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carl blackmore

Some Golden Daybreak

Words: C. A. Blackmore (?)
Music: Carl Blackmore (b. _____, 1904; d. _____, 1965)

Note: The story of how this song came to be written is told on the Wordwise link below. The chorus came first, with words and music written by son Carl. Then, feeling the song was incomplete, he asked his father to add some stanzas. The full song was published in 1934. Some hymns simply attribute the entire song to young Carl Blackmore, but by his own testimony we know of his father’s contribution.

Details about these two men have been difficult to come by. (If you can help with added information, please leave a comment.) I suspect that the elder Blackmore’s first name is also Carl, but I don’t know. There is a C. A. Blackmore who served as administrator of a rescue mission in Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1918 to 1950. That fits the likely time frame for the hymn writer, so it could well be him.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

The song was inspired by C. A. Blackmore’s 1934 radio message on the rapture of the church, and what it will be like to be caught up into Christ’s presence (I Thess. 4:13-18). The sermon rejoiced in what that momentous event will be like. It will be the dawning of a new day, an eternal day. No wonder daybreak and new light is so closely associated with Christ and His return.

Even at His first coming Zacharias was able to exclaim, “The Dayspring from on high has visited us” (Lk. 1:78), and the Lord Jesus announced, “I am the Light of the world” (Jn. 8:12). To the Apostle John, who saw Him in heavenly glory, Christ declared, “I am…the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16). And when He comes again “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise” (Mal. 4:2).

Blackmore draws on a number of Scriptures to remind us of the dramatic changes and new blessings that await.

Stanza (1). “Sorrow will cease” (Rev. 21:4). And “all will be peace” because those things that bring conflict and distress will be gone forever from our presence. Satan and sinful human beings will be banished (Rev. 21:10; 21:27). Heartaches will all be ended; “there shall be no more crying,” and “God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes (Rev. 21:4).

The saints will “rest from their labours” (Rev. 14:13). That does not mean there will be nothing to do in heaven. There “His servants shall serve Him” (Rev. 22:3), but the frustration and tediousness of earthly toil brought on by the curse (Gen. 3:17-19) will cease.

Refrain. The Bible tells us “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout” (I Thess. 4:16). Whatever else is intended or implied by that, it will surely be a shout of victory over “battles all won.”

(1) Some glorious morning sorrow will cease,
Some glorious morning all will be peace;
Heartaches all ended, labour all done,
Heaven will open, Jesus will come.

Some golden daybreak Jesus will come;
Some golden daybreak, battles all won,
He’ll shout the vict’ry, break through the blue,
Some golden daybreak, for me, for you.

Stanzas (2) and (3) add more details to the theme. In (2) we’re reminded that “all shall be bright, and “earth’s dark night” will end forever. This is, of course, eminently true in the moral sense. But it also describes a significant characteristic of the heavenly city: it will be a city of glorious light, because the One who said, “I am the Light of the world” will fill heaven with His light (Rev. 21:23).

C. A. Blackmore also says we’ll be “changed in a moment, like Him to be.” That combines truths expressed in several Scriptures. At the rapture of the church, “We shall be changed–in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (I Cor. 15:51-51). And “when He [Christ] is revealed, we shall be like Him” (I Jn. 3:2), clothed in undying resurrection bodies (Phil. 3:20-21).

Stanza 3 focuses on the glad reunion we’ll have with saved loved ones who have gone on before us. “The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [raptured] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (I Thess. 4:16-17). In Blackmore’s words, “Oh, what a meeting, there in the skies!”

Questions:

  1. Other than meeting the Lord Jesus, who are you most looking forward to meeting in that day?
  2. Do you have any further information you can share with me about C. A. Blackmore and his son Carl?

Links:

Today in 1831 – Mary Dodge Born

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Mary Mapes Dodge was born in New York City. She went on to become a well-known author in nineteenth-century America. She wrote the children’s novel, Hans Brinker; or The Silver Skates in 1865, and it has remained in print ever since. (That novel is credited with introducing the sport of speed skating to America.) Mrs. Dodge also co-edited the publication Hearth and Home with Harriet Beecher Stowe, and edited St. Nicholas Magazine for children.

Mary Dodge has given us one hymn only, and appropriately it is a children’s hymn. But Can a Little Child Like Me? contains a lesson for all–that our gratitude to God can be expressed from day to day by living in a way that pleases Him.

Can a little child like me
Thank the Father fittingly?
Yes, oh yes! be good and true,
Faithful, kind, in all you do;
Love the Lord, and do your part;
Learn to say with all your heart,

Father, we thank Thee,
Father, we thank Thee,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For our comrades and our plays,
And our happy holidays,
For the joyful work and true
That a little child might do,
For our lives but just begun,
For the great gift of Thy Son,

(2) Today in 1850 – Jeremiah Ohl Born

Jeremiah Franklin Ohl was an Evangelical Lutheran pastor serving in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. He supplied the fine tune St. Chrysostom for Frances Havergal’s hymn of dedication, Jesus, Master, Whose I Am. The song is based on Paul’s reference to God as the One “to whom I belong and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23).

Jesus, Master, whose I am,
Purchased Thine alone to be,
By Thy blood, O spotless Lamb,
Shed so willingly for me,
Let my heart be all Thine own,
Let me live for Thee alone.

Other lords have long held sway;
Now Thy name alone to bear,
Thy dear voice alone obey,
Is my daily, hourly prayer;
Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
Nothing else my joy can be.

Jesus, Master, whom I serve,
Though so feebly and so ill,
Strengthen hand and heart and nerve
All Thy bidding to fulfil;
Open Thou mine eyes to see
All the work Thou hast for me.

(3) Data Missing – Some Golden Daybreak

Here is another song on which I wanted to offer a brief comment, but for which I could find no precise dates.

Sometime in 1934, pioneer radio pastor Reverend C. A. Blackmore preached a series of messages on the prospect of the second coming of Christ. In one he proclaimed, “Dear friend, all your suffering and pain will be over. You’ll have a new body. Arms and legs that are missing will be replaced. Friend, we’ll be like Jesus! You’ll have a glorified body some day, some golden daybreak when Jesus comes back.” A few days later, he received a letter from a woman who’d been bed-ridden for more than two decades. She thanked him for his sermon, and for the hope of that “golden daybreak” of Christ’s return.

Another who listened carefully to Pastor Blackmore’s encouraging message was his son Carl, the pianist and soloist for the broadcast. Carl Blackmore (1904-1964) was a gifted servant of the Lord in his own right. Pondering what the Bible calls “the blessed hope” of Christ’s return (Tit. 2:13), he wrote the words and music of a little chorus he called Some Golden Daybreak. But thinking the song incomplete, he asked his father to supply verses to go with it. The elder Blackmore replied, “I’m not much of a poet, but with the Lord’s help I’ll give it a try.”

Some time later, he awoke in the early morning hours, unable to sleep. As he meditated on the soon coming of Christ, lines of poetry began to form in his mind. They were added to complete the gospel song, with his son supplying the melody.

Some glorious morning sorrow will cease,
Some glorious morning all will be peace;
Heartaches all ended, school days all done,
Heaven will open–Jesus will come.

Some golden daybreak Jesus will come;
Some golden daybreak, battles all won,
He’ll shout the vict’ry, break through the blue,
Some golden daybreak, for me, for you.