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Today in 1824 – Anna Warner Born

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Anna Bartlett Warner was the poet in the family. Though Anna did write stories too, her sister Susan was recognized as a popular novelist of the day. Their father, Henry Warner, was a wealthy lawyer in New York City, but he lost most of his fortune in the 1837 depression. With that, the family moved to their summer home (Good Craig), on Constitution Island in the Hudson River.

There, the women, both sincere Christians, began holding Bible studies for the cadets at West Point Military Academy nearby. Their home is now a historical site. In part, it was financial necessity that motivated the two sisters to write, though both used their gifts to produce spiritual and morally edifying material, so that their creations became a ministry as well.

In 1860, Susan began work on a new book entitled Say and Seal. In it, a Sunday School teacher she called John Linden goes to visit one of his students named Johnnie Fax. The boy is dying–an all too common reality in those days. But Mr. Linden tries to encourage him, reminding him of the love of the Saviour. At that point, Susan wanted the teacher to sing a song they had learned in Sunday School. But what could he sing? She turned to her sister Anna for help. In response, Anna Warner penned the words of a now well-known hymn.

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

The stanza that begins, “Jesus loves me, loves me still, / Though I’m very weak and ill” (sometimes omitted by our hymnals) was specifically intended to relate to the story of the sick little boy, but it continues to bless. And the hymn should not be relegated to use with children only. Christ’s love is needed by us all.

I had a friend years ago named Marion Newby (now with the Lord) who was a marvellous singer. She often used Anna Warner’s song as a solo number. On one hot summer day, she was singing Jesus Loves Me in a church service. All the windows were open to capture any breath of air. During her solo a man walked by the church in deep despair. He was planning to commit suicide, but was arrested by the message that the Lord Jesus loved him still.  That truth turned him back from his plan, saving his life.

We must not miss the importance of that last clause–that the Bible tells us so. Where is faith to rest? It rests on the abiding truth of the Word of God. “The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (I Pet. 1:24-25). That is our anchor.

Anna wrote another hymn, published in 1852, that is well worth mentioning. Based on a phrase from the Gospels (Jn. 12:21, KJV), it speaks of our tendency to cling to earthly things, when God has something far better for us. What will restore a proper perspective is to see Christ again, with the eyes of faith.

We would see Jesus; for the shadows lengthen
Across this little landscape of our life;
We would see Jesus, our weak faith to strengthen
For the last weariness, the final strife.

We would see Jesus; yet the spirit lingers
Round the dear objects it has loved so long,
And earth from earth can scarce unclasp its fingers;
Our love to Thee makes not this love less strong.

We would see Jesus: sense is all too binding,
And heaven appears too dim, too far away;
We would see Thee, Thyself our hearts reminding
What Thou hast suffered, our great debt to pay.

We would see Jesus: this is all we’re needing;
Strength, joy, and willingness come with the sight;
We would see Jesus, dying, risen, pleading;
Then welcome day, and farewell mortal night.

(2) Today in 1861 – Jessie Pounds Born

Jessie Brown suffered from poor health as a child, and she was educated at home. At the age of 15 she began submitting articles to newspapers and magazines. In 1896 she married a pastor named John Pounds. Over her lifetime she authored 9 books, and wrote over 400 gospel songs, as well as cantatas and operettas.

Among the songs of Jessie Pounds that are still in use are:

Anywhere with Jesus
Beautiful Isle of Somewhere
I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
The Touch of His Hand on Mine
The Way of the Cross Leads Home

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth is from an Easter cantata the author published in 1893. It is based on the words of Job in Job 19:25-26, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (KJV).

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know eternal life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

I know, I know, that Jesus liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know, I know, that life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

(3) Today in 1923 – Benjamin Ramsey Died

Benjamin Mansell Ramsey was for many years a well-known teacher near Bournemouth, England. He wrote choral music, and music for the piano, as well as hymns and carols. He retired in 1916. In the last year of his life he was in poor health, but at the age of 74 he organized and conducted a choir in the village of Chichester.

His fine hymn, Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord, echoes the words of the psalmist, “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth” (Ps. 86:11).

Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford, teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav’nly light, teach me Thy way!

Long as my life shall last, teach me Thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast, teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run, until the journey’s done,
Until the crown is won, teach me Thy way!

Today in 1820 – George Root Born

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George Frederick Root was born with a talent for making music. At the age of 13, he was able to play 13 different instruments. In adult life, he played the organ in a church in New York City, and taught music at a women’s institute. He also taught at the New York Institute for the Blind, where Fanny Crosby was one of his students.

Root worked with hymn writer Lowell Mason at the Academy of Music in Boston. He wrote some popular songs for the secular market (such as Rosalie, the Prairie Flower), and patriotic songs around the time of the Civil War (such as Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching). But he is best known for his many hymns, sometimes providing words and music, other times composing tunes for the words of others.

As examples of his work, he wrote the tunes for Ring the Bells of Heaven and When He Cometh. And Root wrote words and music for Why Not Now? and Come to the Saviour. The latter is a simple invitation hymn, with a pretty tune. (See the Cyber Hymnal for the full hymn and tune, and an interesting story connected with the song.)

Come to the Saviour, make no delay;
Here in His Word He has shown us the way;
Here in our midst He’s standing today,
Tenderly saying, “Come!”

Joyful, joyful will the meeting be,
When from sin our hearts are pure and free;
And we shall gather, Saviour, with Thee,
In our eternal home.

Another of his songs, The Hem of His Garment is based on an incident in Matt. 9:18-26. The author uses the faith of the woman in the story to illustrate our need to reach out in faith to the Lord.

She only touched the hem of His garment
As to His side she stole,
Amid the crowd that gathered around Him,
And straightway she was whole.

Oh, touch the hem of His garment!
And thou, too, shalt be free!
His saving power this very hour
Shall give new life to thee!

(2) Today in 1854 – Edmond Budry Born

Edmond Louis Budry was a pastor in Switzerland. The single hymn for which he is known today to English hymn lovers was written first in French (A Toi la Gloire), and translated four decades later as Thine Be the Glory, Risen Conquering Son.

It’s reported that Pastor Budry wrote the hymn following the death of his first wife, Marie de Vayenborg. Apparently he gained comfort and strength from the assurance of the resurrection. His song is a rousing, triumphant hymn on that theme, and on the eternal triumph of Christ over death and the grave. It should be more familiar than it is. “Death is swallowed up in victory” through Christ (I Cor. 15:54, 57).

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes where Thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.

(3) Today in 1914 – William Martin Died

American, William Clark Martin was a Baptist pastor and hymn writer. A number of his many gospel songs have remained in use. Among these are The Name of Jesus, Still Sweeter Every Day, and My Anchor Holds.

Graphic Stormy Sea

The latter, with its colourful imagery of a stormy sea, can certainly be sung by a mixed congregation, but its muscular resonance seems especially suited to men’s voices.

Years ago, I often sang the hymn with a male choir in the city of Toronto. We used to sing the first part of the final stanza slowly and quietly, gradually surging into full volume with “But in Christ I can be bold!” With a bit of prior instruction, a congregation can do the same, and it is most effective. The song also seems to call for a hold on the word “holds” in the middle of the last line of the refrain.

Though the angry surges roll
On my tempest driven soul,
I am peaceful, for I know,
Wildly though the winds may blow,
I’ve an anchor safe and sure,
That can evermore endure.

And it holds, my anchor holds:
Blow your wildest, then, O gale,
On my bark so small and frail;
By His grace I shall not fail,
For my anchor holds, my anchor holds.

Troubles almost ’whelm the soul;
Griefs like billows o’er me roll;
Tempters seek to lure astray;
Storms obscure the light of day:
But in Christ I can be bold,
I’ve an anchor that shall hold.

Today in 1809 – Oliver Wendell Holmes Born

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Oliver Wendell Holmes was the son of a Congregational clergyman. He taught anatomy and physiology at Harvard Medical School–and eventually became a dean there. His son, who was also given the names Oliver Wendell, became an American Supreme Court justice. The father was not only a medical man, but also a distinguished author. Along with other outstanding New England writers he helped found the Atlantic Monthly.

We would not likely consider Oliver Wendell Holmes an evangelical Christian. He was an admitted free thinker, though he attended church regularly. In explaining this habit, he said ambiguously, “There is a little plant called ‘reverence’ in the corner of my soul’s garden, which I love to have watered once a week.”

Nevertheless, Holmes is credited with writing possibly the finest hymn we have about the omnipresence of God. (“‘Do I not fill heaven and earth,’ says the Lord,” Jer. 23:24.) Produced in 1848, the song says, in part:

Lord of all being, throned afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Centre and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!

Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Before Thy ever blazing throne
We ask no luster of our own.

Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,
Till all Thy living altars claim
One holy light, one heavenly flame.

(2) I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone (Data Missing)

Charles E. Durham was a mail carrier in rural Texas in the early years of the twentieth century. He also wrote gospel songs. And he took paper and pencil each day on his route, in case a sudden inspiration came to him for a new hymn. He eventually wrote over a hundred of them in this way, going on to publish song books and organize gospel quartets.

Durham became friends with Virgil Stamps, a great promoter of Southern Gospel music, and in 1934 he published a song and dedicated it to Stamps. (Thomas Ramsey is also listed as contributing, at least in part, to the lyrics.) Recorded by Johnny Cash and many other gospel artists, it is called, I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone.

The Jordan River in the Holy Land figures prominently in biblical history, and has become a symbol of death to what is past, and the anticipation of a new beginning. The postman’s song was his testimony of faith in Christ, and the assurance that the Lord would carry him safely through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4), and on to the eternal day.

When I come to the river at the ending of day,
When the last winds of sorrow have blown;
There’ll be somebody waiting to show me the way,
And I won’t have to cross Jordan alone.

I won’t have to cross Jordan alone,
Jesus died all my sins to atone;
When in the darkness I see,
He’ll be waiting for me,
And I won’t have to cross Jordan alone.

Here is a fine choral arrangement of Durham’s song, a medley with bits of other hymns added in. Well done.

Today in 1796 – William Bathurst Born

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William Hiley Bathurst was the son of a British member of parliament. He served for some years as a clergyman in the Church of England, but resigned over some differences of doctrine relating to baptism and the burial of the dead. He wrote over 200 hymns, though only one is found in most hymnals today.

O for a Faith That Will Not Shrink was published in 1831 with the heading “The Power of Faith,” and reference to Lk. 17:5, “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” One of Bathurst’s stanzas, omitted now, speaks of a faith…

That bears unmoved the world’s dread frown,
Nor heeds its scornful smile;
That sin’s wild ocean cannot drown,
Nor its soft arts beguile.

Those lines may not be worthy of a place in our hymnals, but they do make a point about the way in which faith is opposed, by outright hostility, and by mocking ridicule, as well as by temptations that can either come forcefully or subtly.

O, for a faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by many a foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe!

Lord, give me such a faith as this,
And then, whate’er may come,
I’ll taste, e’en here, the hallowed bliss
Of an eternal home.

(2) Today in 1827 – William Hutchings Born

William Medlen Hutchings was a printer and publisher in London. He wrote the following hymn for an anniversary of St. Paul’s Chapel Sunday School. (“Salem,” in the hymn is a shortened name for Jerusalem, cf. Ps. 76:2.) The song is based on the following incident in the Gospels.

Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them. (Mk. 10:13-16)

Luke’s Gospel calls them “infants” (Lk. 18:15), so at least some of them were quite young. The Jewish Talmud says, “After the father of the child had laid his hands on the child’s head, he led him to the elders, one by one, and they also blessed him, and prayed that he might grow up famous in the Law, faithful in marriage, and abundant in good works.” It could well be with this in mind that the parents brought their children to Christ.

They sought a “touch,” but He so often “does exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). The Lord Jesus catches them up in His loving arms and brings them eye to eye with Him. It is typical of His abundant grace.

When mothers of Salem their children brought to Jesus,
The stern disciples drove them back and bade them to depart:
But Jesus saw them ere they fled and sweetly smiled and kindly said,
“Suffer little children to come unto Me.”

Here are those truly remarkable children, Elaine and Derek. The recording is old and worn, and is distorted particularly on the high notes, but it is worth a listen anyway.

(3) Today in 1840 – Ira Sankey Born

Ira David Sankey was one of the most prominent gospel songsters of the late nineteenth century. As a young man, he served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He often helped the unit chaplain and led his fellow soldiers in hymn singing. After the war, he became a soloist and song leader working with Dwight L. Moody in his evangelistic campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic.

But Ira Sankey did far more than that. A composer of many tunes, and the writer of a number of song texts as well (about 1,200 in all, of words or music), he sometimes used the pen name Rian A. Dykes, an anagram using the letters of his actual name. Ira Sankey published a songbook, Sacred Songs and Solos, that became a standard for many years afterward.

At the close of the century, when he was an elderly man, blind with glaucoma, he became one of the first to make gospel recordings. I have in my library a CD entitled There’ll Be No Dark Valley which contains a number of these songs put on the old wax cylinders in 1898-1900. To his other achievements, Sankey added becoming a published author with his book, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns. It contains some fascinating stories.

One of the songs on the above recording is A Shelter in the Time of Storm, for which Sankey composed the tune. In his book, he says,

I found this hymn in a small paper published in London….It was said to be a favourite song of the fishermen on the north coast of England, and they were often heard singing it as they approached their harbours in the time of storm. As the hymn was set to weird minor tune, I decided to compose one that would be more practical, one that could be more easily sung by the people.

The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,
A shelter in the time of storm.

Here is a Country version of this song. And give attention to the comments at the beginning. The singer suggests one of the reasons why our traditional hymnody still has merit, and why at least some contemporary offerings do not. Interesting!

Today in 1859 – Kate Wilkinson Born

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Relatively little is known of English hymn writer Kate Barclay Wilkinson. She was the daughter of a mechanical engineer, and married in 1891. She ministered to young women in west London, and was apparently associated with the Keswick “deeper life” movement. We have only one hymn from her pen, but it’s a fine one.

May the Mind of Christ, My Saviour was written in the early twentieth century. It is based on the words of the Apostle Paul in Phil. 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” There follows a description of the way the Lord Jesus surrendered His rights and took the place of humble service, even unto death (vs. 6-8). It is a theme the Bible addresses a number of times, perhaps because the tendency of our sinful nature is to do just the opposite, to cling to what we see as our rights, and expect others to serve us!

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory.

(2) The Lord Is Coming (Data Missing)

Over the years, many hymns have been written about the return of Christ, and about our heavenly home. (Ira Sankey’s hymnal, Sacred Songs and Solos, has about 150 of them, out of the 1200 songs in the book.)

Many of these have been long forgotten, not being used in most churches today. That is understandable, and sometimes is an outcome of inferior quality. However, they are at least of historical interest, having blessed the people of God in years gone by.

One of these is the little second-coming hymn The Lord Is Coming. An unknown author gave us the first stanzas and the refrain in the 1840s. The last stanza was added by Mary Steward, about 40 years later. (We know nothing of her but the name.) You can see the full hymn and hear William Bradbury’s tune on the Cyber Hymnal.

The Lord is coming, let this be
The herald note of jubilee;
And when we meet and when we part
The salutation from the heart.

The Lord is coming, let this be
The herald note of jubilee,
The herald note of jubilee.

The Lord is coming! sound it forth
From east to west, from south to north;
Speed on! speed on the tidings glad,
That none who love Him may be sad.

The earth, with her ten thousand wrongs
Will soon be tuned in nobler songs;
Our praise shall then, in realms of light,
With all His universe unite.

Today in 1906 – Spencer Walton Died

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Mr. Walton was a missionary and evangelist, working with the South Africa General Mission in the latter part of the nineteenth century. About 1889, W. Spencer Walton founded The Sailor’s Rest, in the city of Durban, Natal (a region in South Africa). He ministered to the spiritual needs of seaman there. During the Boer War, he distributed Bibles to the English soldiers. Spencer Walton’s missionary work is known mainly through the books and pamphlets he wrote. He is also credited with one hymn, In Tenderness He Sought Me, published in 1894.

The first stanza of the hymn draws upon a parable the Lord Jesus told about a shepherd seeking his lost sheep (Lk. 15:3-7). The second stanza echoes the loving actions of the good Samaritan in another parable (Lk. 10:30-37). Walton applied both of these images to Christ.

In tenderness He sought me,
Weary and sick with sin;
And on His shoulders brought me
Back to His fold again.
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.

Oh, the love that sought me!
Oh, the blood that bought me!
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold,
Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold.

He washed the bleeding sin wounds,
And poured in oil and wine;
He whispered to assure me,
“I’ve found thee, thou art Mine”;
I never heard a sweeter voice;
It made my aching heart rejoice!

(2) Today in 1958 – Ralph Williams Died

Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Vaughn Williams was a central figure in British classical music in the early twentieth century. He wrote symphonies, chamber music, operas, choral music and film scores, and was a collector of English folk music. Though either an atheist or agnostic, he wrote or arranged a number of hymn tunes, and also helped edit two hymnals and The Oxford Book of Carols.

His 1906 tune Sine Nomine (Latin words meaning “without a name”) is used with the hymn For All the Saints. At first, it was dismissed as “jazz music” by the staid Church of England, but it has more lately been judged one of the better hymn tunes of the twentieth century.

William Walsham How wrote the text for the above hymn in 1864. (Originally, the opening line was “For all Thy saints.” It was changed with the author’s permission.) It honours the servants of God in past generations, taking as its inspiration the reference to “so great a cloud of witnesses in Heb. 12:1.

For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Today in 1945 – Harper Smyth Died

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Harper Garcia Smyth was a gifted musician who played with the Metropolitan Opera Company. He also served as choir director in a number of churches, as well as a song leader for the Salvation Army, and for evangelist Wilbur Chapman. Interestingly, he also led songs at the national convention of the Republican Party in 1924. In 1945 he was leading singing with a group of army inductees when he suffered a debilitating stroke, dying four months later.

Though he wrote about 25 songs, Smyth is known in Christian hymnody largely for the words and music of one gospel song he wrote in 1903, Is Your Life a Channel of Blessing?

Years ago, I used to visit a senior citizen whose final words to me many times were, “May the Lord bless you and make you a blessing. That identifies an important principle. It is only as the Lord blesses us that we have something we can pass on to others. God’s words to Abraham were, “I will bless you…and you shall be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2). And in the words of the Lord Jesus, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8). That is how it should be. We are to become channels of His blessing to others.

Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is the love of God flowing through you?
Are you telling the lost of the Saviour?
Are you ready His service to do?

Make me a channel of blessing today,
Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
My life possessing, my service blessing,
Make me a channel of blessing today.

We cannot be channels of blessing
If our lives are not free from known sin;
We will barriers be and a hindrance
To those we are trying to win.

I have missionary friends serving in Brazil. This is especially for them, the singing of Harper Smith’s hymn in Portuguese (called Vaso de Bencao in that language). This is a large Presbyterian congregation, and the hymn is well sung, with the pacing dead on. (Love the pipe organ, too!)

(2) The Bright Forevermore (Data Missing)

I can recall singing The Bright Forevermore, many years ago (#984 in Ira Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos). Since then, it has passed into virtual obscurity, a simple song about heaven, and the believer’s future rewards. As Peter wrote to the church leaders of his day:

Shepherd the flock of God…and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

I Pet. 5:2, 4

Since this blog was posted originally, new information has come to light. Apparently, the author of the text is poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (circa 1864), and William Augustine Ogden composed the tune. Mr. Ogden (1841-1897) served in the American Civil War. Afterward, he taught school in both the United States and Canada. In 1887, he became Superintendent of Music in the public schools of Toledo, Ohio.

There is a land a sunny land,
Whose skies are ever bright,
Where ev’ning shadows never fall;
The Saviour is its light.

If the cross we meekly bear,
Then the crown we shall wear;
We shall dwell among the fair,
In the bright forevermore.

There is a clime, a peaceful clime,
Beyond life’s narrow sea,
Where ev’ry storm is hushed to rest:
There let our treasure be.

We long to leave these fading scenes
That glide so quickly by,
And join the shining host above,
Where joy can never die.

Today in 1795 – Samuel Stennett Died

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Samuel Stennett was a pastor in England who came from a long line of Baptist clergyman. He had a personal friendship with King George III, and with the famous philanthropist John Howard, a member of his congregation. Stennett was also an author of considerable skill who wrote books on a variety of spiritual topics, and produced 38 hymns. Two of them deserve at least a brief comment.

Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned, published in 1787, is a beautiful hymn of worship. The author’s original title was “Chief among Ten Thousand; or, The Excellencies of Christ,” with a reference to the Song of Solomon 5:10-16, where Solomon’s betrothed describes him as “Chief among ten thousand.” Stennett takes the bridegroom in the story as a picture of Christ.

Majestic sweetness sits enthroned
Upon the Saviour’s brow;
His head with radiant glories crowned,
His lips with grace o’erflow.

No mortal can with Him compare
Among the sons of men;
Fairer is He than all the fair
Who fill the heav’nly train.

To Him I owe my life and breath
And all the joys I have;
He makes me triumph over death
And saves me from the grave.

Since from His bounty I receive
Such proofs of love divine,
Had I a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be Thine.

The other song of Samuel Stennett’s found in many hymn books is On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.

It was the Jordan River that the nation of Israel crossed to enter the promised land of Canaan. And it is a fitting symbol of death–death to the old life of slavery and of wandering in the wilderness. However, Canaan does not make the most appropriate symbol of heaven. Canaan was full of wicked people, and warfare with the forces of evil lay ahead. In spite of a few hymns that identify Canaan with heaven, it is better to see it as a picture of abundant spiritual life, with the Jordan typical of conversion or dedication to Christ, and leaving the old life behind.

Having said this, we can still appreciate the sentiment of the hymn, and see Canaan as an imperfect foretaste of a more perfect dwelling place and greater blessings yet to come.

(2) Today in 1879 – Paul Rader Born

As a college athletics coach, Daniel Paul Rader knew what physical strength and ability could accomplish. Rader trusted Christ as his Saviour at an early age, but then he seemed to lose his way spiritually. And, in his own strength, he was able to do a lot of things. He once described himself as an “ex-bellboy, ex-cowboy, ex-prospector, ex-football player, and ex-pugilist”!

Then he went to New York and found a job that he believed would make his fortune. He wired his wife with the news, a bold telegram that said, “We are fixed for life.” But an error was made in the transmission, and the message received was “We are fixed for like.” Imagine his wife’s puzzlement. She immediately sent a reply asking, “Fixed for what?” And God used that message to change Paul Rader’s life.

He says, “There I was, standing on Wall Street, with a telegram held in my trembling hand. Three little words. Yet the question they asked shook me to my soul’s boots! They showed me up. They challenged all my philosophy of life. They challenged all my plans.” Fixed for…what? It was as he pondered that innocent query that God touched his life in a new way.

When Paul Rader came back to the Lord, he put the same kind of energy and commitment into serving Him that he had into his other pursuits. He became one of the most dynamic gospel preachers of his day. He pastored some large churches, headed up a whole denomination, toured the mission fields of the world, founded a Christian music publishing company, and pioneered Christian broadcasting in the earliest days of radio.

But through all of his many endeavours, Paul Rader never again lost sight of the real source of power. It wasn’t in radio waves, or printer’s ink, or even in his preaching. With another Paul long before, he would say, “Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (I Cor. 2:5). It was out of that conviction Pastor Rader wrote the hymn Old-Time Power around 1916.

We are gathered for Thy blessing,
We will wait upon our God;
We will trust in Him Who loved us,
And Who bought us with His blood.

Spirit, now melt and move
All of our hearts with love,
Breathe on us from above
With old time power.

Today in 1712 – The Spacious Firmament published

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This great hymn, based on Ps. 19:1-6, appeared in The Spectator, a weekly paper edited by the author, Joseph Addison. It was appended to an article he wrote called “An Essay on the Proper Means of Strengthening and Confirming Faith in the Mind of Man.” There, he said,

Graphic Earth in Space

Faith and devotion naturally grow in the mind of every reasonable man, who sees the impression of divine power and wisdom in every object on which he casts his eye. The Supreme Being has made the best arguments for His own existence in the formation of the heavens and the earth.

Addison’s skill as one of the greatest writers in the English language reaches sublime heights in this hymn. The words are thrilling, even to read. And, if a congregation sings the hymn well and thoughtfully, it may raise some goose bumps! Appropriately, the tune used for the hymn (called Creation) is adapted from “The Heavens Are Telling,” a chorus in the 1798 oratorio The Creation, by Franz Josef Haydn.

The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame
Their great Original proclaim.
Th’unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s powers display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty Hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid the radiant orbs be found?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
“The hand that made us is divine.”

Here is the original tune as it appears in Haydn’s masterful oratorio, The Creation. The music was adapted for congregational use with Addison’s hymn. (You can hear the hymn tune played on the Cyber Hymnal.)

The “Total Message” of a Song: Have you thought about what goes to make up the total message of a song? When we sing hymns and gospel songs, especially when they are presented to the people of God as a ministry in music, we need to consider how the message is communicated. Click on the title above to read about five important elements in the “total message.”

(2) Today in 1970 – Jack Vandall Died

Napoleon Bonaparte Vandall was known to his friends as Jack. Often with the gospel songs, for which he wrote both words and music, he is listed as N. B. Vandall. (We can perhaps sympathize with his desire to avoid using his given names!) Mr. Vandall was an evangelist with the Church of the Nazarene. He and his wife Margaret (who was instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ) made their home in Akron, Ohio. They had four sons.

In the early years of his ministry, financial difficulties and other problems made it tempting for him to abandon full-time Christian service and return to a business career he had left behind. But in that time of testing the Lord reassured him that his faithful service would be fully rewarded one day. With his mind on that encouraging prospect, N. B. Vandall wrote the beautiful gospel song, My Home, Sweet Home. I can recall singing it in a men’s choir, long ago. Then, years later, I conducted a large choir in singing the song.

Walking along life’s road one day,
I heard a voice so sweetly say,
“A place up in heav’n I am building thee,
A beautiful, beautiful home.”

Home, sweet home,
Home, sweet home,
Where I’ll never roam.
I see the light of that city so bright-
My home, sweet home.

Life’s day is short–I soon shall go
To be with Him who loved me so;
I see in the distance that shining shore,
My beautiful, beautiful home.

Today in 1831 – William Cummings Born

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William Hayman Cummings was a British soloist, organist, and musicologist. He began his singing career as a boy soprano and matured into an outstanding tenor, acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1847 he was privileged to sing at the premiere performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s superb oratorio, Elijah, with the composer himself conducting. He taught voice at the Royal Academy of Music, and later became principal of the Guildhall School of Music.

Cummings is known in hymnody for one contribution only. Felix Mendelssohn had written a cantata in 1840 celebrating the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. William Cummings took one of the melodies and adapted it for use with the carol Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. It’s the tune we use to this day.  And fittingly, the tune is sometimes called Mendelssohn.

Graphic Christmas Angel

Mendelssohn, a born again believer, seems to have had an intuition that the melody might have a later usefulness. Several years before Cummings appropriated it, he wrote, “I think there ought to be other words to this tune. If the right ones are hit at I am sure the piece will be liked very much.” However, his crystal ball seems to have failed him at this point, because he added, “It will never do to sacred words.”

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing is recognized as one of the two greatest hymns of thousands written by Charles Wesley–rivalled only by his Jesus, Lover of My Soul. It is also one of the finest in the English language. The hymn was published by Wesley in 1739, with the now-familiar tune being added about a century later. Wesley’s original first line was “Hark, how all the welkin rings”–welkin being an old word for the heavens or sky. The alteration to what we know now was made 14 years later by evangelist George Whitefield.

The great hymn clearly speaks of the deity and incarnation of Christ, and of the salvation made possible through the new birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

 (2) I Am Praying for You (Data Missing)

Ira Sankey discovered the poem when the Moody-Sankey team visited Ireland in 1874. He wrote a melody to suit it. We know little of the man who wrote I Am Praying for You, other than his wonderful name: Samuel O’Malley Gore Cluff [or Clough] (1837-1910). You can see the full text of this touching invitation hymn, and hear to tune, on the Cyber Hymnal.

I have a Saviour, He’s pleading in glory,
A dear, loving Saviour though earth friends be few;
And now He is watching in tenderness o’er me;
And oh, that my Saviour were your Savior, too.

For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
For you I am praying,
I’m praying for you.

I have a Father; to me He has given
A hope for eternity, blessèd and true;
And soon He will call me to meet Him in heaven,
But, oh, that He’d let me bring you with me, too!

I have a robe; ’tis resplendent in whiteness,
Awaiting in glory my wondering view;
Oh, when I receive it all shining in brightness,
Dear friend, could I see you receiving one, too!

When Jesus has found you, tell others the story,
That my loving Saviour is your Saviour, too;
Then pray that your Saviour may bring them to glory,
And prayer will be answered—’twas answered for you!

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