This pastor
was going through a rough stretch, and so he resorted to a method that a
spiritual ancestor had used many years before. Since he was a preacher,
well-versed in the bible he held in his hands, Roy Hicks, Jr. must have
understood the background to the verses and song “Praise the Name of Jesus”
that he adapted to his own situation one day in 1976. Could he have known the
spark it would cause, or was he really only expecting to find solace for the
moment? It must have been the former, since he didn’t keep the thoughts and
emotions of that time to himself. He shared them, perhaps in not too different
a way than his ancient predecessor did.
Roy Hicks
read his bible for inspiration and instruction as a 36-year old church pastor
in Eugene, Oregon, and so he may have imagined himself in a very distant land
nearly three millennia ago as he turned to the pages of scripture in 1976. He
must have wanted to lean upon examples in biblical history, upon someone who
had struggled and come through the other side of a challenge, even a
spear-dodging episode (like the one shown here, by Jose Leonardo). Roy was
watching as a church he was trying to lead shrank, and feeling discouraged, he
sought out someone with whom he thought he identified. His example was David, the
great king and psalm-writer, who endured many episodes that were not only
discouraging, but in fact life-threatening. The metaphors for God that Hicks observed
David using in Psalm 18’s opening verses spoke in a meaningful way to him. He
needed strength for his church’s declining circumstances, so he called out to a
God he needed to be his ‘rock’, ‘fortress’, and ‘deliverer’. Roy must have felt this church in Eugene was
in a life-threatening condition, a group of God’s people who were dodging the
spear-throwing efforts of Satan and his demons. David’s song is probably the
same one he sang as he reminisced about his rescue from Saul and the defeat of
foreign adversaries (2 Samuel 22). Roy just took what David said and added one
name – Jesus.
Roy Hicks didn’t
just repeat David’s praises. He updated them. It’s said that he taught “Praise
the Name of Jesus” to the Eugene church a week after its words and tune made
their way into his being. Perhaps Roy told them the source of his inspiration,
stories of David’s hair-raising adventures and the protection he received.
David knew not Jesus, but would probably have recognized Him, don’t you think?
For the ‘man after God’s own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), he would have
had eyes to spot the God in Jesus. Roy must have concluded the same, and thus enhanced
David’s original words without hesitation. The 1976-version of Psalm 18 is one that
David, the original composer, can also enjoy. Maybe he’s already doing so.
The source
for the song story is the book “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories
About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.
Also see New International Version Study Bible, Editor
Kenneth Barker, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985.
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