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
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