Our Heavenly Father Understands -- Broadus E. Smith

 

He learned some very basic things growing up near Farmerville, Louisiana (see map), which stuck with him as closely as his birthplace by the time he reached his seventh decade of life. Broadus E. Smith probably had heard countless times by 1972 that “Our Heavenly Father Understands”, either directly or by inference, so that one could imagine that this poem he wrote as a 62-year old flowed readily from his hand and his heart. How does one establish intimacy and stay close to the Creator? Broadus had grasped the answer, and must have been teaching it to many others, even before he musically expressed the solution to this question. And yet, by making his answer into a song so it could be published, what Broadus had to say reached out much further than the northern Louisiana parish where he spent all of his life. Just how far do you think his song’s message could take you?

 

Broadus Smith grew up in a large community, both in his childhood home and probably in the church where his parents worshipped to foster the faith of himself and his brothers and sisters. Eleven brothers and sisters no doubt made Smith’s household a lively organism for his parents, who we could surmise must have prayed constantly to keep in touch with wisdom’s source! If it was like other churches where the Smith clan regularly gathered with the larger community for the weekly renewal of devotion to God, that body of believers prayed routinely, even fervently for guidance. Singing must have been as frequent as the prayer times, such that Broadus made it a significant part of his life’s work to make music and to teach it to others. Multiple music schools helped Broadus hone his skills, which he passed along via the baton and through the pen for most of his adult life. These skills translated into 100 songs that he wrote, including ‘Our Heavenly Father Understands’, which we might see as the high moment in his lifelong work. His words expressed that prayer (v.1 and chorus) was a principle he wanted to pass along to his hearers, that the God he’d known since childhood was accessible. And, more than that, a community of believers that engaged in this form of communication strengthened each other (v.1). Perhaps it was something that Broadus witnessed numerous times, that families – including spiritual ones -- that join hands together are never truly alone, whether on one’s daily walk along the ‘straight and narrow’ (v.2), or especially on one’s final day as a mortal being (v.3). The need of every human doesn’t get more basic than that, does it?  

 

What would it be like for you and me if God couldn’t understand? Some people already think that – agnostics or atheists are what they call themselves. What Broadus had discovered and written about in 1972 is that prayer is not only vertical, but horizontal. God has to be there, or my prayers are useless; that is a pivotal thing. But also, when I know others are bringing my needs and desires to Him, I don’t feel quite so forlorn, even if my situation is desperate. Could that be what impedes belief by some, that they experience life without others to help voice their innermost feelings? Or, perhaps they think He doesn’t care or understand because of a past hurt that seemed inescapable and unappeased. What might Broadus say in response? You need people, lots of them. And, this God was one of us, once. He knows what it’s like for you and me. Who else can you go to, if you don’t have Him? What have you got to lose by believing in Him and linking arms with others who do too?  

 

 

 

See the following site for very brief biography of the author-composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/m/i/t/h/b/smith_be.htm

 

Also see the following book for more information: Our Garden of Song, edited by Gene C. Finley, Howard Publishing Company, West Monroe, LA, 1980.

My Only Hope Is You -- John Paul Trimble

 

Who is he? That’s a question we cannot directly answer at the moment, but we do know something by inference about John Paul Trimble. You see, John was making himself a mirror for the One he wanted to highlight when he wrote something addressing Jesus: “My Only Hope Is You”, John said. He also included some other ideas that he associated with the Christ, telling just a little about himself in the process and how he related to this God-man. The Spirit of God (shown as a dove in this 17^th Century Bartolome Murillo masterpiece) might have been in contact with the song’s author, if you pay attention to what words he uses in the poetry. Trimble had much he wanted to bring to Jesus’ attention, issues that he could not attribute to other sources. Who else has the ability to convey so much, just by being himself? That’s John Trimble’s God.

 

John Trimble’s encounter with God was an episode that apparently left him feeling unreserved about what the Holy One meant to him. What was it John said that indicates this? ‘Only’ and ‘all’ are the modifiers he employs to stress just how much he had gained from his contact with the Holy God. Trimble says ‘only’ hope, ‘only’ joy, ‘only’ peace, and ‘all’ that I need… when he lays out his devotion’s depth to this Divine Being. Two of the acquisitions he relished – Joy and Peace – are outgrowths of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22) that he sang about specifically, lending further credence to John’s connection with the Spirit-God. And, John’s encounters with Jesus were not short-lived affairs, but lasted all day, every day ‘from…morning ‘til…night’. What were Trimble’s circumstances when he felt the composing urge? We know not at this point, but by not knowing any details, does that tell us something about this author-composer? If he had wanted, one might guess that some biographic details would have been made available about John Paul Trimble. Since there are none, perhaps he was just a bit shy, or maybe engaged in other activities that he considered most significant. His unpretentious poetry is particularly engaging when paired with the music he chose, so he was pretty effective as a songwriter on this occasion. Was this Trimble’s only song, perhaps? Even if John Trimble was a ‘one-hit wonder’, one suspects that that situation was okay with him; after all, he had the God who provided the ‘only’ and ‘all’ on a 24/7 schedule. Does it get any better than that?

 

John wanted to focus the spotlight on Jesus. So, doing that is no problem for us believers, and we can hopefully meet John someday to ask him to tell us more about what exactly he was thinking as he composed. The name ‘Jesus’ appears over 1,300 times in scripture (1,310 times in the New International Version of the Bible; some others include 1,477 times in the New Living Translation; 1,058 times in the English Standard Version; and 942 times in the King James Version, to name just a few). Would it be enough to give Jesus credit 1,300 times in a lifetime for what He’s done? One could guess that John Trimble might have said ‘that’s not nearly enough!’ So, maybe you and I would need to mix in a lot of non-verbal activity to make up for the deficit. Would that be sufficient? Making it up to Jesus for the hope, joy, peace, and all that I will have in eternity is just too much to fathom. The great thing is that He doesn’t want payment. He just wants me. And you. And everybody else who will come. He’s truly the Only God.        

Break My Heart -- Clint Rhodes

 

He was just a kid. Or was he? That’s two statements that someone might have said about Clint Rhodes in quick succession when discovering what he did as a teenager. He was perhaps as normal and well-adjusted as any other young person, and yet sensitive enough to say “Break My Heart” when he thought about himself and his peers in relation to the God he’d been raised to honor. Perhaps Clint was near Midlothian in northeast Texas (see map here), or perhaps at least somewhere in that state in 1997, but for sure one can say he was near the heart of the One to whom he prayed the day he penned his poem. You think he also might have been in touch with or reading about the king who authored Psalm 51 in the wake of a very great sin? Meet Clint Rhodes, and see what he has to say.

 

I’ll let Clint say it in his own words, regarding what was going on when he took up his pen as a youth:

I wrote it 24 years ago now when I was a Junior in High School. I was preparing to give a message to my youth group about having a soft and contrite heart in relation to our sin rather than a hard heart. I think sometimes God needs to love us with tough love to help us see our sin for what it is so asking him to break our hearts is asking for this love.

 

What teenager have you known who asked for what Clint did in 1997? I certainly didn’t when I was 17 years old! Instead, what often comes from the mouth of a teenager sounds more like ‘why are you so mean?’, ‘my friends get to do this!’, and ‘stop treating me like a baby!’. And, does it really stop when the teenager grows up, or does the rebel just mature physically? You could ask the now-40-something Clint about it if you contacted him today in his role as a minister at the Creekside Church in Midlothian. And, as a father, he could probably tell you about the responses his own children provide to the discipline he undoubtedly has to dispense on occasion. Do you think it would be unusual if Clint said that his kids or any of the church’s members asked, as a matter of course, for their hearts to be broken? So, agreed that it would be somewhat rare for any of us, young or old, to ask to be broken. But Clint knew that repentance is important, and that that begins with submission to a God who loves those He’s made.

 

That ‘tough love’ Clint mentions must have been something he saw was needed in his youth group. What was going on that spurred Clint is probably not that much different than what you might imagine goes on among youth almost anywhere. Perhaps seeing the consequences of bad choices made by those he knew was what helped Clint underscore his message to his friends. And, bible stories add a lot of punch too, particularly those about King David and perhaps the biggest mistake he ever made (2 Sam. 12), and the tough love God had to use on him to soften his heart. Clint’s method was not that different than David’s --write a song, and save it to remind yourself and others that humility is the posture we need before Him.     

 

 

 

 

The song story was acquired via electronic communication with the author on 10/7/2020, and is the only source for the story.

 

Read a few facts about the song’s author at the church where he ministers here: https://creekside-church.com/team/