Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone? -- Thomas Shepherd and others

 

A 17^th Century English preacher was apparently mulling over a sermon, and was also at odds with the exercise of his faith. This was not an isolated mental and emotional state, even across many decades and centuries, as subsequent authors took up Thomas Shepherd’s original verse in 1693 that asks “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?”, and added to it. George Allen and Henry Beecher were Shepherd’s successors 150 years after the first verse was penned, completing the five-verse collaborative effort by the mid-1800s. All three shared a connection to the God they chose to serve, through the music and poetry that lives on. It’s a lesson for those of us who pick up an old tune or poem today. Get in touch with that God-given musical-spiritual glue that bonds people several centuries apart today.     

 

The 28-year old Thomas Shepherd was an Anglican minister in 1693, who was thinking over a sermon about the cross his Christ bore at Calvary, and about how he might best serve Him for the remainder of his life. He apparently placed himself in the great apostle Peter’s sandals at first, the man who chose to be crucified upside down because he considered himself unworthy to be executed in exactly the same position as Jesus; his original thought was later changed to reflect the question regarding Jesus’ cross. Thomas apparently wanted fellowship with this Jesus in not just a casual way – how could he suffer for him, or in other words, what was his cross? Was his current assignment a sufficient way to mimic the God who suffered and was executed? Was the magnificent church building and the prominent position he held as priest in a congregation at Buckinghamshire (northwest of London) really sacrificial? It’s not a stretch to infer that the following year’s decision that Thomas made was part of his cross, when he left the Church of England and became an independent minister. He eventually found himself ministering to believers in a barn, prior to a chapel being built for this body of Christian believers at Bocking (east of London, near the coast), where he remained for the rest of his life (nearly 40 years).

 

Over a century later, Shepherd’s one-verse poem-question had travelled across the Atlantic Ocean and found its way into the hands of George Allen, a professor of music at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1844. Just over a decade later, a pastor named Henry Ward Beecher also picked up Shepherd’s poem in Brooklyn, New York in 1855. Both Allen and Beecher added verses to underscore the Christian’s response to the cross at life’s end; any burden bore during life was worth what His cross bought. We know not the circumstances that spurred Allen and Beecher to add verses about this symbol of sacrifice, and whether in fact either of them knew of Shepherd’s ministerial path across the ocean. The crown that these two poetic successors expected to receive in His presence was enough. It’s the same crown exchanged for a cross-bearing life to a 17^th Century Englishman and to these 19^th Century Americans. You think it’s the same one in the 21^st Century? Same God, same cross, same crown, I’m betting.   

 

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; and Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990.

 

Also see this link, showing all five original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/u/s/t/mustjesu.htm

 

Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/h/e/p/shepherd_t.htm 

I Am a Sheep -- Dennis Jernigan

He’d begun a new life five years previously, but was still at the beginning of his music ministry life. The 29-year Dennis Jernigan was sorting through a past that still brought back memories, and as he pondered his next steps while living in Oklahoma, “I Am a Sheep” flowed from his spirit in 1988. It was a sense of his relationship to the Creator-Protector that he still remembered over two decades later, as he testified in a video to help his own children who were apparently heartbroken over something. That microcosm of Dennis’ life tells us something – incidents and feelings that are decades old can still be used by Him to salve hurts. Is that part of why we so often have difficult experiences?

Dennis Jernigan had plenty of experiences to draw upon, even as a 29-year old, which you can read from his own pen at his website (see below). His past homosexuality is something he shares openly, as he seeks to help others see how he was transformed—or rather, WHO transformed him. By 1988, he and his wife Melinda had been married five years and had children, so all his past was forgotten and buried, right? No way, Dennis would say. In fact, in mid-1988 he felt the great need to confess all of his life to the church where he was ministering. His compulsion to do so was probably reflected in what we can see in “I Am a Sheep”, in that he felt He was with him to cover his guilt and permit him to share what he had not shared before. Dennis’ use of words like ‘watching’, ‘guarding’, ‘shelter’, ‘rescue’, and ‘victory’ indicate how he felt at the time, though still reminded of his past. A great protection was available to him. The Protector in fact had been with him even during his ‘dark’ years, Dennis will tell you. Jernigan also writes that there were new vistas he gained after he opened up about his life in July 1988. His example coaxed others to also expose the dark areas of their lives. The next year he also learned that God had begun this great work on him while he was still a child, as his grandmother watched and prayed over him. So, it was with a deep sense of personal gratitude and reflection across decades of his life when Dennis first sang ‘He is my shepherd’, learning of the various ways this relationship had been  manifested in his experience, and the new ways it was developing too.

He shepherds me, not just to shield me from my past, but to use that to transform and reenergize my existence today. You can hear this in Dennis’ words – the sheltering, guarding scope of God’s role leads to ‘victory’ in the culmination of “I Am a Sheep”.  The experience of Dennis Jernigan in 1988 tells me that he found his shepherd is not only a protector, but also a propeller.  He knew that God had watched over him, but this 29-year old composer also felt He was urging him to acknowledge his experiences openly. He had more in His plans for Dennis and those He could touch. In 2010, Dennis still knew that, as he drew upon the song’s message for his own children’s struggle. Do you think Dennis and Melinda Jernigan knew how to guard and help their kids in 2010? They had a pretty good idea, don’t you think?

 Some biographical information on Dennis Jernigan:

websites:

What Dennis says about this song in a U-Tube video in 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP7BxLcJRSQ

 http://www.dennisjernigan.com/djtestimony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Jernigan

And, see this book:  Giant Killers: Crushing Strongholds , Securing Freedom in Your Life, by Dennis Jernigan. WaterBrook Press, 2005.

Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down -- Dave Doherty

What’s it like to be in exile? That question and its answer may be the impetus and the foundation for the worship song “Come, Let Us Worship and Bow Down” that Dave Doherty wrote in 1980. The 20^th Century version of this 2,500-year old tune may have also had at least three ministers’ (or priests’) fingerprints on it, a span that shows its therapy has remained potent for perhaps millions or even billions of people searching for purpose and reconnection with Him. That’s enough to make me interested in seeing what this treatment, first discovered over two millennia ago advises – how about you? It might be helpful to imagine yourself in the Temple (perhaps like the one in the picture), in a moment when a Levite first discovered and communicated this truth. What was that Levite priest thinking?

Dave Doherty was feeling low and distant from Him one day in 1980 on the New Jersey turnpike. His spiritual high of working during the previous decade in a growing ministry in a church, and with three musical compatriots, had departed, and he was stuck making ends meet. Driving a delivery truck, he clung to his tenuous faith by listening to a radio minister named Clinton White that day. Something White said must have struck a nerve in Doherty, and the next thing he knew he was weeping on the side of the road, a cathartic experience he admits. Doherty says that day he learned to be in the moment with God, to trust Him as protector and guide. A few days later, he composed – or, more accurately, rediscovered -- the song “Come, Let Us Worship and Bow Down”, a reiteration of two verses of the 95^th Psalm (verses 6-7). What was it Clinton White had said over the radio that touched Doherty? Perhaps it was something that Psalm 95:6-7 summed up for him, something that gave him the key to unlocking the door to the spiritual prison he’d been in.  

Had it been like prison, or was it in fact more like exile for Doherty? The anonymous individual, most likely a Levitical priest who composed Psalm 95, knew what exile was like. He and others like him had returned to the Promised Land sometime in the 5^th Century before Christ (400-500 B.C.), after several generations of banishment in Persia. It would be an understatement to say that the Jews felt something pretty special as they adored freely the true God after such a long hiatus, reconnecting their deep beliefs with open worship. These Jews must have gone through lots of negative emotions before the homecoming high, perhaps similar to what was impacting the guy on a New Jersey freeway some 2,500 years later. Disappointment, disillusionment, and distance…what believer hasn’t felt those emotions at times? Maybe Clinton White had too, and had returned. There’s reassurance, knowing that I’m not permanently losing my faith, when I walk in the wrong direction temporarily. Kneel and acknowledge that He’s the solution for my anxieties – that’s what Dave Doherty discovered. His Psalm 95 song tells me he had a remarkable moment with Him, in a most holy, special place, even if it was a freeway. Maybe it’s time to revisit the Temple.

The source for Dave Doherty’s song story is the book “Celebrate Jesus: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003.

The Lord My Shepherd Is – Isaac Watts

Let’s play a little game, sorta like ‘Name That Tune’, except this is called ‘Name That Speaker’, OK? Try this one --- ‘Hmmm, named must your fear be, before banish it you can.’ Or how about this one ‘..do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your father's fate you will.’ That’s right, it’s Yoda – the little green creature of Star Wars, the master Jedi instructor! If you ever noticed, Yoda’s wisdom is often imparted with the verb or a portion of the verb of his sentence in last place, a rather peculiar trait, at least in the English language. Now, Isaac Watts lived some three centuries before the Star Wars genre, but one might ask if he was visited by Yoda, since he recast a familiar hymn with the verb in the last place. “The Lord My Shepherd Is” might appear to be a basic rephrase of the hymn “The Lord Is My Shepherd” written about 70 years before Watts tried his own hand at King David’s 23rd Psalm words. What was Watts up to when he moved the verb?

“The Lord My Shepherd Is” is an example of the extra-Biblical poetry that the 35-year old Watts, the “father of English hymnody”, was helping promote in 1719. This practice was first introduced by John Calvin in the 16th Century, a method which generally put forth alternate words to Psalm verses so that congregations could use more familiar words. “The Lord My Shepherd Is” was obviously adapted from David’s 23rd Psalm, which was recapitulated in the Scottish Psalter hymn that Francis Rous composed for us in 1650. While we don’t know exactly why Watts moved the verb (maybe he was just trying to emphasize his composition’s divergence from the original?) if you look closely, Watts made some interesting additions to the original Davidic/Rous composition. The changes show us what his state of mind might have been, as follows: Verse 1: Watts adds that ‘I am His’ (on top of ‘He is mine’) -- so one senses that he was really in touch with a reciprocal relationship with God. Verse 2: Watts proposes that the water is more than merely gentle…it imputes full salvation to the believer. Verse 3: He writes ‘If e’er I go astray…’, is this a confession of some sin by Watts? Then, there are three additional verses (4,5, and 6) that we often don’t see that correspond to the same ones in the Psalm (see the link below, which also provides some detail on three different tunes associated with the song). Verse 4: Watts avoids ‘rod’ and ‘staff’, in order to be more direct in noting God’s aid. Verse 5: Watts exults in the joy that his overflowing cup provides. Verse 6: Watts injects a call to praise, a pledge he offers for the temporal and eternal blessings from the Lord.

Watts felt more, obviously, than he thought David had communicated for him. By 1719, the theologian-, preacher-, and logician-Watts was an accomplished communicator. His earthly father was a Nonconformist, twice jailed for his beliefs. In his own nonconformist way, Watts’ song divulges an effort to renew David’s psalm, giving his fellow believers fresh thoughts about the Shepherd and themselves, something that wasn’t rote scripture. Watts’ wisdom was thus widely respected…some might even say its repute was ‘Yoda-like’ (a la the fictional character), although Watts preceded Yoda historically. And, both Watts and Yoda encourage those who would listen to battle evil by drawing upon a higher power. A verb-last speaking style, and a call toward a higher authority – not a bad combination, as promoted by two different voices. Maybe they’re not all that different. May the Shepherd-force be with you.

See this link for song audio, including an alternate tune and additional words beyond what you may know: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/o/r/lordmysi.htm

Biographies of the composer are found here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/a/t/watts_i.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Watts

The Lord’s My Shepherd – King David, and Francis Rous

Was David enjoying a bucolic evening in the park, watching a sunset maybe, when he wrote the 23rd psalm? Most of the verses make one think it must have been a peaceful episode. Green pastures, a banquet table, God’s comfort, and a place in His home, all spelled out for the worshipper in this psalm-song “The Lord’s My Shepherd”. Sounds pretty inviting, doesn’t it?

One verse about a shadowy, dangerous area tells us that there was trouble brewing - - even death. But even there, the Lord Shepherd is the relief and safety valve. But, it was probably David’s experience that sparked the way this song is typically used today, a time when trouble was evident, and God was needed. David was running for his life, in mortal danger. Commentators on Psalm 23 say that he wrote it while in the wilderness of Judea, after his son Absalom seized the kingdom. The verses in 2 Samuel (15:14, 30; and 16:13) give us a glimpse of what it’s like on the run. David was tired, desperate, and feeling depressed. The way the 23rd psalm is used today, one might think that David penned it for use at a funeral -- maybe his own that he saw on the near horizon? But in the desert where we think he wrote this, it seems as if David wasn’t ready to cash it all in. The other verses Samuel records show that David was worried, sure, but also practical and plucky, with a plan and loyal followers around him to execute his counterattack. The psalm tells us David’s plan also included some internal strategy, a divine one. God. David drew on the power he knew his intimate Friend promised, a reassurance that maybe even his earthly comrades could not fathom completely. David, the man after God’s heart, shows a fidelity to the Lord, his Shepherd, in this praise. David had been in lots of scrapes in his life, so he was used to feeling God’s protection even when his surroundings called for pessimism. That’s a feeling I wish I could put in a bottle, to use when I need it most.

The “Lord’s My Shepherd”, though written by the composer-king some 3,000 years ago, has been sung as we know it today only in the last 350 years, since 1650. Francis Rous put together the Scottish Psalter for the church in Britain in the 17th Century, an effort that he felt would make all 150 Psalms, as sung by worshippers, more true to the actual Bible text. Consequently, “The Lord’s My Shepherd” allows us to echo David’s words with precision, but the song also engenders feelings, engaging the other side of me – I think with my mind, but I also sense with my spirit and emotions. The song Rous has constructed for us is that feeling of reassurance in a bottle that I can open and consume when I feel most troubled. That’s what I need at a loved one’s funeral. The song’s history now tells me that it’s more than a dirge, though. It’s for the hopeful, too, the forward-looking. No longer do I sigh and feel an unmet longing for the camaraderie that David and God shared. The words and music of the song King David and Francis Rous penned for me are a balm for all kinds of hurt. I might feel like I’m running in the Judean wilderness, but there is a way through it when my Shepherd is near.

One source for information about the song story “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. Also see the book “Psalms – Folk Songs of Faith", by Ray C. Stedman (copyright 2006 by Elaine Stedman), edited by James D. Denney, Discovery House Publishers, PO Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 49501.