Was he thinking of marriage at the age of 60, of matrimony like King Louis IV’s (see the picture)? The words he wrote near the end of his life seem to ring with what a wise poet had penned many centuries earlier as he gazed upon his beautiful mate. Samuel Stennett had fallen in love probably at least twice in his life, as he set about composing the words for “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” in 1787. Like the poet whose words spilled out yearnings of devotion in the book with Solomon’s name on it, Stennett too wanted to express his deepest feelings. Some people might blush to say things that speak so openly of another person, but maybe that’s the gift of advanced age – candor – that permits one to share without hesitation.
Samuel Stennett was born of a minister father, and indeed a long family-line of ministers that probably imprinted his faith on him at an early age. Five generations of Stennetts would be ministers in England, including Samuel and a brother who were among the 4th generation. Samuel inherited from his grandfather the penchant for hymn writing, and eventually wrote 39 in all, including also “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”. The hymn “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” also was originally known by two other titles, “The Chief Among Ten Thousand” and “The Excellencies of Christ”, and had up to nine verses, although we often have just four of them in published collections today. It’s said that the hymn has historically been a favorite for communion time among the churches that have favored Stennett’s hymns, so we can guess that perhaps that tradition was actually promoted by Stennett himself. It is further suggested that the Song of Solomon (5:10-16) was a relevant text that Stennett read to gather his thoughts, the passionate recitations of a man and his bride. ‘Wait, Stennett!’, someone might have said, ‘that’s far too mushy to describe us and our Lord”. And, doesn’t it seem a bit of a contradiction to call someone ‘sweet’ and ‘majestic’ in the same breath?
Though it’s not discussed in historical records, Stennett must have experienced love himself while on earth, similar to what the writer expresses in Song of Solomon. Stennett had at least one son, who like the four generations before him, became a minister. So, we can presume that the composer-minister Stennett had also experienced earthly marriage by 1787, when he was pondering his spiritual marriage to Christ. And, having been a minister for nearly 50 years, he must have had significant relationships with members of that church. In fact, it’s said these close connections reached inside the English throne, to King George III and other government officials. Do you suppose Samuel was drawing a comparison between the Divine King and his terrestrial sovereign with the first few words of ‘Majestic Sweetness’? After 60 years, Stennett must have, like others before and after his time, grown weary of earth’s ways. In eight short years, he went to meet his ‘groom’, in 1795. Perhaps he was thinking of his own life up to that point as a betrothal, a prelude to a nuptials ceremony that would culminate above. Kinda makes you reevaluate death, huh?
Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; “101 Hymn Stories”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1982, Kregel Publications; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
See the following website for the hymn’s 9 different original verses:
Biography of Stennett: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/t/e/n/stennett_s.htm
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