Lord, I'm Coming Home -- William J. Kirkpatrick

 

Did ever a song written have such an immediate personal impact on the singer? We could say that its author, 54-year-old William James Kirkpatrick, certainly hoped that “Lord, I’m Coming Home” would do, the first time it was sung, what other methods had not yet accomplished. And, that effect would be convincing the young fellow who helped Kirkpatrick premier the song to be one of those answering the song’s call. The scene was a camp meeting outside of Philadelphia (in Lancaster County) in 1892. The song’s construction had not arrived in William Kirkpatrick’s head by random chance. He’d been burdened, and found the words he penned were just what he’d been seeking, and hoped the singer of the words would react the same way. He wasn’t disappointed.

 

William Kirkpatrick was a music veteran in the early 1890s in the Philadelphia area. This was where he’d studied music and had been a minister for over three decades by the time he felt a need to compose something special for one person. Perhaps he’d never encountered such a person previously, and that was what bothered him during the days-long assembly in the rural area known as Rawlinsville. The soloist who sang for the crowd each evening tended to leave directly after his vocal performance was finished, and that’s apparently what got underneath William’s skin. The singer had a wonderful voice, but William sensed that no commitment to the God for whom he sang lay beneath this physical gift. And so, William prayed for a solution, which arrived in the poem and accompanying music for one evening’s song, one which William hoped would pierce the shell of this fellow who would sing it for the first time. One would imagine that William, because of his role as the musical director at the assembly, had probably talked with and perhaps even recruited this young man to sing nightly at the gatherings. Was there a void or a yearning in this person’s spirit, because why else would such a person agree to sing at a church gathering? And yet, some reluctance to bind himself to God and a Christian family was still evident in the man’s life. After multiple occasions in which the singer left the assembly before hearing a speaker’s message, William prayed for days for this man, that something could move him to accept God. Was it an accident that William’s gift was music, and that after praying, the answer he found was a song that he crafted one morning for use that same evening? Since it was designed for this one singer, William must have somehow discovered or suspected that the man had ‘wandered’ (v.1) for some time. In fact, had this man hinted that he wanted to be able to say he was ’coming home’, since this is repeated so often (30 times) throughout the song? Was this the specific impulse that ultimately drew him to God? Who doesn’t want to be home?

 

Other facets of William’s song suggest additional motivations may have been present in the singer’s life. Was his own ‘sin’ (vv. 1, 3) gnawing at him, as he pondered from a distance God’s ‘love’ (v.3); his need to ‘repent’ (v.2) and receive ‘His cleansing blood’ (v.6); and that he no longer needed to be ‘sick’ and ‘sore’ (v.4)? William must have hit all of these notes and more in his song, because the man reportedly joined those who responded to the message and became a believer that same night. Look inside, William suggested, and not just to this one man. All the things he penned were probably true about himself at one point. And, none of William’s words are unique to just one individual. Besides ‘home’, who doesn’t need ‘strength’ (v.4) and ‘hope’ (vv.4,5)? Only one place to find it all; that’s where William Kirkpatrick was pointing. Is that place in your sights yet?   

 

 

The song story is found in the following books: Stories Behind Popular Songs and Hymns, by Lindsay Terry, Baker Book House Company, 1992; and The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.

 

See about the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/k/i/r/k/kirkpatrick_wj.htm

 

See six verses and the refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/c/o/m/lcomingh.htm

Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah - William J. Kirkpatrick

Familiarity is a useful quality, particularly when a song’s universal recognition permits a large crowd to rejoice as one, with a common energy and spirit. I think that that recurring experience is what I have come to cherish the most about my own church experience, as I reflect on the last 20+ years…remembering an almost angelic (?) lifting of song toward the heavens by the gathered…maybe even shaking the rafters! However, as I think about my latest ‘song scoop’, the tune’s pedigree almost defies the purpose of this blog. How can someone like me, a mere amateur music historian, discover something novel about a song like “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”? The song’s composer, William J. Kirkpatrick, is also a well-known figure, so my sleuthing skills are really challenged. If you, the reader-worshipper don’t mind, however, let’s re-dig the well a bit here, and re-appreciate what Kirkpatrick has given us.


William J. Kirkpatrick lived in 19th and early 20th Century Pennsylvania, and wrote “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah” in 1893 after spending several decades as a musician in various capacities. He began to consider a career in music in the 1850s, and apparently learned to play the violin and cello, in addition to using his voice and his hand at composing. All these skills he used as part of the Wharton Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia (you can read Kirkpatrick’s biography on the cyberhymnal site: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/k/i/r/kirkpatrick_wj.htm). Kirkpatrick eventually published scores of hymns while taking part in choirs, singing societies, and special church programs, totally immersing himself in music. He was most certainly a worship minister before the term became fashionable!

Kirkpatrick’s diverse abilities shine through not only in the volume of his life’s accomplishments, but in the song we appreciate so much today, 116 years after it was written. We do not know the specific background to the song’s inspiration, but its message is not a mystery. God was magnificent to Kirkpatrick on many levels, as his words communicate in three verses. Kirkpatrick had already lived 55 years, and his composition exhibits a mature faith, appreciative of the blessing God represents not only to believers but also to us as this planet’s inhabitants. His words show he loved God for the variety of ways that we can relate to Him. Perhaps you’ve noticed this already, but allow me to conclude this scoop this way: Verse 1 reminds us that the Holy One is a celestial, heavenly king; Verse 2 tells us that God can unleash in His creation an awesome, terrifying power; Verse 3 makes us reflect upon the Lord’s creative, beautiful, life-giving nature. As I sing now, and let the words of Kirkpatrick’s words put to music flood my senses, I also reawaken my respect and fidelity to Jehovah.