Like a River Glorious -- Frances Ridley Havergal

 

You cannot read anything about this English hymnist without encountering the word peace for which she was known by all who met her. Frances Ridley Havergal did not live a long life, and yet she apparently welcomed her own death with a serenity that may have been best reflected in one of her hymns, “Like a River Glorious”, which she wrote a few years before her eternal inheritance and the tranquility she cherished came to fruition. Frances’ deep and abiding familiarity with the ancient biblical texts undoubtedly provided much of the foundation for what would flow from her pen, but could she have also been moved by the creation she observed, like any number of rivers that she might have observed and which could have provided further inspiration for what she wrote (perhaps not unlike the River Wey in southern England, shown here)? Frances did not really need to explain what motivated this hymn, for she lived it.

 

Thirty-eight-year-old Frances was reportedly in Leamington, in central England, in 1874 when she wrote ‘Like a River Glorious’, and though her poetry is all we possess of her thoughts at that time, it offers several clues of her mindset at the time. We could reasonably presume that Frances was reading from Isaiah and perhaps also Psalms and many New Testament scriptures to find inspiration for what she would create. As she began, it could have been the prodigious prophet Isaiah whose words moved Frances initially, with the promises of the Lord on his lips to the people. ‘Peace…like a river’ could have been and could still be theirs, Isaiah said (48:18; 66:12), a metaphor that would have appealed to this 19^th Century hymnist as she thought about herself and the relationship with God that she valued so highly. At least two rivers are also in the Leamington area where Frances was at the time – the Rivers Leam and Avon – and could also have underscored for her His creative work in her midst. It wasn’t just a peace she felt, but a perfect one, which she saw as a glorious moving body of water, something that flowed more ‘fully’ and ‘deep(ly)’ as time went on. Could Frances have also found a kindred spirit in Isaiah through his song in chapter 26 about this perfect peace (26:3)? Is anything more secure than being in the ‘hollow of His hand’, in the protection of the one who had waters there in the same way when He made them (Isaiah 40:12)? That’s a very comforting reminder, one that could have spurred Frances’ second verse to tell herself and her readers that no ‘traitor’, ‘worry’, ‘care’, nor ‘hurry’ can overwhelm His shield for the believer. Frances could also have found such reassurance among David’s Psalms, including Psalm 37 (see verses 23-24, among many others there). Frances could have found the promise of peace throughout the New Testament also, including Jesus’ own words (John 14:27; 16:33), and from any of His apostles (like Paul – see Romans 5:1). That’s why Frances could stress the ‘trust’ she had for Him in her third verse, even during ‘trial(s)’ as well as ‘joy(s)’.

 

It is said that Frances actually welcomed death when it was ready to take her at the early age of just 42. Her health had apparently not always been optimum in the years just prior to her death, and perhaps that made her life in eternity one that she longed to inherit, one without pain. Frances had been a precocious child, reportedly reading by the time she was four years old, and then writing her first poems at age seven. She was a brilliant woman who learned to read La­tin, Greek, and He­brew, and who knew the Psalms and Isaiah (as suggested above, by what she wrote in ‘Like a River…’) and much of the New Testament by heart. So, someone might say how tragic it was that her earthly life was cut so short. Could that be why God gifted her so well at an early age, because her life would be a short one? Hers was what someone has said was a life well-lived, though short. And, look what she left for us to remember, especially how she handled not only life, but death, too. Bravery was one of her character traits, but it wasn’t something she could claim as her own. And, though she was talented, she didn’t feel her brief life had somehow cheated her. After all, what are four decades compared to the forever she began by 1879?            

 

Find all the original verses of the hymn here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/i/k/r/likriver.htm

 

A brief biography of the author/poetess is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/v/e/havergal_fr.htm

 

See here also for the hymnist’s bio, and information on the song and its original date of authorship (1874): https://hymnary.org/text/like_a_river_glorious

 

A more complete bio on the author-hymnist is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal

 

Information on the location where the hymnist reportedly wrote this hymn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leamington_Spa

 

Read some reflections on the author-hymnist’s life in the following: Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; and Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, 2003, Thomas Nelson, Inc.

 

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wey_source_farringdon.jpg …This work has been released into the public domain by its author, SuzanneKn at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: SuzanneKn grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law….found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River  

I Bring My Sins to Thee -- Frances Ridley Havergal

She had a life that was well-tuned to her Creator, but still felt the need to vocalize her commitment to him when she was 34 years old. Was there something in 1870 that compelled the Englishwoman Frances Ridley Havergal to declare “I Bring My Sins to Thee”? Was it an especially close loss, either recent or soon-expected, that stirred her poetic spirit to write about four parts of her life that she offered to give to the ultimate Giver? Perhaps she felt that all things were from Him anyway, so why not be willing to relinquish all that her life was currently possessing? These included the adverse issues, as well as those at the opposite end of the spectrum. Take all of them, because whether good or ill, they compose me, and make me unique. That was indeed true of Frances.

Frances Havergal had experienced her share of heartache and joy by the time “I Bring My Sins to Thee” gestated in her spirit in 1870. Raised in an Anglican minister’s home, Frances showed the same poetic and hymn-writing traits as her father, William Henry Havergal. A brother, Henry, was a priest and played the organ. Although her mother died when Frances was just 11 years old, it may have been this mother’s deathbed words to the Havergals’ youngest daughter that impacted her most deeply – words urging her to be totally committed to God, to be His vessel. With these stimuli, Frances did indeed follow a path that would have undoubtedly pleased her mother, while using the gift most evident in her father. This very bright, highly educated young girl (she studied six languages) was also affected by her father’s ill health, forcing the family to move, including at least once as he took on ministry in a smaller church. Frances was likewise occasionally plagued by illness as a young woman, eventually succumbing to an infection at age 42. Eight years earlier, was her father’s death in 1870 a precipitating factor in her composition of “I Bring …”, perhaps? She mentions four broad facets of her life – anyone’s life – that she offered to the One she worshipped. Could these have been occupying her mind in the wake of her father’s death, or alternately, as she watched him decline? ‘Sins’ (v.1), ‘Grief’ (v.2), ‘Joys’ (v.3), and ‘Life’ (v.4) were all parts of herself that she wanted to surrender to Him.  Understandably, the offerings she made in the first two verses one could speculate are easier – who wants to hang onto sin and grief, after all? But, what about joy and life itself? What would a 34-year old’s vantage point look like, that would make her say this? Perhaps she’d surmised by this time that one had to accept that good and evil coexist. Would her poem have been more aptly entitled ‘I Bring It All to Thee”?       

Frances was looking at her own experience broadly, probably not for the first time, but maybe in sharper relief, as death was becoming all too real yet again for herself and those to whom she was closest. Is there an escape hatch? Though still a relatively young woman, even negative events had prospered Frances Havergal – her mother’s dying words inspired her, and conceivably it was her other parent’s mortality that helped spawn “I Give…” over 20 years later. I don’t welcome the negative. Nobody does. Yet, somebody once said something about a seed dying and giving new life. Who was that?

See this site for information on the composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/v/havergal_fr.htm

See also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal

 

See all four original verses of the song here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/b/r/ibringms.htm

Read the composer’s obituary here: https://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/havergaltw.html

Lord Speak to Me -- Frances Havergal

This 36-year old Englishwoman wrote something in 1872 she called “A Worker’s Prayer” as she considered what would be useful to members of the church where she worshipped. But, she didn’t want it to sound like she was the one giving the advice, so she said “Lord Speak to Me”, an appeal that Frances Ridley Havergal must have made many times over the course of her short life. She may have been an adult, but what she crafted indicates she hadn’t grown up too much to ask for and accept advice from above. From where did such an attitude derive, and was this song’s episode different from others that stimulated her poetic nature?

Frances was the daughter of an Anglican minister (her father) and probably never forgot the last moments with her mother, though they were some 25 years removed from the poem-song that she would write in her mid-30s. Having deeply spirit-led parents imbued Frances with a consciousness close to her Creator in ways that mimicked those who brought her into the world, most especially her father. He was also a hymn-writer, a trait that he passed on to Frances. Her mother’s influence must have also been strong, as the story of her deathbed encouragement to 11-year old Frances is known today, perhaps coming from Frances’ own memory. The Havergals’ daughter was already a bright, committed believer before her teenage years, having begun reading the bible by age 4 and writing poetry not long afterward. She reportedly learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and committed to memory lengthy portions of the bible, including Psalms, Isaiah, and the New Testament during the remainder of her childhood. So, it comes as no surprise that Frances would write dozens of books and hymns in her adult years – the fruit of her upbringing. Frances’ health apparently caused her difficulty frequently, so her death at the age of 42 was not entirely unexpected either. Perhaps it was the ill health that also drew her toward him, as well as the memory of her own mother’s premature demise but nevertheless evident heavenward devotion. “Lord, Speak to Me” can be summed up, therefore, as Frances’ life experience -- a poem-prayer to Him, as well as a model to fellow believers. She wanted to be useful, and the words she shared indicate she must have been asked by others to share what was the key to her life. The answer? Go talk to Him first – that’s in the first line of all seven of her poem’s verses.         

  

Prayer is access for everyone, and that’s what Frances wanted everyone to realize. And, it’s not just an isolated incident between my Creator and myself. Frances understood in “Lord Speak to Me” that seeking His direction should compel me toward others here, to share what He has for them. He’s not stingy, a notion that Frances Havergal had apparently grasped and wanted to share. “Lord, Speak…” has a dual purpose; there’s the one-to-one vertical connection in prayer, but also the resulting horizontal me-to-others link. That’s what Frances wants me to see. You suppose He told her that, too?  

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Also see this link, showing all seven original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/s/p/lspeak2m.htm

 
See biography of composer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal