He Leadeth Me – Joseph H. Gilmore

It was wartime, and he was filling in for an absent speaker one Sunday. Joseph Gilmore must have wondered what was different about this time that he delivered a message on a familiar subject that he’d spoken about before. His focus zeroed in a just one thought for some unknown reason, and what he said dwelled on the minds of his hearers. He wasn’t even aware of his own effort’s fruitfulness until years later, when he visited another church and found his penned words in a hymnal. What a shock, especially for this minister who wasn’t really in the habit of writing poetry for songs. That’s a brief snapshot of what this fellow did to bring about “He Leadeth Me” on March 26^th, 1862. The story’s message just might make one think, “I might never be aware just when and how my own thoughts will be used”.

Joseph Gilmore was substituting in a Philadelphia church that early spring in 1862, and his message on a well-worn subject was the topic of conversation well after the morning’s sermon, and would have implications for many years beyond. Psalm 23 (see here one artist’s conception of this well-known text)

was something he had spoken about on several other occasions, but this time he somehow couldn’t get past the words ‘He leadeth me…’ (verse 2). He speculated himself that perhaps the Civil War’s events were weighing on him, for by that time most Americans had concluded that the war was going to be long and brutal. The people would need a leader of divine nature, no matter where the war’s circuitous path might take them. It’s not specified, but residents of Philadelphia would undoubtedly have been supporters of the Union, and by inference, of President Lincoln. Did he sense the president and the Union needed God’s providential intervention? That afternoon’s discussion at the home of one of the church’s deacons spurred Gilmore toward still more thoughts of God’s leading. As the conversation continued, Gilmore scribbled some words and absentmindedly handed the paper with his meanderings to his wife, not knowing the effect this simple act would have. She apparently was struck by her husband’s prose, and gave them to a Boston publication, whereupon they were subsequently set to music by one of the period’s artists, William Bradbury.  Still, Gilmore knew nothing of these events until three years later. Opening a hymnal in Rochester, New York, where he was interviewing for a pastorship in 1865, he was surprised to find his own familiar words, paired with music. Did that church know something he didn’t, when he came to interview? Did his reputation precede him? Maybe so, and maybe it wasn’t an accident that Joseph Henry Gilmore became the pastor of that Baptist church.  

Gilmore wrote the texts for only a few other hymns, and it’s reported that none were as enduring as the one he composed in just a few moments in 1862. Perhaps its developmental history says something about how a song of lasting quality is born. Gilmore’s thoughts had centered on Psalm 23 before, but as he suggested, the crucible of the war may have provided the key ingredient that triggered its rise, even if this crisis was only in his subconscious. In Gilmore’s experience, he also must have sensed that his hearers were validating his sermon’s thoughts during that afternoon at the deacon’s home. ‘Let your insides speak to you, and listen to that voice that seems to be nudging you’, you can almost see him murmuring to himself as he scrawled the words on paper. He preached on His leading, and then he followed his own advice. Is He leading you somewhere, compelling you to say something? How about following through on that?      

            

See more information on the composer and the song in Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson publishers, 2003.  

See following link for all 4 original verse that the composer wrote: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/l/e/hleademe.htm

See following link on the composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/g/i/l/gilmore_jh.htm

I Will Call Upon the Lord - Michael O'Shields

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! (Psalm 18:3,46) I call out to God for all kinds of things. How about you? What tops your list…health, relationships, job difficulties, financial woes? There’s also, no doubt, the deeper spiritual dilemmas that I cannot answer myself, but as I ponder my own question, I have to admit it’s most often the physical needs that create the worry lines on my face. Question two: how do you pray about it to God…with privately clasped hands, or a public plea before the church? How about a prayer song? A song?! Aren’t those supposed to be reserved for happy, joyful, praiseworthy feelings? Read most of the Psalms, and you’ll hear a resounding ‘NO’. It’s encouraging that God still listens and inspires contemporary Psalmists in the same way He did King David and the others. Meet Michael O’Shields*.

Michael O’Shields was a young minister travelling in Oklahoma and Texas in the 1970s. He was struggling to make ends meet, and it was especially tough when the contribution was pretty meager, so he was calling upon the Lord for very tangible, felt needs when he wrote “I Will Call Upon the Lord”. The song’s pace might make you think he was in a joyful, upbeat mood, but he was likely feeling the opposite deep down. Yet, O’Shields knew what to do – he used the words David wrote in Psalm 18 centuries earlier as praise to God when he had been saved from enemies. It’s illuminating that Michael O’Shields adapted this psalm as his own petition to God, especially since David was already experiencing God’s saving hand. O’Shields must have trusted that God would save him too, even though he had not yet seen God’s rescue when he composed this tune.

O’Shields also shares a couple of other interesting details about the song’s development. He wrote this song, even though he didn’t think of himself as musically inclined….”I have only two problems, musically: I can’t sing on key and I can’t keep time. Otherwise, I do okay. “ Fortunately, O’Shields had friends to help make his words into music, but his experience tells us something about music and God, and us. You see, even someone without lots of gifts can be used by the Lord, in beautifully unexpected ways. O’Shields also shares that the song’s arrangement had a practical application for his time and place: it was intended to make men lead the worship in the farming communities he observed, where the composer recalls that usually the women would draw close to God first, followed by men. This song’s structure, a leader/follower echo, was novel in the 1970s and was intended to inspire the male spiritual leadership in those families who sang it.

O’Shields song, when I sing it now, makes me think twice about my prayer life. If I worry about things, maybe I should be writing poetry and giving my friends something to put to music. And, watch out! If I’m brave enough to create something, to make myself vulnerable, it just might resonate with others. God may make it something uniquely qualified to serve those nearby, or far away. And, who knows, it just might endure 30-40 years after its inception. Michael O’Shields’ example tells me that God’s providence lives on, and that He’s able to turn my struggle into inspiration. “I Will Call Upon the Lord” is a fresh reminder that God is most obvious when I’m in trouble …and that I need not fret, for He is near.

*Source for Michael O’Shields story is the book “Celebrate Jesus: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003.