She lived in small-town late 19th Century America, and evidently had felt, seen, and heard something proclaimed and lived out in a church and a home that reinforced a simple, loving trust in Him. Could it be that Eliza Morgan Sherman had been taught to love Jesus Christ for so long, that by 1880 it was quite natural for her to sing “O, the Precious Love of Jesus” (also known as “Christ Is Precious”)? The very words she penned around her 30th year most likely were those her parents had on their lips, too. Brodhead, Wisconsin (See the Seal of Wisconsin here; Brodhead sits astride the border of Green and Rock counties on the southern Wisconsin-northern Illinois border) and probably the Congregational Church where this family worshipped were small, but the Christian faith values she encountered there were evidently deeply embedded within Eliza. The basic message about God – that He is love (1 John 4:8), and that that character trait of Him is so very valuable – was not lost on this young woman.
Eliza had sensed the love of God in boundless ways, perhaps even with the other two senses not yet mentioned (tasting and smelling), for it is evident in what she wrote that this divine nature was something that encompassed her life. ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8), and ‘taste the love of Jesus’ (v.3 of the song), Eliza coaxed, evidently as she drew on what her ancient ancestor-songwriter David had said about having God’s sweetness on the tongue. Had Eliza also read Psalm 141:2, wherein David loved God – indeed, perhaps enjoyed a mutual sensation with Him – through the aroma of incense that was present as he lifted up a prayer of devotion to Him? Was that analogous to her last three lines in verse 3, where Eliza indicates there’s a prayer offered to the One above, upon whom ‘burdens’ are laid, because He is ‘trust(ed) with…grief and sorrow’, and someone toward whom a ‘joyful song’ (is borne) ‘away’, like incense? She vocalizes the word love three times, once for each of her three stanzas, but the poetic offshoots of love include many other words to describe its breadth – like precious, sweeter, joyous, and melody (v.1); and fullness, wondrous, glory, heavenly home (v.2). All of these are traced to Christ – employed 12 times in her poetry -- the name for the Anointed One of God to whom she points. Eliza managed to say quite a lot about this God of love with just a handful of words.
What do you suppose Eliza did with all of that love that she experienced in Brodhead? Without specific evidence to confirm how Eliza Sherman’s life played out day-to-day, including what particular episode might have spurred her poetry about this love of Jesus, we could surmise that what took place there stuck with her – and that she stuck with Brodhead in reply. The little available information about her, in addition to the verses of some 80 songs that she wrote, indicate her father (James) was a deacon in a Congregational Church for half-a-century, and that her mother was Abigail Morgan. These parents gave Eliza her mother’s maiden name and her father’s family’s name, so could they have wanted her to always know about her roots? Eliza Morgan Sherman remembered, and must have gleaned something else from her upbringing in Brodhead that she found very attractive, for she apparently lived almost all of her life – some 78.5 years – in Brodhead, or near there. Fifty years as a deacon’s daughter is a pretty long stretch. A small church and community are where Eliza evidently experienced love firsthand. Have you got a magnet with that kind of staying power?
See few scant details of the authoress here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/h/e/r/sherman_em.htm
Find all three verses and the song’s refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/p/r/e/oprelove.htm
Also see here for the song’s lyrics: O, the Precious Love of Jesus | Hymnary.org
See here for information about the authoress’s birthplace: Brodhead, Wisconsin - Wikipedia
See information on the seal of Wisconsin here: File:Coat of arms of Wisconsin.svg - Wikimedia Commons … This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1929, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal.
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