history

Love Divine, all loves excelling is a marvellous tune speaking to the love of God.  Charles Wesley is the author, a prolific hymn-writer, and a Methodist.  He worked with his brother John. 

Lyrics

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of Heav’n to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

History and Author

Charles Wesley is the author is this lovely old hymn.  Even more 200 years after his passing, the hymns of Charles Wesley continue to remain popular within the faith community. 

Charles lived much of his life in his brother’s shadow. Even so, he is the one who started the Holy Club in 1729 that his brother eventually led.  Faithful Moravians helped both John and Charles search deeper into spiritual matters.  As Charles’ faith was strengthened he began to write hymns.  Over his lifetime he wrote over 6000 hymns.  Wholesome Words has a more complete write up of Charles Wesley. 

Other hymns by Charles Wesley

• Come thou long-expected Jesus.
• Christ the Lord is Risen Today. 
• Ye Servants of God, your master proclaim.
• Rejoice the Lord is King. 
• Christ whose glory fills the skies.
• Love Divine all loves excelling. 
• Jesus Lover of my soul. 

Ponderings

Love Divine, all loves excelling…. can you see it?   Can you see Jesus as God’s expression of love to the world?  Then leading on to the Holy Spirit and how he moves in our hearts.  Then God!  God Almighty comes and we serve him, being blessed.  Looking on in the final verse to a new creation. 

Don’t you just enjoy the progression in this hymn?   Showing how the love of God touches us in so many ways, and then glory oh the glory that awaits.  So much hope, and it starts with God’s love.  Lovely eh?

I was trying to figure out a song to go with the beginning of the New Year. I was still thinking about the two sides of God which help us to focus on the hope we have as we face the New Year.  The song My Hope is in the Lord came to mind. 

Lyrics

My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Him-self for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Cal-va-ry.

CHORUS:
For me He died;
For me He lives,
And everlasting life
And light He free-ly gives.

VERSE 2:
No merit of my own
His anger to suppress
My only hope is found
In Jesus’ righteousness

(REPEAT CHORUS)

VERSE 3:
And now for me He stands
Before the Father’s throne
He shows His wounded hands
And names me as His own

(REPEAT CHORUS)

VERSE 4:
His grace has planned it all
‘Tis mine but to believe
And recognize His work of love
And Christ receive

Author and History

American Norman J. Clayton, was a church organist since age 12.  He worked as a builder in New York. Mr. Clayton also started his own publishing house called Gospel Songs. This was his focus in music, to write Gospel songs of which he wrote a good number.  Hymntime maintains a list of the songs he created.   It was important to him that his music be biblically based and to that end, he memorized large quantities of scripture. 

Pondering This Song

I like to write poetry, and I try to make them biblically based for the most part.  Not always, some are just for fun.  I have written songs in the past but I haven’t memorized huge quantities of scripture.   I tend to look up the verses that I want.

When I consider his dedication to making sure that all his songs were biblical, it humbles me.  It is so easy for me to just look up what I want when perhaps I should be working harder at not having to look them up. To… not depend on technology so much but rather to hide God’s word more firmly inside of my heart. 

I originally posted about O Little Town of Bethlehem on my previous blog.  We sang it recently in an advent service and I thought it was worth repeating for you today.  🙂  

Lyrics to O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth!

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessèd Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee,
Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

Author and History

Written by Philip Brooks, was an American, an Episcopal preacher.  Although he failed as a teacher, he ended up as the rector at Boston’s Trinity Church for a long time.  He was active in the political and religious circles, and spoke against slavery.  The city of Boston has pictures and a bit of a biography into his life. 

Brooks wrote O Little Town of Bethlehem three years after he took a trip to Bethlehem.  This poem, turned song, was a fond recollection of his trip to that tiny town of Bethlehem and the sights he saw there. His organist, Lewis Redner, put his poem to music creating an easy song for the children of his congregation to sing.   Most hymnals today omit the fourth verse. 

Pondering

Until today I didn’t know about this orginal fourth verse

Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to thee,
Son of the undefiled;
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.

I love those last two lines eh?  Seeing the hope shown when glory breaks and Christmas is here again!  That celebration of what God wrought in the world.  A marvellous thing don’t you find? 

Away in a Manger is a beloved Christmas that has been sung by people of all ages for a long time.  I have memories (dim though they are) of singing this song in Sunday school Christmas programs at church.  I also wrote a post about Away in a Manger on my previous blog.

Lyrics to Away in a Manger

Author and History

Martin Luther is purported to be the author, yet many think this song is completely of American origin.  It’s one of those songs for children that has been adapted/changed over the years.  The reason so many think that Luther is the author is due to the existence of his cradle song.  But Luther isn’t the author since he never claimed it and the earliest copies were created after his death.  Discipleship Ministries spells out the history of this American-made cradle song.  The earliest version found is from 1934. 

Two main tunes, those I’ve sung at least three different tunes are Kirkpatrick and Murray.   I tried to pick two different versions for you to enjoy, and perhaps sing along with.  🙂 

Ponderings

The truths of scripture can be found with this cradle song.  In a manger, no bed, and the stars were probably visible from where he was born. 

Heartfelt sentiment and hope are found. Love for the Lord Jesus, Jesus looking down from the sky, staying with us, and God to whom we pray.

Questionable theology: No crying he makes.  It could be the Jesus was the best baby ever, but is crying a bad thing?  Isn’t it a human response to need? Is the “no crying he makes” the wanting to look past Jesus as a human baby and only seeing his God-hood? 

I dunno.  It’s good though to think about the words we sing don’t you find?

I originally wrote about this Christmas song Go Tell it on the Mountain back in 2015 on my weebly blog.  I figured it was about time for me to write about it again.  It’s a lively song, quite different than many of the traditional Christmas carols that we sing. 

Lyrics

Refrain

Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.

While shepherds kept their watching
O’er silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light.

Refrain

The shepherds feared and trembled,
When lo! above the earth,
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed the Savior’s birth.

Refrain

Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessèd Christmas morn.

Refrain

Author and History

There is some discussion about who actually created this piece.  Some scholars think John Wesley Work, Jr. wrote “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” Work was the first African-American collector of Negro spirituals.  He was also a composer and scholar.  It is thought he either composed it in 1907.

While other scholars think that slaves had been singing this American folk carol since at least the 1860’s.  If that is the case Work could not have composed it since he was born after that.  

This upbeat hymn didn’t become popular until the mid-20th century after the advent of jazz, blues and early rock. 

Discipleship Ministries has posted the original lyrics. 

Ponderings

One of the things I found fascinating about this hymn is how the words have changed over the years.  From the original spiritual with the slave overtones, to the common verses we sing today.  I’ve sung this hymn most often with the verses written above but occasionally with these verses added: 

When I was a seeker
I sought both night and day.
I ask the Lord to help me,
An’ He showed me the way.

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall, 
An’ if I am a Christian
I am the least of all.

These two verses are well worth singing as well don’t you think?

As I consider these last two verses I”m struck by the thought of how we can’t do anything unless God shows us the way first.  We can’t tell what we don’t know.  We can’t do a job we haven’t been given.  God is the one who sent his son, to give us a message, and then a job.  Go, Tell.  The nations, everyone around us, he did that.  His job, his mission, for us to carry out.

Are you doing the job he’s given you?

I originally posted about this song on my previous blog.  I’m gradually moving things over here and rewriting thoughts a bit. Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine is a wonderful song that speaks well to the hope that is within us.  This hope that the first week of Advent speaks to. We have a hope that is also a surety.  Let’s learn more shall we?

Lyrics

Blessèd 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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

Author and History

This is noted by some as Fanny Crosby’s most popular song.  She has some 8000 hymn texts to her name. Fanny started writing hymns as a young child.  She was made blind by an eye infection and poor medical treatment as a six week old baby.  This did not stop her from growing up to be a happy child.  She attended the New York Institution for the Blind where she was encouraged in her poetic endeavors.  She wrote many poems and her first published work was The Blind Girl and Other Poems.  Britannica has written a nice piece about this prolific author. 

According to Wikipedia, Ms. Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as they there having a pipe organ installed. The organ wasn’t finished yet so Ms. Knapp played a melody she had just completed.  When she finished she asked Fanny “What do you think the tune says”?  Crosby replied “blessed assurance, Jesus is mine”. 

Hymntime mentioned an interesting story about men during the war and this song Blessed Assurance.    She also wrote Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.

Ponderings

Is it your story?   To have that assurance of salvation and to be able to look forward to Christ’s return?  Oh, to be able to have that assurance of saying Jesus is mine.  Can you think of anything better than knowing Jesus’ mercy applied to yourself? 

What really sticks out though are these words

Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Hope is such a wonderful thing isn’t it?