,
To tell to all the world that God is Light;
That He who made all nations is not willing
One soul should perish, lost in shades of night.

That beautifully reflects the truth of II Pet. 3:9, “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (though unfortunately I’ve seen a version of the song that changes the last line of the above to “One soul should fail to know His love and might”). True as this may be, it emasculates the message! Outside of Christ, soul’s are “perishing” (i.e. heading for eternal ruin; cf. Jn. 3:16). This same editor also conveniently dropped the second stanza which describes the bondage of sin:

Behold how many thousands still are lying
Bound in the darksome prison house of sin,
With none to tell them of the Saviour’s dying,
Or of the life He died for them to win.

We are called to bear witnes to the truth (Rom. 10:14). And in a stanza not usually used today, Mary Thomson is even more pointed about our responsibility to share the gospel, saying:

‘Tis thine to save from peril of perdition
The souls for whom the Lord His life laid down.

The unsaved are in fearful peril. The Bible says they are “condemned already,” and “the wrath of God abides on [them]” (Jn. 3:18, 36). They need to hear the gospel of grace and put their faith in Christ, apart from which they are headed for a lost eternity. The bad news is needed, in order to underscore the vital importance of the good news–that there is life eternal through faith in God’s provision (Jn. 5:24; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 3:23; 6:23).  

Then consider the positive aspects of the message presented in another stanza:

Proclaim to every people, tongue and nation
That God in whom they live and move is love:
Tell how He stooped to save His lost creation,
And died on earth that man might live above.

Finally, another stanza may hint at that personal dedication of Mrs. Thomson’s own son to the Lord’s work.

Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious;
Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way;
Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious;
And all thou spendest Jesus will repay.

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