O Heart Bowed Down -- Franklin E. Belden

Was he dejected about something, or perhaps knew someone who was? That is the impression one might have upon reading what Franklin Edson Belden wrote in a poem-song “O Heart Bowed Down” during his mid-30s, though he turned toward his faith and what he read in his bible to confront this feeling. Was he actively engaged while listening to a message from a pulpit when the words came to him? Was the music right alongside during this episode? He authored nearly four hundred hymns over his four-score and seven years, so Franklin had a well-honed method, apparently, that he had used since first composing as a youngster. Just an unusually precocious child, or someone touched by the Spirit – which would best describe Franklin Belden?      

Franklin had returned to his roots by the time that he wrote “O Heart Bowed Down” when he was 37 years old. It was 1895, and he was living in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he had been born and lived until he was eight. But, he evidently picked up his childhood song-writing habit just after his family moved to California; before returning to lower Michigan, he also lived for a time in Colorado. Seventh-Day Adventism was part of his family roots, probably one of the spurs that induced Belden’s return to Michigan. It was in Battle Creek, Michigan that Franklin worked with the Review and Herald Publishing Association, and where we can presume he was also active among the Adventist church, which was a sponsor of the publishing house and its music. Franklin’s family heritage was also deep in this church, as his Aunt Ellen (Ellen Harmon White) was one of its founders. With this backdrop, Franklin’s hymn-writing was a natural and a professional outgrowth; many of his musical concoctions were reportedly the result of his innate ability to craft something while under the influence of an ongoing sermon. “O Heart Bowed Down” may thus have been the consequence of one of his regular Saturday worship days at the church. Was the speaker sermonizing upon what Jesus promised about Himself, particularly for those people who might be downcast (Matthew 11:28-29)? The Messiah’s words are used verbatim in the refrain of Belden’s poem-hymn, hinting that the origin of Franklin’s inspiration was indeed what he heard and appreciated at a deep level one Saturday during worship. Two of the verses he penned indicate someone—perhaps even himself?—was suffering from a gloomy spirit and needed a lift (verses 1 and 3). He found it, and published it.   

Franklin’s advice might have also included words like ‘don’t wallow in your despair’. Unload that disappointment, or perhaps it’s just lethargy that’s grown out of control. Franklin Belden knew where he needed to be to manage these feelings, and it wasn’t somewhere ‘pulling up his own bootstraps’, though popular thought might advise this. No, he was in a church often enough when poetry gestated in his spirit to know that’s where he ought to be. It wasn’t just advantageous for his music-writing business. That was where his heart business also could be managed effectively. How’s business going for you today?    

See following site for short biography of the author/composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/e/l/belden_fe.htm

See following site also for all four original verses: https://hymnary.org/tune/o_heart_bowed_down_with_sorrow_belden

See this site for information on the church of which the author-composer was a part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church

Jesus Paid It All -- Elvina M. Hall

She must have been moved in some way that morning, but was it really okay that this songwriting episode transpired while she was apparently ignoring an ongoing sermon? This was the question that most troubled Elvina M. Hall when she shared with the minister later in a Baltimore church the details of “Jesus Paid It All”. Someone might say she had also desecrated church property – a hymnal -- while scribbling the words for the poem that came to her spontaneously. Well, at least Elvina hadn’t slept during the minister’s message! The words she penned also could have been her best defense, for they seem to indicate she’d engaged in a conversation with the One above, while forgoing the minister’s message. So, with whom would you rather converse, the usher or the homeowner? Perhaps that’s what Elvina calculated was the correct question for her to answer.      

Elvina Hall was evidently not the only person in that Baltimore church engaged in the birth of “Jesus Paid It All” in 1865. The organist, John Grape, unbeknownst to Elvina, had composed some music that he had yet to tie to any words, though he had shared it with the minister. Thus, the same minister who’d bored Elvina one Sunday morning had also been Grape’s musical sounding board! Was it just a coincidence or was some other force at work to consummate the union of Elvina’s poetry and John’s tune, via the minister with whom they’d both served at the church? Since Elvina had scrawled her words on a blank page of a hymnal in the choir attic, one wonders if the three of them might have concluded that the poetry was providentially destined for a piece of music to complete the loop for a newborn hymn. “Jesus Paid It All” would be one of only a handful of poems that Elvina would ever craft, and the only tune we know that is attributed to John, making this episode especially remarkable for the both of them. Elvina imagined Jesus reassuring her that her own human frailty would not matter when He entered the equation (v.1). And, that would be just the beginning, for the rest of her thoughts envision the Divine nurture he would provide, the completion of her walk, and the inheritance that she trusted He would bestow on her. In her 40s when she penned the words, Elvina would spend some 40 years in that Baltimore church (Monument Street Methodist Church). She was closer to the starting line than the finish line, she may have realized, so she listened and heard what He said could follow over the next few decades. All she needed to do one morning in the top of that church was allow Her dialogue with Him to flow through her hand onto a blank page.   

 How many other Sundays did Elvina sit pondering in the choir loft during the sermon, after she wrote “Jesus Paid It All”? Perhaps she did many times, though only two other hymn poems are ascribed to her. The six verses of “Jesus Paid It All” may have been enough for her to contemplate for some time, as they ultimately foresee one scene that will matter most for any of us – meeting Him. Elvina must have sensed that at that moment, who could pay for her eternal home would be paramount. My home mortgage is just about as much financial liability as I want. What’s the mortgage on a mansion in heaven (John 14:2)? Have you got that creditor lined up to pay for you?

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; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; 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 six original verses, and a brief recitation of the development of the  tune, which was then paired with the author’s poem to create the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/p/a/jpaidall.htm

Jesus, I Come -- William True Sleeper

He was a missionary at heart, seeking and coaxing those who were outside to come inside. And, that’s just what William True Sleeper said with the words in the song poem “Jesus, I Come” that he wrote in the latter decades of 19^th Century America. (The song may also be known by the first words of the first verse, ‘Out of My Bondage’.) He stayed in the American Northeast, in Massachusetts and Maine, to conduct his work in people’s homes and also to establish permanent churches, so it’s not entirely certain where he was when he first sang to Jesus that he was coming (since he ministered at the Worcester Congregational Church in Massachusetts for 30 years, we’ll assume he might have been there). But, does the earthly location really matter to one such as William? Home is wherever Jesus lives.

William Sleeper had a name that belied how he approached his mission on earth. In short, he wasn’t content to slumber and drift along. One of his great-nephews has written of him (see blog link below), a reputed hardy individual well-suited for the work he chose to pursue in 19^th Century northern Maine, as well as Massachusetts. His schooling in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts also reflected this lifestyle, as he garnered a higher education while refusing to be stopped, despite few financial resources to accomplish this. He had a way with people, rallying many to a cause (church building, for instance), while personally charming others with his singing voice. William’s missionary character flowed easily, to put it simply. Perhaps his longest stint anywhere was in Worcester, Massachusetts, where one can imagine he drew many to belief during his three decades of ministry there. It’s said he wrote the words for ‘Jesus, I Come’, sending them to his friend George Stebbins for the accompanying music. It wasn’t the first time the two had collaborated – Stebbins had asked Sleeper some years earlier for words to match a tune he had in mind to invite seekers to commit to God. So, when William had the same idea years later (perhaps when he was in his late 60s), he knew who had the God-given talent to bring his poem to fruition in a song. William was still inviting people to come inside, out of many things obstructing their lives – the message we can imagine he spoke and then underscored in song.

What hinders people, according to William Sleeper? Bondage, sickness, poverty (v.1), and lots of other things in between that are bracketed by sin and ‘dread of the tomb’ (v.4). William recommended an exchange be made – Jesus, instead of all of those earth-born mishaps. While the precise circumstance that brought William these words is not known, understanding the nature of the author tells one all that’s really necessary. He sought out people, much as himself, who’d felt the want of life. Yet, he’d found the answer, and that’s all a missionary is – a discoverer who has found a better offer. Have you found a better one today?               

Information on the song was obtained from 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 biography of composer here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/l/e/sleeper_wt.htm

See also here for the four verses of the hymn: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/e/s/u/jesusico.htm

See here a more thorough rendition of the author’s biography when he was in Maine, as well as some tangential information on the song: https://www.stevesleepermusic.com/blog/2015/6/2/william-true-sleeper-bio