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my home sweet home

My Home, Sweet Home

Words: Napoleon Bonaparte “Jack” Vandall (b. Dec. 28, 1896; d. Aug. 24, 1970)
Music: Napoleon Bonaparte Vandall

Note: The Wordwise link below talks about this song, and provides a secondary link to Vandall’s other beautiful gospel song, After, and the story of its connection with his family life. Mr. Vandall, an evangelist with the Church of the Nazarene, went home to be with the Lord in 1970, at the age of seventy-four. His wife passed away three years later.

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

Now and then, the writing of a hymn is closely connected with a prior hymn or hymn writer. There’s an interesting connection, if a little more remote, in this case. Napoleon Vandall was saved in 1920 at the Christian camp at Sebring, Ohio. It was there that another hymn writer frequently ministered. Anne May Sebring Murphy, a member of the Sebring family that founded the town, wrote the gospel song Constantly Abiding, in 1908.

Though I can’t prove it, it’s almost certain that the two musicians knew one another. Anne Murphy wrote (in (3) of her song  Constantly Abiding) of the ongoing fellowship of the Lord Jesus “while here on His footstool I roam” (cf. Matt. 28:20). Because of this, even in times of suffering, she was able to say, “Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud, / I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!” (1).

But Anne Murphy also looked forward to an eternity with the Lord Jesus, saying. “He’s coming to take me, some glorious day, over there to my heavenly home” (3). When he too faced problems and difficulties, it was that prospect that especially cheered Napoleon Vandall.

(1) 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.

In his second stanza, Mr. Vandall notes two of the joys that await him in the heavenly city. First, he will be reunited with loved ones who have gone before (I Thess. 4:17; cf. 2:19). And second, he will participate with them in a ceremony of worship and praise described in the book of Revelation (Rev. 4:10-11).

The final stanza reflects upon the brevity of human life. That is certainly an important thing for the unsaved consider. This earthly life is over before we know it, while eternity is forever. It makes sense to do what we need to now to prepare for what’s ahead.

“‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. 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).

“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:1).


It is a warning. But the brevity of life can be a comfort to the believer. The trials we face, day by day, painful and difficult though they may be, will soon be behind us, lost in the glory of eternal day.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

II Cor. 4:16-18

(3) 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.

Questions:

  1. This is a difficult question to answer, since we’re not as yet in our perfected eternal state, but how do you think you’ll feel when you first see the Lord Jesus Christ?
  2. Beyond meeting our Saviour, what is it about our heavenly home that most interests you?

Links:

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.