O Draw Me Lord -- David Baroni

 

Is being near to God supposed to be easy? It won’t be as easy as drawing water from a well, something that Jesus once asked an outcast woman to do for Him (John 4:7). Perhaps this episode was still on the Master’s mind later when He talked to some others; could there have been some of those same people, or maybe others even later, who would say “O Draw Me Lord” as they prayed? That was in fact what the songwriter David Baroni was thinking some 20 centuries later when he paired these same words with music, perhaps while he was in his Nashville (see its seal here) home. Jesus’ encounter with a curious group of people, whom he suspected were looking for another miracle-inspired feast that He could have easily repeated, turned most of them into skeptics, even hostile scoffers. How did Jesus expect to engender their belief and devotion when He seemed to have a penchant for wild statements like what He uttered on this occasion? Could that have been His point, that He wants not just anyone, but someone who is really thirsty, someone who’s ready for radical commitment?     

 

 

The 39-year-old David Baroni (in 1997, when ‘O Draw Me Lord was included on an album) was evidently reading his bible one day, when he happened upon the chapter in which Jesus really tested the devotion of His followers with some very peculiar assertions about Himself (see John 6:25-59). It seemed like the more He talked, the deeper became the disdain of the people surrounding Jesus on this occasion. ‘I’m bread’, ‘my blood is real drink’, ‘you have to eat and drink me to have eternal life’, and finally – perhaps the one that most upset them – ‘I have come from heaven’. Their dubious reaction to His heaven-sent claim had Jesus tell them something else they did not appreciate: ‘Only my heavenly Father can draw you to me, and that will grant you a death-defying resurrection’(6:44). That mindboggling statement, if you can imagine someone who’d been known to others for 30 years saying this, must have made them gasp and maybe even snicker with derision. ‘Yeah, right Jesus – tell us another one!’ And He did. The only thing that makes this scene make sense, is that Jesus was omniscient, and thus He knew that He needed to upset their applecart about what they thought God was there to do for them. This conversation that John records for us must have lasted at least several minutes, probably in fact much more than the 9+ minutes that you can spend watching and listening to David Baroni sing the song (see link below). He sings the words over and over again, perhaps an unintentional metaphor for how challenging it might be for an individual or a group with preconceived notions about God’s nature to come near and receive His embrace. David indicates it is a prayer, and that God does want to ‘woo us’, and even allows us the grace to answer Him. Will it be easy? Do you and I need an encounter with Him, like the one with the crowd in the 1^st Century?

 

Even many of Jesus’ disciples found what Jesus had to say on this occasion pretty stunning, and difficult to accept (John 6:60-71). And yet, ‘to whom else shall we go?’, Peter said. Jesus said he’d draw people to Himself one other time (see also John 12:32), when He’d die. Very confusing and troubling – and yet Jesus doesn’t pull punches, does He? This God does want to enable our path to Him (see Jeremiah 31:3, and Hebrews 7:19; and Heb. 10:1,22). He’s not drawing us a physical map, but a heart-emanating call from Himself to you and me. David Baroni reminds us that the method hasn’t changed. Prayer can do an amazing thing, if you really want Him.  

 

See the composer/author comment on the song in the first 1:15 of this video: Bing Videos

 

See information about the author-composer here: About (davidbaroni.com)

 

More biography on the author-composer here: David Baroni | Discogs

 

This link indicates the song was on a 1997 album: Holy Fire | Christian Music Archive

 

See information on the seal of Nashville here: File:Seal of Nashville, Tennessee.png - Wikimedia Commons…This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. For further explanation, see Commons:Hirtle chart as well as a detailed definition of "publication" for public art. Note that it may still be copyrighted in jurisdictions that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works (depending on the date of the author's death), such as Canada (50 p.m.a.), Mainland China (50 p.m.a., not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany (70 p.m.a.), Mexico (100 p.m.a.), Switzerland (70 p.m.a.), and other countries with individual treaties.

To Us a Child of Hope Is Born -- John Morrison and Isaiah

 

It must have been the Christmas season, right? And yet, this 35-year-old Scottish minister named John Morrison was likely also reading and remembering when the prophet Isaiah from so long ago had said “To Us a Child (of Hope) Is Born”, and thus a large portion of the credit for this old hymn should travel back much further than the late 18^th Century A.D., long before anything like a Christmas season was ever conceived. The Christ babe’s entry into the world (depicted here in The Adoration of the Shepherds by Matthias Stomer in the mid-17^th Century) was a stunning, if unconventional, method to begin God’s final solution in rescuing His image bearers and ushering in a new age. The more Jesus lived, the more His purpose and His kingdom’s nature became more unsettling to those closest to Him. That this would have such a revolutionary effect on the Apostles and others could not have been fully appreciated when Isaiah lived and prophesied, some 700 years before God sent Jesus to be our Immanuel, God-with-us. We, who can look back with informed hindsight, should be no less aware that this babe’s impact is still provocative.  

 

Although the words he wrote and their apparent original source provide strong clues that John Morrison was intent on creating a Christmas hymn, we do not know what other specific circumstances motivated this Scottish minister in 1781. But, he was apparently reading from Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7 especially, since that text so closely matches the verses that John wrote. It has been perhaps the most used biblical text at Christmas, telling believers that there has been hope among people as long ago as 2,700 years, when Isaiah lived. It was a stormy period for Judah, the southern part of the divided kingdom, because  Assyria threatened (and eventually took into bondage) the northern tribes (Israel), and posed an imminent threat to Judah as well. And though Assyria’s army would be destroyed (around 701 B.C.), Babylon would later (appx. 586 B.C.) take Jerusalem and overwhelm Judah, removing the people into exile. In the midst of his warnings, Isaiah reassures Judah that a ‘child’ would be born from the lineage of King David, and that this promised king would exceed all others. Christmastime is traditionally when we humans like to reach out for hope and joy, so it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that John Morrison was composing his poem, echoing Isaiah’s purpose, to renew the spirits of the people to whom he was ministering. Difficulties may be invading your space or are on the horizon, but a child is to be born. John added the words ‘of hope’ to what Isaiah originally penned, so we can surmise somewhat what this minister’s intent was. Hope. These people needed something to make optimism spring alive again, just as they did centuries earlier. But, from a child? Isaiah and John said this was no ordinary baby – He’d be someone that ‘tribes of earth’ and indeed ‘the hosts of heaven’ would obey (v.1). His names are extraordinary – ‘Prince of Peace’, ‘wonderful’, ‘counselor’, ‘great and mighty Lord’ (v.2); while verse 3 tells of the extent of His influence – ‘power, increasing’, ‘reign (without) end’, a ‘throne’ with ‘Justice’ and ‘peace’ firmly underpinning it. Isaiah’s message still works today.

 

It's still an earth with lots of discordant sounds. Even so, the basis for upbeat expectation is here. There’s still sunshine and green grass, and many other signs that our planet is not about to spin out of control. That there are people that still offer themselves up to help others speaks of a higher purpose than one’s own ego. Where’s that come from? He’s alive, or rather many of us believe He is. The adjectives, names, and attributes Isaiah attached to Him, and which John Morrison reiterated almost 250 years ago, still hold true, as long as part of Him animates us here below. Isaiah did not say ‘of hope’, but John Morrison and every one of us over two centuries later can keep on saying that, making this place we all live a little better. It all begins with that baby in a manger.    

 

 

Read a few details about the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/o/r/r/morrison_j.htm

Also see here: https://hymnary.org/person/Morison_J1750

 

See the hymns original four verses here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/o/u/s/tousacoh.htm

 

See here for information on the masterpiece artwork File:Adoration of the sheperds - Matthias Stomer.jpg - Wikimedia Commons…The author died in 1660, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929. 

My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast – Jefferson Hascall

 

This guy was evidently very passionate, not wanting anyone to miss out on the eternal gift that he could see. And so, Jefferson Hascall composed some poetry that he must have felt, when paired with an appropriate tune, would tug at people’s heartstrings and induce them to visualize a scene in which “My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast”, a spiritual metaphor for death and a bodily resurrection. Jefferson had almost certainly been to camp meetings held during the era of the 2^nd and 3^rd Great Awakenings in America, or had spoken at the church where he served in the Shrewsbury, Massachusetts area, in his efforts to spread the Good News. (See this engraving depicting a Methodist camp meeting in the early 1800s, perhaps quite similar to one that Hascall might have attended [engraving by M. Dubourg of an 1819 piece of artwork by Jacques Gerard Milbert].) This period was also leading up to a cataclysmic event in the mid-19^th Century, so could that have also been on the mind of this church elder who was 53 years old (as of 1860, when his song was published)?

 

Jefferson Hascall was not alone in his appetite for the message he sought to communicate as early as the late 1820s, when he graduated from an academy and set out to be a minister. Perhaps it was nearly two decades later (1847-48), during or soon after the construction of a Methodist church in Shrewsbury, that his fire for winning souls was most ardent. Reportedly some 100 people were converted due to his efforts, in one of many places across the burgeoning American landscape where revivals were filling church pews with fervent new believers. One of the facets of this revival was a social reform component, which in Jefferson’s case meant an unswerving commitment to abolition of slavery, including during the Civil War. The combination of the ongoing religious awakening and the growing resolve of abolitionists and their opponents undoubtedly made for an explosive situation – perhaps one that was inevitable, despite many efforts over the preceding decades to head off this conflict. We know not exactly what particular circumstances motivated Jefferson, but whatever it was, he was thinking a lot about death’s approach and what awaited mortal man in the beyond. Would Jefferson’s words have resonated deeply in the hearts of more than a few young men, those who were expectant combatants in the looming war? Other social ills – such as the Temperance Movement that sought to stem rampant alcoholism -- have also typically been the targets of the reform agendas that accompany revivals, so perhaps that was part of the wind that was blowing to help spread the fire of Jefferson’s message. Whatever it was that lit the revival’s torch, Jefferson saw that life’s end was certain, but that the end did not have to be dreadful. Instead, Jefferson’s words resound with joy and expectation: ‘Triumph’ (v.1); ‘friends…kindred dear’ (v.2); ‘heav’nly home’ (v.3); and ‘victory’ (v.4) all gather around a chorus that tells of an ‘angel band’ to escort the blessed on ‘snowy wings’ to ‘eternal home’.  ‘Strongest trials’ (v.1) and ‘…all sin’ (v.4) are in the rearview. Could it have been that all this imagery Jefferson used offered his hearers a choice that seemed pretty direct and rational?

 

It wasn’t fire and brimstone stuff that Jefferson preached. Perhaps the world where he and his fellow citizens lived had enough problems, so that they readily accepted an alternative vision of life – glorified life. Was that the key ingredient in the Great Awakenings, that lives mired in adversities sought out a hope that could not be attained while on earth? If there’s too many hurdles to overcome, a poverty in one’s existence can seem inescapable. So, join with others who are also hurting, but who are seeking and finding something – actually, someone called God – on a promised new plane. Sounds pretty inviting, right? Jefferson thought so. If, some 175 years beyond Jefferson’s time, you too are discovering that you need a revival, why not sit yourself down and give a listen to his solution? Your sun might be going down, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Jefferson is inviting you to the next dawn.      

 

Read some biographical information on the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/s/c/hascall_j.htm   and here:   https://hymnary.org/person/Hascall_Jefferson

 

See the original words of the four verses and the refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/l/a/mylatest.htm

 

See more information on the song here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Band_(song)

Read about the social-religious movement in 19^th Century America here: Second Great Awakening - Wikipedia  and here: Third Great Awakening - Wikipedia

 

Read about another issue that may have also impacted revivals in America: Temperance movement in the United States - Wikipedia

 

See information on the picture here: File:Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America J. Milbert del M. Dubourg sculp (cropped).jpg - Wikimedia Commons.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. {{PD-US}} – US work that is in the public domain in the US for an unspecified reason, but presumably because it was published in the US before 1929.