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The Golden Age of Hymnody

Graphic Golden Age

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Perronet’s Joke

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How’s Your Memory?

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If you have ever struggled to recall a familiar phone number, or a street address, you may be slightly envious of Gon Yang-ling, in China. At the age of 26, he was able to recite accurately 15,000 telephone numbers! Most of us would have trouble with those 15 or so numbers we call regularly.  Other amazing feats of memory have been recorded over the years. I know of several people, including my own mother, who have been able to memorize whole books of the Bible, or hundreds of individual verses of Scripture. But such folks are unusual.

Having said that, though, it is important for us to make a consistent effort to commit as much of God’s Word to memory as we can. Then the Spirit of God can use it readily for our guidance and growth. The psalmist says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). And the Lord Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them [guide them in holy living] by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). He desires to “sanctify and cleanse [us] with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26). The more of the Bible we know by heart, the more spiritual good it will do us.

Yet the Lord understands our limitations. He knows how forgetful we can be. That is one reason He has provided a memory aid for believers with regard to the cross of Christ. The cross is the foundation of God’s forgiveness, of the gift of eternal life, and also of our power for life and service now. But, as the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Yes, we have God’s inspired Word recounting what happened, but it is so easy for this pivotal event to slip from our minds. And God knew it would. So He ordained the Lord’s Supper (the Communion Service) to bring it regularly to our awareness.

The Lord’s Supper was instituted when Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, just before He went to Calvary (Matt. 26:26-29). Later we read of the early church “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). In this context the breaking of bread is another term for the Lord’s Supper. (It would not be necessary to say they continued eating their meals.) And in teaching about this service, the Bible says it should be continued until Christ comes again (I Cor. 11:26).

James Montgomery (1771-1854) wrote a beautiful hymn in 1825 based upon this truth. As originally published, it was headed by the words, “This Do in Remembrance of Me.”

According to Thy gracious word,
In meek humility,
This will I do, my dying Lord,
I will remember Thee.

When to the cross I turn mine eyes,
And rest on Calvary,
O Lamb of God, my sacrifice,
I must remember Thee;

Top 10 Hymns of Blog Visitors

Editor’s note: This post was originally written in September 2009.

Some weeks ago I posted a “Top 10″ hymn poll and invited reader response. Below are the top eleven results, in descending order, with the first being the most popular. Interestingly, It Is Well with My Soul received almost twice as many votes as the perennial favourites, How Great Thou Art, and Amazing Grace.

1. It Is Well with My Soul
2. How Great Thou Art
3. Amazing Grace
4. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
5. And Can It Be?
6. Abide with Me
7. What a Friend We Have in Jesus
8. Jesus Loves Even Me
9. The Old Rugged Cross
10. Rock of Ages
11. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A few selections were mentioned only once. Several of them are certainly favourites of mine as well, though I wouldn’t necessarily put them in my “Top 10.” Here is a list of these (arranged alphabetically):

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Blessing of Aaron
Great God of Wonders
He Giveth More Grace
I Will Sing of My Redeemer
I Will Be with You
I’ll Fly Away
Lord, I Am Fondly, Earnestly Longing
Never Alone
Not So in Haste My Soul
Someday
Sometime We’ll Understand
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
When in Our Music God is Glorified

Obviously, this is not a scientific poll. But it does give some idea of the songs people love. Thanks to those of you who participated. Here are some follow-up things you could do:

  • Check out the Top 10 Hymns of 1953, and the Top 10 Hymns of 1990, and see how the three lists compare.
  • Take a poll of folks in your own congregation to see how their list of favourites compares.
  • Plan a church service around the “Top 10″ of your own church, or based on one of the lists on my blog. (Tip: Don’t just sing them in order. Give some thought to the themes of each, and see if they can be arranged in a logical way.) You could intersperse the songs with Scripture readings, devotional thoughts, or a bit about the history of the next hymn.
  • Send me your ideas for future polls. What about a poll to find your favourite hymn writers? Or favourite hymns on a particular subject–prayer, the cross, etc.?

An Easter Love Story

The Bible says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Easter is a love story! John 3:16 tells us about the gospel, the good news of what God did for us, in love, through His Son. There we see:

heart on ropes
  1. The Reason for the Gospel–that “God so loved the world”
  2. The Record of the Gospel–“That He gave His only begotten Son”
  3. The Reception of the Gospel–salvation for “whoever believes in Him”
  4. The Result of the Gospel–that we “should not peris but have everlasting life.”

Not Broken, But Pierced

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One thing did not happen at the cross, and another did happen. Both of these, John says, are a fulfilment of Scripture (Jn. 19:31-37). They relate to two particular aspects of the life and ministry of Christ.

I. His Righteous Person

  1. The soldiers found it unnecessary to break the legs of the Lord Jesus, as He was already dead when they checked on Him. He was dead not because of human weakness, but because the Lord Himself chose the time to die (Jn. 19:30). He had power to give up His life, and power to take it again (Jn. 10:17-18).
  2. The fact that Christ’s legs were not broken on the cross, points to His identity as the fulfilment of an important Old Testament picture, that of the unblemished Passover Lamb (Exod. 12:46; Num. 9:12; cf. Jn. 1:29; I Cor. 5:7).
  3. Legs are for walking, and in spiritual terms the walk represents daily life and experience (Eph. 4:1). Perhaps the unbroken legs of the Lamb suggest the wholeness and unsullied holiness of His life (Exod. 12:5; I Pet. 1:19).

II. His Redemptive Provision

  1. It was not enough for Jesus to die. His life’s blood had to be shed. Christ’s body was pierced, as prophesied, since this was a key aspect of His redemptive work (Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10; 13:1; Rev. 1:7).
  2. The shedding of His blood was necessary to provide for our cleansing from sin. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission [no forgiveness of sin]” (Heb. 9:22; cf. Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14, 20)
  3. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I Jn. 1:7) Blood flowed from His pierced feet, picturing His provision for the cleansing of our walk; blood flowed from His pierced hands, picturing His provision for the cleansing of our work; blood flowed from His pierced side, picturing His provision for the cleansing of our hearts.

Are You a Worm?

Hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748) published a song in 1707 that he called Godly Sorrow Arising from the Sufferings of Christ. (When was the last time we grieved over what it cost Christ to save us?) Using the old English word “alas” to express grief, Watts begins,

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Some editors have balked at having singers refer to themselves as “worms.” So various amendments have been proposed to the opening stanza: “For such a one as I,” or, “For sinners such as I.” But we ought not to be too hasty. “Worm” is biblical. The Lord says to 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. 41:14; cf. Job 25:6).

From these texts we get some idea of the meaning of the imagery. Two things in particular. The word is used to indicate how sinners, in themselves, are both helpless and unworthy. In comparison to human strength, a worm is a very weak creature. And lowly, and often despised. And that’s us. Powerless to know God or live for God, and unworthy of the least of His favour.

Significantly, in Psalm 22, that is prophetically descriptive of Christ on the cross, the speaker says, “I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men and despised by the people” (Ps. 22:6; cf. vs. 1). If the term can be used to describe the suffering Sin-bearer, surely it is appropriate for those whose sins nailed Him to the cross! We ought to view Calvary, not only with wonder and worship, but with a sense of abject shame. Yes, “worm” is a demeaning term. But it is in humbling ourselves before Calvary that we can find salvation.

And in response to the work of Christ, we ought to move beyond saving faith to a life of loving service. Isaac Watts comes to this in his last stanza:

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.

The force of the words of this hymn were the means of bringing renowned hymn writer Fanny Crosby to Christ in 1850. Fanny says as the last line was sung, “I surrendered myself to the Saviour, and my very soul was flooded with celestial light.” She was captivated by the love of Christ, and spend the rest of her days singing His praises, and providing the means by which others could do likewise.

Three Sacred Duties

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I Thess. 5:16-18

It is likely that vs. 16-18 were constructed in such a way that “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” is connected to all three exhortations, not just the last. Here are three important things in the will of God for us: rejoice, pray, and give thanks.

“Rejoice always” is the shortest verse in the Bible in the original languages. (“Jesus wept,” Jn. 11:35 has 4 fewer letters in English, but the Greek words are longer.) There is, however, a lovely connection between these two passages. Look at it this way: The Lord Jesus bore sin’s sorrow and suffering for humanity so that we might rejoice forever!

Note too how the exhortation to rejoice is followed by an exhortation to pray. We have that association in Philippians as well: “Rejoice in the Lord…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:4, 6). Rejoicing in the Lord and bringing glory to Him is our purpose. And prayer addresses the matter of our inability to do so consistently. It lays hold of God’s resources to accomplish His purpose for us.

We are to “pray without ceasing.” Not that we consciously verbalize prayers 24-7. “Without ceasing” translates a word used in Paul’s day of a nagging cough. It is not that the person coughed continuously, without a break. But he had a chronic condition that just didn’t seem to go away. Just so, Christians need to be infected with chronic prayer! Praying that won’t go away, in spite of time pressures or the Lord’s delay in answering.

Where are the prayer warriors today–those who will devote the time and energy to labour in prayer? In vs. 25 in the context of our passage, the apostle expresses his own sense of need in this area, using a present continuous tense in the Greek language: “Brethren, pray, and keep on praying for us.”

Thanklessness or ingratitude are a problem for us all. Twice in his epistles Paul notes that this is characteristic of the unregenerate mind (Rom. 1:21; II Tim. 3:2), but it ought not to be so of Christians. I have often wondered though, whether the incident in Lk. 17:12-19 can be applied as a general principle. There, the Lord heals 10 lepers, and only one returns to say “thank you.” Could it be that only a tenth of us are as thankful as we should be? Or that each of us is only thankful one tenth as often as we ought to be?

Today, let’s rejoice, pray, and give thanks to the Lord!

Rejoice, ye pure in heart,
Rejoice, give thanks and sing;
Your festal banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

Edification and Entertainment

In our entertainment hungry age, there is a legitimate question as to whether some of what goes on in our churches, thinking of music in particular, is more geared to be entertaining and tickle the emotions  than it is to be edifying. What’s the difference?

To Edify

Edification involves the building up, the strengthening and maturing of the individual. See Eph. 4:29, where “edification” translates the Greek word oikodome, and it has the sense of promoting Christian character: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” This will always be balanced with glorifying God. That is, there can be no true spiritual edification from something that dishonours the Lord (cf. Phil. 4:8).

Further, it should be noted that what ultimately builds us up may not, at least in the beginning, give us pleasure. Part of the edifying work of God is to discipline us when we go astray. The end result will be beneficial, but the process is hardly entertaining! “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives….Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:6, 11).

To Entertain

Entertainment is different. The word “entertain” means literally to hold–that is, to hold the attention, to fascinate. It is similar to the word “amuse,” which means to cause to stare. With entertainment, there is a focus on the performance and the performer’s skill, and on the personal pleasure received from it. These qualities may tend to put entertainment in conflict with edification (and with worship).

Some would argue that it is possible to do both, to edify while we entertain. Maybe. But the two will always be in competition. And the higher the entertainment value the more difficult it may be to derive edification from the experience. As concerns sacred music, we might ask: Will the glorifying of man detract from the glorifying of God? And what is the danger of mistaking personal enjoyment for spiritual benefit (cf. Ezek. 33:32).

Graphic Entertain Edify


Archibald Brown was a contemporary of Charles Spurgeon’s in the nineteenth century. But his observations here sound like they would fit many churches today. He wrote:

It is only the past few years that amusement has become the recognized instrument of our warfare and developed into a mission….The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church of Christ that part of her mission is to provide entertainment for people, with a view to winning them into the ranks. The human nature that lies in every heart has risen to the bait. Here now is an opportunity of gratifying the flesh and yet retaining a comfortable conscience. We can now please ourselves in order to do good to others.

Ouch! If the shoe fits…!

Prepared for Service

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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Heb. 13:20-21

There is both an inward and outward fruit of the Spirit: an inward development and equipping which readies us for a life of fruitful service (Gal. 5:22-2; cf. Rom. 1:13). This is a prayer that Christians might be prepared by the one for the fulfilment of the other.

May…God…make you complete, or equip you. The expression is a plea that the Lord will fully provide for the believer, making him or her ready to serve. It’s the word used in that day of mending fishing nets (cf. Matt. 4:21), and also of the process of restoring a sinning believer (Gal. 6:1). Doctor Luke would recognize is as the term he used for setting a broken bone.

All of this is instructive. God created us to serve Him. But sin has torn and broken us. The continuing work of grace in the heart of the born again believer is intended to restore us to usefulness, so that we might fulfil the purpose God has all along had for us, for His glory (cf. Eph. 2:10). It is then we are able to “work out [or live out, our] salvation…for it is God who works in [us]” (Phil. 2:12-13).

The prayer for God’s blessing from the writer of Hebrews calls to my mind the Aaronic Benediction in the Old Testament:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Num. 6:24-26

These prayers are similar in sentiment to a closing hymn written around 1773 and attributed to John Fawcett, also author of Blest Be the Tie That Binds.

Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing;
Fill our hearts with joy and peace;
Let us each Thy love possessing,
Triumph in redeeming grace.
O refresh us, O refresh us,
Traveling through this wilderness.

Thanks we give and adoration
For Thy gospel’s joyful sound;
May the fruits of Thy salvation
In our hearts and lives abound.
Ever faithful, ever faithful,
To the truth may we be found.

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