Archives

Hymn #24: In the Garden

Sep24

Lyrics: C. Austin Miles, 1912.

Music: C. Austin Miles, 1912.

Theme: When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
John 20:14-16.

The story of the writing of this hymn.

Jennifer, Snapshot: “I help with our church’s nursing home service and the oldtimers love this one, so it’s become one of my favorites too.”

John MacArthur: “Those lyrics say nothing of any real substance, and what they do say is not particularly Christian. It’s a mawkish little rhyme about someone’s personal experience and feelings. Whereas the classic hymns sought to glorify God, gospel songs like “In the Garden” were glorifying raw sentimentality.”

Brenda: “I love the vision this hymn brings to my mind, a little glimpse of Heaven as well as bringing peace to troubled souls.”

Joseph Holbrook, Jr.: “America’s all-time religious favorite, ‘In the Garden,’ has done the worst in fostering the I-me-myself version of Protestantism in our country.”

Cecelia: “This was one of my beloved Grammy’s favorite hyms and I love knowing that God will walk and talk with me, calling me His own!”

Nothing like a little controversy to liven up this hymn countdown. I won’t say which side I lean toward, but I will say that a little sentimentality never hurt anyone.

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear,
Falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody
That He gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Tho’ night around me be falling,
But He bids me go;
Thro’ the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Hymn #25: Blessed Assurance

Sep23

Lyrics: Fanny Crosby, 1873.

Music: Phoebe Knapp, 1873. Mrs. Knapp was the wife of Joseph Knapp, founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

Theme: Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22.

Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a large pipe organ installed. The organ was incomplete so, using the piano, Mrs. Knapp played a new melody she had just composed called “Assurance”. “What do you think the tune says?” asked Knapp.
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine”, answered Fanny Crosby.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest!
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with his goodness, lost in His love.

This hymn marks Ms. Crosby’s fifth and final appearance on this list. Other Top 100 Hymns by Fanny Crosby are:

To God Be the Glory
Redeemed How I Love to Proclaim It
All the Way My Saviour Leads Me
Tell Me the Story of Jesus

More about Fanny Crosby.
More about Phoebe Knapp.
Lifespring Hymn Stories: Blessed Assurance.

Hymn #26: Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Sep22

Lyrics: Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868.

Music: ST CHRISTOPHER, Frederick C. Maker.

Theme: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14.

Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane was one of three sisters living in Melrose, Scotland in the mid-1800’s. She wrote several poems, but Beneath the Cross of Jesus was written only one year before Ms. Clephane’s death in 1869 at the age of thirty-nine. It was published, posthumously, three years later.

1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.

2. There lies beneath its shadow,
but on the farther side,
the darkness of an open grave
that gapes both deep and wide;
and there between us stands the cross,
two arms outstretched to save,
like a watchman to guard the way
from that eternal grave.

3. O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where heaven’s love
And heaven’s justice meet!
As to the holy patriarch
That wondrous dream was giv’n,
So seems my Savior’s cross to me,
A ladder up to heav’n.

4. Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
the very dying form of One
who suffered there for me;
and from my stricken heart with tears
two wonders I confess:
the wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.

5. I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.

The reference to:
“the mighty Rock” and “a weary land” is taken from Isaiah 32:2.
“home within the wilderness” is taken from Jeremiah 9:2.
“rest upon the way” is taken from Isaiah 28:12.
“noontide heat” is taken from Isaiah 4:6.
“watchman to guard the way” is taken from Ezekiel 33:6-7.
“burden of the day” is taken from Matthew 11:30.
“a ladder up to heav’n” is taken from Genesis 28:11-12.
“my glory all the cross” is taken from Galatians 6:14.

I like this poem/hymn even better with verses two and three added. The image of the cross as a watchman between me and an open grave and as a “trysting place,” not for human lovers, but where the love and the justice of God meet—those are good. I would like to find more of Ms.Clephane’s poetry, but here’s a link to the only one of her poems I can find other than today’s hymn.

The Lost Sheep, or The Ninety and Nine

Hymn #27: Rock of Ages

Sep20

Original Title: A Living and Dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World.

Lyrics: Augustus Toplady

Music: TOPLADY by Thomas Hastings.

Theme:

You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4

George Grant on Augustus Toplady and his most famous hymn.

I wrote here about Mr. Toplady and his antipathy for the Wesleys, and what Augustus saw as their heretical Arminian theology. Of the eight survey responders that had Rock of Ages on their top ten list, six also had at least one hymn by Charles Wesley. It seems that the two hymn writers are predestined to dueling, or reconciling, hymns throughout Christian history.

The lyrics for Rock of Ages first appeared in the British publication, A Gospel Magazine, in 1776. The hymn text served as the ending salvo in an article that was written to refute the Wesleyan teachings on free will and to affirm the Calvinist teachings of predestination and total depravity.

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

2. Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

As I have said before, and am not ashamed to repeat, I am a proud Arminocalvinist or Calvinoarminian. I can sit on that fence with the best of them, and God Himself will, in His mercy, rescue me as I come to Him in faith. And I’ll be singing a medley of Rock of Ages, A Debtor to Mercy Alone, Arise My Soul Arise, and O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.

Hymn #28: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Sep19

Welsh Title: Arglwydd arwain trwy’r Anialwch
Original (English)Title: Strength to Pass Through the Wilderness

Lyrics: Williams Williams, 1775. Translated to English by Peter Williams (no relation to William).

Music: CWM RHONDDA by John Hughes, 1907.

Theme: By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22.

Totally cool rendition of CWM RHONDDA by a Welsh Men’s choir:

*William Williams, nicknamed “The Sweet Singer of Wales,” was a medical student when he came under the influence and preaching of evangelist Howell Harris. Williams eventually left medical school and became an evangelist himself and writer of hymns. He wrote over 800 hymns, mostly in the Welsh language.

*Welsh composer John Hughes composed the beloved tune CWM RHONDDA in 1907 for the annual Baptist Cymnfa Ganu (singing festival) at the Capel Rhondda, Potypridd, Wales.

*Three women missionaries in China are said to have sung this hymn as bandits were beating on their door. God was their Strong Deliverer.

*The hymn was sung in Flanders in the trenches by the Welsh soldiers, and it was so melodious that the German soldiers took it up and sang along.

*Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah has been translated into over seventy-five different languages.

*The Welsh to this day sing Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah at outdoor sporting events, especially rugby matches.

*The hymn was sung at Princess Diana’s funeral.

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
[or Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer…]
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield;
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee;
I will ever give to Thee.

Musing on my habitation,
Musing on my heav’nly home,
Fills my soul with holy longings:
Come, my Jesus, quickly come;
Vanity is all I see;
Lord, I long to be with Thee!
Lord, I long to be with Thee!

Sources:
Center for Church Music.
Hymnscript: The Art of Hymns.
Suite 101: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

Hymn #29: Be Still, My Soul

Sep19

Original title: Stille, meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen

Lyrics: Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel, 1752. Translated from German to English by Jane Borthwick, 1855.

Music: FINLANDIA by John SIbelius, 1899.

Theme: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. I Peter 5:10.

From this sermon at the website An Infant in a Cradle:

Be Still, My Soul, (this text and tune) was the favorite hymn of Eric Liddell. He is perhaps most best known for refusing to run on Sunday in the 1924 Olympics (a story made famous in the film, Chariots of Fire). But, later in life, Liddell would become a missionary to China. During World War II, he was captured and imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp, where he would eventually die of a brain tumor.

It was this hymn that he taught to the other prisoners in the camp to provide comfort and hope, to strengthen their faith. In the midst of change and tears, disappointment, grief and fear, Liddell remembered and taught others that the day was coming when all that would be gone, and Jesus Christ would remain forever.

Be still my soul – the Lord is on thy side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to thy God to order and provide;
in every change – he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul – thy best thy heavenly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice
Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still my soul – when dearest friends depart,
and all is darkened in the vale of tears,
then shalt thou better know his love – his heart,
who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul – the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them – while he dwelt below.

Be still my soul the hour is hastening on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment – grief and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot – love’s purest joys restored,.
Be still my soul – when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed – we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy works and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well-pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Hymn #30: Arise, My Soul, Arise

Sep18

Lyrics: Charles Wesley (again)

Music: LENOX by Lewis Edson.
Towner by Daniel Brink Towner.

This tune performed by the acapella group, Glad, isn’t either of the ones above. I don’t know the name of it, but I do like it.

Indelible Grace version, music by Kevin Twit.

However, my preferred tune to these words is none of the above. I first learned this song at our church, Trinity Fellowship, and the music leaders there are great fans of Twila Paris. Arise, My Soul, Arise is the lead song on Twila’s album Sanctuary. You can listen to a snippet of it by going to her website and clicking on the album cover under “albums”.

Theme: But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.”

Hannah: “a joyful liberation from guilt and sin, into joy and righteousness.”

Hymn Studies: “A song which mentions the fact that we can be born of God is “Arise, My Soul, Arise.” The text was written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788). It first appeared under the title ‘Behold The Man’ in his 1742 Hymns and Sacred Poems.”

Philip Bishop: “I have many favorite hymns, but this Wesley hymn has to be in the ‘Top 10.’ I love the imagery and the progression of thought it expresses.”

1. Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears:
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears:
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
Before the Throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on his hands.

2. He ever lives above,
For me to intercede,
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for ev’ry race,
His blood atoned for ev’ry race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

3. Five bleeding wounds he bears,
Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me;
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

4. The Father hears Him pray,
His dear anointed One;
He cannot turn away,
The presence of His Son;
His Spirit answers to the blood,
His Spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God.

5. My God is reconciled;
His pard’ning voice I hear;
He owns me for his child,
I can no longer fear;
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father!” cry.

Dictionary:
Surety = a person who is legally responsible for the debt, default, or delinquency of another.

Abba = Aramaic for “father”; indicates intimacy; literally “Daddy” or “Papa.”

Effectual= successful in producing a desired or intended result; effective.

Intercede= to intervene on behalf of another.

I think my children’s vocabularies have been expanded because of all the hymns we sing. Do have any examples of words you’ve learned from hymns?

I’m submitting to the Poetry Friday round-up at Becky’s Book Reviews because it’s quite poetic. I love the idea, taken from the verses in Isaiah, that my name is written on His hands.

Hymn #31: O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing

Sep17

Original Title: On the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion

Lyrics: Charles Wesley

Music: According to Wikipedia, “In the USA, the hymn is commonly sung to Lowell Mason’s 1839 arrangement of the hymn tune AZMON, written by Carl G. Glaser in 1828. Mason’s arrangement was written as a setting for this hymn. In Great Britain the tune LYDIA by Thomas Phillips or RICHMOND by Thomas Haweis are commonly used, though in larger congregations Thomas Jarman’s stirring tune LYNGHAM is favoured.”

Other tunes: BEATITUDO, John B. Dykes, 1875.
OXFORD NEW, J. H. Coombes, 1784.
NATIVITY, Henry Lahee, 1855.
SELBY, Alfred J. Eyre, 1889.
BELMONT, WIlliam Gardner.

I don’t know about a thousand tongues, but it looks if these lyrics are working toward a thousand tunes, or maybe just eighteen to match the number of verses. This organ version from youtube is LYNGHAM, but I need to hear it sung because I can’t fit the words to the music as played here.

Theme: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Wesley wrote this hymn in celebration of the first anniversary of his conversion. The original poem had eighteen verses, but the part we generally sing as a hymn starts with verse seven.

IMG_2524.JPGGlory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone
And filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life
I then began to live.

IMG_1830.JPGThen with my heart I first believed,
Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received
To call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God,
For me, for me He died!

I found and owned His promise true,
Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew
When written on my heart.

IMG_5692.JPGO for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
‘Tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

IMG_1842.JPGHe speaks, and, listening to his voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Christmas2006-3Look unto Him, ye nations, own
Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

See all your sins on Jesus laid:
The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made
For every soul of man.

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

mexicoworshipMurderers and all ye hellish crew
Ye sons of lust and pride,
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,
And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep,
And wash the Æthiop white.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Hymn Studies: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.

Lifespring! Hymn Stories: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.

Hymn #32: How Deep the Father’s Love For Us

Sep16

Lyrics: Stuart Towend, 1995.

Music: Stuart Townend, 1995.

Theme:

Matt: “It struck me how utterly incapable we are of coming even remotely close to comprehending the infinite depth of God’s love for us.”

Mary Lynn: “I recently had a student sing this at school – I told her (before this survey) that this one would make my all-time-top-10 list.”

TheeEpiphany: “When I stop to remember His goodness, His patience with me, His everlasting love and promises, everything else seems so less worthy of my attention.”

Mark Moore: “I never thought about adoption as “paying a ransom”. It makes sense when you read passages in the New Testament that talk about us being “adopted” into God’s family. How did that happen? Jesus’ wounds paid our ransom!”

Stuart Townend: “I’d been meditating on the cross, and in particular what it cost the Father to give up his beloved Son to a torturous death on a cross. And what was my part in it? Not only was it my sin that put him there, but if I’d lived at that time, it would probably have been me in that crowd, shouting with everyone else ‘crucify him’. It just makes his sacrifice all the more personal, all the more amazing, and all the more humbling.

As I was thinking through this, I just began to sing the melody, and it flowed in the sort of way that makes you think you’ve pinched it from somewhere! So the melody was pretty instant, but the words took quite a bit of time, reworking things, trying to make every line as strong as I could.”

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure!
How great the pain of searing loss!
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon the cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life;
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
No gifts, no power, no wisdom,
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Such a new song to be so very popular! Such an old theme!

Hymn #33: Jesus Paid It All

Sep15

Lyrics: Elvina Hall, 1856.

Music: John T. Grape.

Theme: “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool’”. Isaiah 1:18.

Mr. Grape was a member of the same Methodist church in Baltimore that Elvina Hall attended. Their pastor, Rev. George W. Shreck, was the instrument to bring words and music together when he “called on me (Grape) to select anything new that I had to offer. On hearing this piece he expressed his pleasure with it and stated that Mrs. Elvina M. Hall had written some words that would just suit the music. I gave him a copy of it and it was soon sung in several churches here in Baltimore.”

(I’m hoping to become just such an instrument for my friend Hannah, even though I know nothing about selling or or produing music. If any of you know about uploading music to iTunes or Amazon and selling it through those sites, please email me at sherryDOTearlyATgmailDOTcom.)

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him,
My robe, His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down,
All down at Jesus’ feet.

OR

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete
“Jesus died my soul to save”
My lips shall still repeat .