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Eliza Hewitt

Sunshine in My Soul

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Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: John Robson Sweney (b. Dec. 31, 1837; d. Apr. 10, 1899)

Note: This hymn was written in 1887. The words are intimately connected to a personal experience of the author’s.

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

There’s a saying that behind the clouds, the sun is always shining. But that may not be much comfort to a life that is overcome with dark clouds of pain and trouble. Is it possible to avoid being overwhelmed by despair, when buried in a deluge of disaster? Possible to find sunshine in the storm? That is what this story is about.

The central character is Eliza Hewitt. Miss Hewitt lived her whole life in the city of Philadelphia, where she was a public school teacher, until something happened one dreadful day. She had attempted to correct a rebellious student, but when she turned away he struck her across the back with a heavy slate, severely injuring her spine.

Suddenly, her whole life changed. She never fully recovered from the damage done, was often bedridden for long periods, and had trouble getting around for the rest of her days. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, she was placed in a body cast for six long months. Her painful confinement could have been a breeding ground for depression and bitter cynicism, but it wasn’t.

She’d put her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He sustained her. The One whom the prophet Malachi calls “the Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2) had entered her life and brought the radiance of His love. Jesus said, “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (Jn. 12:46). Then, He bids believers to “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15).

Light is used in Scripture as a symbol of truth and purity. It also depicts the abundant life the Lord can give to those who trust in Him. The Bible describes salvation this way:

God who commanded light to shine out of darkness [at creation]…has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

II Cor. 4:6

“He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life,” said the Lord Jesus (Jn. 8:12). After receiving God’s gift of eternal life, we are to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

Eliza Hewitt did just that. She was the good friend of another prolific hymn writer, Fanny Crosby and, like her friend, she concentrated on that ministry. Though hindered from moving about, she began writing gospel songs, and eventually produced many hundreds of them. Some of these were written under the pen name Lidie H. Edmunds. Brightly joyous songs of faith and hope, they include: More About Jesus; My Faith Has Found a Resting Place; Since the Fullness of His Love Came In; Singing I Go; Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus; and Stepping in the Light.

Six months after her back injury, the body cast was removed, and she was later able to take her first faltering steps outside. Eliza went for a short walk in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. She loved the beauty of nature, particularly flowers. What a delight to feel the breeze again, and the warm sunshine! Though brief, it was an energizing outing.

The experience inspired her to write a song she called Sunshine in My Soul. In it she applies the exhilaration of stepping out into the sunshine to the joy she found in fellowship with Christ.

(1) There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my light.

O there’s sunshine, blessèd sunshine,
When the peaceful, happy moments roll;
When Jesus shows His smiling face,
There is sunshine in the soul.

(2) There is music in my soul today,
A carol to my King,
And Jesus, listening, can hear
The songs I cannot sing.

After several years, her physical condition improved somewhat, and she served as a Sunday School Superintendent, for several decades, at the Northern Home for Friendless Children, and later at the Calvin Presbyterian Church. Miss Hewitt was also a regular contributor to Sunday School Helps.

(3) There is springtime in my soul today,
For, when the Lord is near,
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear.

(4) There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope and praise and love,
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys “laid up” above.

Questions:

  1. What experience have you had that at least is a small picture of the joy you experience in knowing and fellowshiping with Christ?
  2. What reason(s) can you think of for great rejoicing in our fellowship with Christ?

Links:

Come, for All Things Are Ready

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Note: The hymn was published in 1900, under the name L. H. Edmunds. Lidie H. Edmunds was a pen name of Eliza Hewitt. Miss Hewitt was a school teacher in the city of Philadelphia for about half a century, and she worked in her church’s Sunday School for the same period.

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

It may lack the pompous dignity of a butler pronouncing through his nose, “Dinner is served,” but a cheerful call from the kitchen, “Come and get it!” works just as well. Both are an announcement that preparations are complete; it’s time to gather around the table for a meal.

Mealtimes should be a time for conversation and sharing, a time for listening and learning. But in the last half century that intimate family time has slowly been eroded–at least in North America. The coming of television in the early 1950s, and the invention of the prepackaged “TV dinner” around the same time, has often replaced family interaction with passive watching of whatever’s on the tube.

Add to that such things as work responsibilities, and recreational options outside the home, both of which have multiplied, causing individual members of the family to set their own schedules. Meals when the whole family gets together have become more and more rare.

Surveys have shown that one of the biggest factors in the current popularity of the television cop show Blue Bloods, is that each episode shows the family gathered around the table for a meal. It’s interesting that many fans say that’s their favourite part of the program. There we see family members expressing concern for one another. And we see a kinship around spiritual values. (How many shows do you know where a family is often seen asking God’s blessing on a meal?) Their family time is dynamic, and plays a part in molding attitudes and changing behaviour.

In the Bible, banquets and feasting are used many times as a metaphor for enjoying the blessings of God. We see it in the beloved Psalm 23.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

Ps. 23:1-3

Later, the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as the spiritual food we need, saying, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (Jn. 6:35). And “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink’” (Jn. 7:37).

What we call the Communion Service, or the Lord’s Supper, is a symbolic representation of the death of Christ on the cross, pointing backward to Calvary, and onward to His promised return. “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes? (I Cor. 11:26). In eternity, the saints will feast with Him. “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb [meaning Christ]!” (Rev. 19:9).

Christ’s parable of The Great Supper, pictures for us the gospel invitation. The master told his servant, to “say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready’” (Lk. 14:17). In 1900, this gospel song appeared, based on that theme. The reference in (2) to “the cup of salvation” comes from Psalms.

What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take up [lift up, in praise and thanksgiving] the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Ps. 116:12-13

(1) Come, for all things are ready! ’Tis a banquet of love;
Here’s a free invitation from the Master above:
It is written in crimson, drawn from Calvary’s flood,
From the wonderful fountain of the soul cleansing blood.

Oh, what fullness in Jesus!
Oh, what gladness to know,
Though our sins be as scarlet,
He’ll make them as snow.

(2) Come, for all things are ready! Heaven’s bounty is spread;
Take the cup of salvation, take the life giving bread:
Come, though poor and unworthy, come, though sinful and weak;
’Tis the hungry and thirsty whom the Master doth seek.

Questions:

  1. What is there about a banquet that makes it an appropriate symbol of God’s salvation?
  2. What other hymns do you know that use the banquet symbol?

Links:

Singing I Go

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Note: The present hymn was published 1898. For a list other songs by Miss Hewitt that appear in many evangelical hymnals, check the Wordwise Hymns link.

(1) The trusting heart to Jesus clings,
Nor any ill forebodes,
But at the cross of Calv’ry, sings,
Praise God for lifted loads!

Singing I go along life’s road,
Praising the Lord, praising the Lord,
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

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

Some of us old-timers, I’m sure remember Jimmy Durante, who was both a capable comedian and a skilled musician. In the early thirties, Durante wrote a song that became identified with him. It began, “Ya gotta start off each day with a song, / Even when things go wrong.” Even though we may experience dark days when that seems virtually impossible, there is some wisdom in the song’s advice all the same. The right songs can cheer us, lift our spirits, and brighten our day.

In the Word of God, King Saul of Israel illustrates that. In times when a black mood gripped his soul, young David would come and play his harp for the depressed king. When he did so, we read, “Then Saul would become refreshed and well [cheerful], and the distressing spirit would depart from him” (I Sam. 16:23).

Missionaries Paul and Silas provide another example. For their ministry for Christ, they were beaten, and cast into a prison cell in Philippi, with their feet fastened in stocks (Acts 16:23-24). But even in that awful place, they found joy in serving the Lord. “At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (vs. 25). Truly, God “gives songs in the night” (Job 35:10).

Over the centuries since the New Testament era began, something like a million Christian hymns have been written. Some of these describe incidents recorded in the Bible. Others teach the doctrines found there–particularly proclaiming the gospel of grace, and salvation through Christ. And still others are actually the personal testimonies of the song-writers themselves. They tell of God’s faithfulness in bringing them through trying times.

When we sing Fanny Crosby’s All the Way My Saviour Leads Me, we are joining her in praise for how the Lord met a financial need in an amazing way. When we sing Joseph Scrivien’s What a Friend We Have in Jesus, we are sharing what he discovered of the comfort of the Saviour, after his fiancee drowned on the eve of their wedding.

Eliza Hewitt was a school teacher in Philadelphia. She also wrote hundreds of fine gospel songs. Many have a joyful tone, though she struggled for years with a painful back injury. The joy of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour, and of having an opportunity to serve Him brightened her days.

The present song reflects this, speaking of the privilege and blessing of prayer (cf. Heb. 4:15-16).

(2) The passing days bring many cares,
“Fear not,” I hear Him say,
And when my fears are turned to prayers,
The burdens slip away.

(4) When to the throne of grace I flee,
I find the promise true,
The mighty arms upholding me
Will bear my burdens too.

A couple of decades after the song was introduced, it was adopted for a rather unusual use in the home of another great gospel musician. Billy Graham’s longtime soloist, Bev Shea, tells of what his home was like, growing up as a boy in Winchester, Ontario. On school days, when it was time for the six children to rise, his mother would sound a chord on the piano and sing the refrain of this song. Then she would call out, cheerfully, “Get up, everybody. One hour till school!” Bev called the song “mother’s alarm clock.”

It remained a favourite of his, and one he recorded. Years later, he hosted a radio program called Club Time, that used Singing I Go as its theme song. On the program each week, Bev featured the favourite hymn of some famous person. Baseball’s Babe Ruth’s was God Is Ever Beside Me; popular songstress Kate Smith’s favourite was I Love to Tell the Story; and opera and concert star John Charles Thomas’s was Softly and Tenderly. We have many songs of praise that can brighten life’s path.

Questions:

  1. Is there a particular hymn you often find yourself humming or singing at various times during the day?
  2. Does your family often sing a hymn together during family devotions?

Links:

Since the Fullness of His Love Came In

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: Bentley DeForest Ackley (b. Sept. 27, 1872; d. Sept. 3, 1858)

Note: This 1916 gospel song is listed in the Cyber Hymnal (see link below) under its opening line. In its biographical sketch of Miss Hewitt, it lists no less that 1,748 of her songs! She sometimes wrote under the pen name Lidie H. Edmunds.

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

You can’t travel in two opposite directions at once. There’s point when you make a 180-degree turn and start heading the opposite way. The Bible refers to the spiritual reality as being born again (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:3). There is a moment in time when the individual puts his faith in Christ, and since then he is a born again Christian.

That’s not to say, of course, that the person is zapped with instant maturity–any more than an infant born physically is suddenly all he or she can or will be. The Apostle Peter calls those who’ve put their faith in Christ “newborn babes,” who need to study the Word of God and “grow thereby” (I Pet. 1:23; 2:2). We are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 5:18).

Christian growth is a process, but conversion itself, certainly from God’s perspective, is a dividing line that marks a dramatic before and since. As the Lord Jesus puts it, the person “has passed from death into life” (Jn. 5:24); “he has already passed over out of death into life” (Amplified Bible). Things that were not at all true of the individual before, are suddenly and irrevocably a reality for him.

One of these concerns the experience of the love of God. The Bible says of new converts, “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts [flooding our hearts, to the point of overflowing] by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). And there are two points in that verse deserving of our attention.

First, “the Holy Spirit…was given to us.” It’s the universal testimony of the New Testament epistles that the Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:12-14). One of the things the Spirit of God does within us is to produce that maturity of character that is God’s will for us (II Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:22-23). Another is that the Spirit gives us a new and growing sense of the love of God, “since the fullness of His love came in.”

(1) Once my way was dark and dreary,
For my heart was full of sin,
But the sky is bright and cheery,
Since the fullness of His love came in.

I can never tell how much I love Him,
I can never tell His love for me,
For it passeth human measure,
Like a deep, unfathomed sea;
’Tis redeeming love in Christ my Saviour,
In my soul the heav’nly joys begin;
And I live for Jesus only,
Since the fullness of His love came in.

In 1956, middleweight boxing legend Rocky Graziano produced his autobiography, calling it Somebody Up There Likes Me. But what God speaks of in His Word is nothing like that vague sentiment. There is, in the heart of the believer, a new and growing awareness of the infinite love of God, a love that caused Him to send His own Son to die in our place, paying the penalty for our sins (Jn. 3:16).

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). And, when we trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour from sin, we “received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father [meaning approximately dearest Father!]’” (Rom. 8:15). “We love Him because He first loved us” (I Jn. 4:19).

(2) There is grace for all the lowly,
Grace to keep the trusting soul:
Pow’r to cleanse and make me holy,
Jesus shall my yielded life control.

That exuberant outpouring of the love of God, that new awareness that we are beloved by the Almighty, transforms our attitude toward Him, toward ourselves, and toward others as well. “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I Jn. 4:11).

(3) Let me spread abroad the story,
Other souls to Jesus win;
For the cross is now my glory,
Since the fullness of His love came in.

Questions:

  1. What should be the result, when the Spirit of God pours the love of God into our hearts (Rom. 5:5)?
  2. What other hymns about the love of God do you know and use?

Links:

Give Me Thy Heart

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Note: This invitation hymn was written in 1898 by Eliza Hewitt. The two Wordwise links at the bottom of this article will give you information on her life.

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

This is a Trinitarian hymn, with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speaking in turn, in the three stanzas. The song is actually based on a misinterpreted phrase in the book of Proverbs. King Solomon is warning his son against the evils of immorality and drunkenness (Prov. 23:27-35), and he prefaces his counsel with the words:

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

Prov. 23:26

It is the phrase “give me your heart” which is in question. The New English Bible translates: “My son, mark my words and accept my guidance with a will.” James Moffatt has, “Attend to me, my son.” The king is giving fatherly counsel, and he says, “Listen to me carefully, and follow my advice.”

Notice, first of all, that these words are not spoken by God; they are the human instruction of a parent. Second, is the sinner ever told to give his heart to the Lord? That’s an appeal we sometimes hear in evangelism. But “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately [incurably] wicked” (Jer. 17:9). God doesn’t want to take our old heart and patch it up; He wants to give us a new heart (Ezek. 26:36).

If we were to take the phrase in question as it is intended, it perhaps parallels Christ’s words of challenge, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 13:43). But Eliza Hewitt means more than that. In her mind, it’s a call to salvation. In that case, it should be separated from its biblical usage and given the sense of:

“Repent of your sin, and give Me your full trust as your Saviour, and pledge your allegiance to Me, as the One who is Lord of your life.”

The elements expressed in this suggested interpretation are all found in the hymn. There is:

(1). The call to faith, by God the Father, who longs for our love: “Gratefully trust Me.”

(1) “Give Me thy heart,” says the Father above–
No gift so precious to Him as our love;
Softly He whispers wherever thou art,
“Gratefully trust Me and give Me thy heart.”

“Give Me thy heart, give Me thy heart”–
Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art;
From this dark world He would draw thee apart,
Speaking so tenderly, “Give Me thy heart.”

(2). The call to repentance, by God the Son, as we claim His death on the cross for our cleansing: “Turn now from sin.”

(2) “Give Me thy heart,” says the Saviour of men,
Calling in mercy again and again;
“Turn now from sin, and from evil depart.
Have I not died for thee? Give Me thy heart.”

(3). The call to obedience, by the Holy Spirit, recognizing God’s rule over all we are and have: “Make full surrender.”

(3) “Give Me thy heart,” says the Spirit divine;
“All that thou hast to My keeping resign;
Grace more abounding is Mine to impart–
Make full surrender and give Me thy heart.”

These are certainly the elements of a meaningful conversion. Fine, as long as we realize that the unsaved are, in themselves “without strength” (Rom. 5:6). There is not, in our fallen sin nature, that innate desire to seek after the Lord (Rom. 3:11). It is only by the power of God that we are able to turn and be saved (Jn. 6:44).

No matter whether we speak of being born again (Jn. 3:3), or receiving Christ (Jn. 1:12), or believing on Christ (Acts 16:31), a sovereign work of God is involved. We are saved by His grace–a freely given gift for which payment has already been made–“lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-10). As Jonah put it: “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jon. 2:9). The glory for our salvation belongs to Him alone.

Questions:

  1. Given the truths discussed above, how would you explain the gospel to someone? And what would you call on him or her to do to receive God’s salvation?
  2. What hymns of invitation do you feel best reflect the Bible’s appeal to sinners?

Links:

Will There Be Any Stars?

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: John Robson Sweney (b. Dec. 31, 1837; d. Apr. 10, 1899)

Note: This hymn was published in 1897. You can see a list of some of Miss Hewitt’s hymns that are still in common use in the Wordwise link below.

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

Eight times (counting the repeated refrains) this hymn refers to believers having stars in our heavenly crowns. It’s interesting poetic imagery, but is not taken from the Word of God. There are crowns spoken of (more of them in a moment). But nothing about stars (or even sparkling jewels) in the crowns. The closest the Bible comes is with this statement in the book of Daniel:

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

Dan. 12:3

The saints’ service and witness for the Lord is in view, as it is in the hymn, but clearly it is they themselves that will shine with the glory of God, not their crowns.

However, the New Testament does speak a number of times of crowns that Christians will receive one day. And though we are also to reign with Christ (Rev. 5:10), these are not royal or kingly crowns. The Greek word in every case is stephanos, which is used of a wreath or garland, given as a prize to victors in public games (much as medals are awarded today).

Also close to the crowns described in Eliza Hewitt’s hymn is this reference Paul makes to a future “crown” in his first letter to the Thessalonian church.

What is our hope, or joy, or crown [stephanos] of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

I Thess. 2:19

The apostle rejoices that he has had some part in bringing them to Christ, and teaching them the Word of God. Whether or not he expects to wear a crown himself as a result, the crown here appears to be metaphorical, speaking of meeting these Christians in heaven as being his reward. They themselves were to be his crown.

Another possible text to consider is in the epistle of First Peter, where he speaks of the rewards for those who are faithful leaders in the church of Jesus Christ.

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers…and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown [stephanos] of glory that does not fade away.

I Pet. 5:2-4

That is a reward for service, which links nicely with the hymn. However, no stars are mentioned as adorning the crown. We must therefore put the author’s idea down as poetic imaginary and poetic licence. Eliza Hewitt herself recognizes that, speaking of “living gems [i.e. people] at His feet to lay down” (3), envisioning those to whom she has ministered being her gift to the Lord.

Whatever we accomplish for the Lord, it is by His enablement. It’s in recognition of that that those around the throne of God, “cast their crowns [stephanos] before the throne” of God in heaven (Rev. 4:10), proclaiming in the act that any achievement in service is by His grace and for His glory.

Though I see some merit in all of this as a challenge to faithful service for Christ, there is an important caution to be addressed, and it’s this. Often an individual is won to Christ not by the witness of one person, but by that of several, perhaps even over an extended period of time. Paul indicates that when he says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (I Cor. 3:6).

We may never know until we get to heaven the effect of our testimony on a particular individual. And Miss Hewitt’s own hymns may be having a part in the process still, nearly a century after her death. So, do we all get stars in our crowns for that? Let’s leave the matter with the Lord and remember, “God gave the increase”!

(1) I am thinking today of that beautiful land
I shall reach when the sun goeth down;
When through wonderful grace by my Saviour I stand,
Will there be any stars in my crown?

Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown
When at evening the sun goeth down?
When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest
Will there be any stars in my crown?

(3) O what joy it will be when His face I behold,
Living gems at his feet to lay down!
It would sweeten my bliss in the city of gold,
Should there be any stars in my crown.

Questions:

  1. Are you aware of someone who was saved, with your input being part of a long process and the ministry of several people?
  2. What are you doing currently to have that kind of input into the lives of others?

Links:

Stepping in the Light

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. April 24, 1920)
Music: William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Note: You may find this hymn, in an older book, credited to Lidie H. Edmunds. This appears to have been a pen name the author sometimes used. See the links below to learn more about this servant of Christ.

(1) Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Trying to follow our Saviour and king;
Shaping our lives by His blessèd example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.

How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Stepping in the light, stepping in the light,
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Led in paths of light.

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

I can remember a couple of times in my life that I had problems with the dark. On one occasion, I had to cross a wobbly plank over a pool of water in order to get where I needed to go. I had no flashlight, and the moon was hidden behind clouds. I made it, but not without a lot of stress! Another time, I walked where I shouldn’t have in the dark, and fell down a ten or fifteen-foot embankment. I wasn’t hurt, but it was quite terrifying.

When the Bible describes the spiritual condition of this world, and of the unsaved, it uses the imagery of darkness.

“In Him [Christ] was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it [or overpower it]” (Jn. 1:4-5).

“This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jn. 3:19-20)

And light, on the other hand, is used as a symbol of purity and holiness. When the individual is saved he or she is brought into the light.

“You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light….And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:8, 11).

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Rom. 13:12).

We are to walk in the light, living out the life of Christ, a life of righteousness and true holiness, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As He lived in the light, so should we. And so we will know what that means, we are equipped with the light of God’s Word.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path….The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” (Ps. 119:105, 130).

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all….If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us [i.e. continues to cleanse us] from all sin” (I Jn. 1:5, 7).

In (4), “the King in His beauty” is in quotation marks as it is taken from Isaiah 33:17. When we go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, or when He returns to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, “[Our] eyes will see the King in His beauty.”

(2) Pressing more closely to Him who is leading,
When we are tempted to turn from the way;
Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us,
Happy, how happy, our praises each day.

(4) Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Upward, still upward, we follow our Guide;
When we shall see Him, “the King in His beauty,”
Happy, how happy, our place at His side.

Questions:

  1. What is the most difficult thing about walking, consistently, in spiritual light?
  2. What are some of the blessed results of walking in the light?

Links:

More About Jesus

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: Sweney, by John Robson Sweney (b. Dec. 31, 1837; d. Apr. 10, 1899)

Note: I don’t currently have a posting specifically on More About Jesus, but the link given below will tell you a bit about the author. After a prolonged illness, she began writing poems, especially for children. This is one of them, and it came to the attention of John Sweney, who set it to music. Their collaboration continued with other songs, notably including There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today. I don’t personally have a problem with the joyful rhythm of Sweney’s tune, if it’s not sung too quickly. If you do, you might try using the tune Pentecost.

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

This simple song repeats the word “more” twenty-six times (including the four refrains). Though its emphasis is different, it has this in common with Philip Bliss’s More Holiness Give Me. For some, this may make Hewitt’s song trite, but the repetition certainly makes a point. Contrast the spiritual person with the secular materialist for a moment.

All the materialist wants is more–more of the things of this world, more money, more acquisitions, more possessions. The spiritual person (as the Bible defines this), hungers to know more of God, and all that pertains to the spiritual and eternal world.

As the Christian is one who is rightly related to Christ, so the spiritual person is rightly related to the Holy Spirit. That is, he is walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), submissive to and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The spiritual person is not necessarily fully mature, but he is definitely heading in that direction. He is teachable, and growing in his Christian life (contrast I Cor. 2:9-16 with I Cor. 3:1-3).

Could we not say that the more of his kind of “mores” the first individual has, the more hardened and entrenched is his secularism and materialism? And that the more “mores” the spiritual person has in the other direction, the more Christlike he is? What a thoughtful compendium of the latter Eliza Hewitt gives us! She longs:

To know more about the Lord Jesus
To show more of His grace to others
To experience more of His saving fullness
To understand more of His love
To discern more of His will

With regard to the latter, the author is clear on a number of important things. In (2) and (3), she reminds us that it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who teaches us (Jn. 16:13-14; I Cor. 2:10), giving enlightenment as we study God’s Word. By the Spirit, we actually hold communion with the Lord, and we are empowered to appropriate the truths found in the Scriptures.

Finally, the hymn points us to Christ, our great High Priest, on the throne of God (Heb. 4:14-16), and to the resources of heaven that are ours through prayer (Phil. 4:6, 19). Hewitt wants to know more about Christ’s kingdom (Matt. 6:10) and more about His coming reign (Isa. 9:6-7). That is a meaningful hymn!

(1) More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

Questions:

  1. What in particular do you desire more of, with regard to your spiritual life?
  2. What in your spiritual life do you definitely desire less of?

Links:

When We All Get to Heaven

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: Emily Divine Wilson (b. May 24, 1865; d. June 23, 1942)

Note: A school teacher, and a devoted Sunday School worker, Miss Hewitt was a close friend of Fanny Crosby’s, and also her cousin of Edgar Page Stites, who wrote the gospel song Trusting Jesus. When she was invalided for an extended period. Eliza Hewitt turned her attention to writing gospel songs, and she has given us some fine ones.

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

This is one of those simple gospel songs that contains some encouraging and challenging Bible truth. It begins with a joyous celebration of the promises of the Lord Jesus in John 14…

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-3

(1) Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessèd
He’ll prepare for us a place.

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

In succeeding stanzas, Eliza Hewitt deals with three related themes. First (2) she reminds us that, though this life for the Christian may include suffering and sorrow, that will all be over when we go to our heavenly home. These thoughts surely encouraged her, in her long and painful suffering (from a back injury).

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us….For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (Rom. 8:18; II Cor. 4:17; cf. Rev. 21:4).

Since God has promised this glorious future to the saints, we should keep our present challenges in perspective. Let’s keep on keeping on. One glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ will make whatever we must endure now all worthwhile (3).

(3) Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

(4) seems to allude to Paul’s declaration in Philippians…

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended [attained what is expected of me]; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

Vs. 13 has been interpreted various ways. Some see it as a reference to the heavenly rewards Christians will receive at the judgment seat of Christ. Others see the upward summons of Christ itself to be the prize–as though it will be an indication that the individual’s life work has been completed successfully. Either way:

(4) Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

Questions:

  1. How (or why) is the soon return of Christ a motivating factor in our life and service for Christ?
  2. How (or why) will one glimpse of Christ make all of earth’s toil and challenges in our Christian lives worthwhile?

Links:

No Other Plea

Words: Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (b. June 28, 1851; d. Apr. 24, 1920)
Music: Landås, by André Ernest Modeste Grétry (b. Feb. 8, 1741; d. Sept. 24, 1814)
Adapted by William James Kirkpatrick (b. Feb. 27, 1838; d. Sept. 20, 1921)

Note: Some older hymn books list the author of this hymn as Lidie H. Edmunds. Only later was it determined this was a pen name of Eliza Hewitt’s.  The hymn tune Landås was arranged by gospel musician William James Kirkpatrick (1838-1921), composer of dozens of tunes for the words of Fanny Crosby and many others. André Grétry was mainly a composer of French operas.

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

As we go through our day, we put a measure of trust in many things. When we flip on a light switch, we expect light. When we sit down in a chair to rest, we expect the chair to hold us up. But I can recall a time when this piece of furniture let me down–in church!

I was a small boy at the time, seated next to my father on a wooden folding chair. Apparently during the service, I fell asleep, and leaned the wrong way. The chair skidded from under me, and collapsed with a startling crash! But my embarrassment at suddenly being the focus of attention for the whole congregation was only the beginning. Somebody there (I never found out who), spread the word. The next day, at school, I became the subject of taunts in the playground for being the boy who fell asleep in church.

My point in this little tale is that sometimes the thing we rest our hopes on lets us down. The stock market can fail us, our football team can lose, or the car won’t start when we expect it to. More seriously, our spouse might prove unfaithful to us. Our sense of security and well-being in life can be shattered in a moment by such experiences.

We need someone or something we can count on to be dependable and trustworthy. In our spiritual lives, that something is the inspired Word of God, and that someone is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the subject of this gospel song by Eliza Hewitt. And she makes an interesting distinction between creeds and Christ. It may seem a subtle difference, but it’s an important one.

The church has many great creeds–the Apostles’ Creed, for example. (Church traditions notwithstanding, it is not called that because the apostles wrote it. Rather, it is likely a distillation, compiled later, of important doctrines they taught.)

Creeds can be helpful as a teaching tool. But our faith is not, first of all, in the creed, but in the Christ of the creed. Compare love letters sent between a fellow and a girl. While each may treasure the correspondence of the other, it is the personal relationship with that person that is of surpassing importance.

Eliza Hewitt makes that point, as she begins (1):

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

Our faith is in a Person. But it is also true that our faith is in the Scriptures who reveal Him. Since didn’t walk and talk with the Lord Jesus, as the apostles did, we have to rely on their accounts, preserved from error by the Holy Spirit, to introduce Christ to us, and make Him known.

That is what Paul means when he says that the household of God (the church) is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20). We trust in the message God revealed to them. But ultimately, “No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Cor. 3:11).

Eliza Hewitt brings the two together in her hymn (CH-3). In distinction from man-made creeds, “the word of God is living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12), and “the word of the Lord endures forever” (I Pet. 1:25). To lean on the Word about Christ is the necessary prelude to leaning on the Christ of the Word, since that is where He is revealed (Lk. 24:27; Jn. 5:39).

My heart is leaning on the Word,
The written Word of God,
Salvation by my Saviour’s name,
Salvation through His blood.

Questions:

  1. The writer of Hebrews compares the “rest” of the Christian to God resting on the seventh day, after the work of creation (Heb. 3:10). What does the writer means in saying the believer has “ceased from his works” (cf. Rom. 4:5)?
  2. If, in the words of the hymn writer, “It is enough that Jesus…died for me,” how will that affect our attitudes and our conduct?

Links:

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