How Sweet the Name of Jesus -- John Newton

Did John Newton know that his composition would mean so much to himself twenty or thirty years later? What will I do that will stick with me two or three decades into the future? These are questions that Newton’s hymn “How Sweet the Name of Jesus”, which he wrote in 1779, might make a believer ask, if you put yourself in his shoes. Since he recalled this hymn at a point near his own life’s end early in the 19^th Century, it might be assumed that this work, among all the many that he composed, was special in some way to John Newton. Let’s see what can be found.

He was 54 years old when he apparently wrote “How Sweet the Name of Jesus” in 1779, a time of change and accomplishment in his life. Newton’s life story as a converted slave-trader is well-known. By the time he was 35, in 1755, Newton wanted to give his life completely to ministry, an objective he fulfilled over the next 47 years of life. Along the way he wrote hymns, including many apparently during his first 16 years in ministry at Olney in Buckinghamshire in south-central England. With his hymnist collaborator, William Cowper, they published the Olney Hymnal in 1779, at least nominally the year of both “How Sweet the Name of Jesus” and Newton’s most well-known “Amazing Grace”. Now, did Newton actually write both hymns the same year, or does the year 1779 merely reflect their common publishing date? Probably the latter, right? 1779 was also the year that Newton took on a new job to minister in London, where he spent the remainder of his professional life. However, Olney must have been considered home by Newton, for that is where his remains are buried.

Olney stuck with Newton over the last 20-30 years of his life, despite his move to London, and so too must have the words to “How Sweet the Name of Jesus”.  The story is told that one of Newton’s last messages from the pulpit in 1805 ended with his shout that “Jesus Christ is precious”, and that the assembled worshippers sang this hymn at his request. We can guess its words must have conveyed something Newton thought was important for people to hear in his 80^th year. He evidently hadn’t forgotten his transgressions, judging from his poem’s words, but Newton knew how to find his way out of moral prison. And, maybe he saw in the faces of his hearers some of the guilt they still carried with them, and that they needed this name – this escape - too. Five of the hymn’s seven verses (see the link below) extol the value of His name over the broad sweep of one’s life. It’s more than a pleasant sound. It reminds me of His forgiveness, sustaining power, protection, and finally the resurrection that awaits, despite my mistakes. In short, from spiritual cradle to the grave and to rebirth, I have this name. ‘Jesus’ is a key to unlock all that might bind me in this reality…including a slave-trading reputation, or any other horror I could imagine. Grab that key and get yourself free!   

Information on the song was obtained from the books  “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. 

Also see the following websites for information on Newton and the seven verses of the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/s/w/hsweetnj.htm

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

Background on Olney, where Newton is buried:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olney,_Buckinghamshire

I Stand Amazed – Charles Gabriel

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

An amazing person, who wrote that he was in fact a quite ordinary, feeble being compared to the incomparable God. That’s how one could describe Charles Gabriel in the early 1900s when he composed “I Stand Amazed”. But, like the apostles who had been with the Christ, Gabriel must have encountered Jesus (in a figurative sense), motivating his prolific life and this spellbound reflection that he put to words. Examine Gabriel’s life, and see if his prodigious nature was superhuman.

Charles Hutchinson Gabriel was an Iowa farm boy, who had little formal educational background that hinted he would become a musical master. Like others in mid-19th Century rural America, one can imagine that Gabriel may have attended one-room schools for his general education. His musical upbringing in the family home, where his father guided singing schools, undoubtedly gave the young Charles an advantage that his formal education had left vacant. With the family’s reed organ, Gabriel taught himself the basics, and by his mid-teens he actually was teaching others, and reportedly composing for his local church. Through the rest of his life he may have composed between 7,000 and 8,000 songs, becoming known as the ‘king of gospel music’ while composing for well-known names like Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver. Was he a ‘prodigy’, a savant perhaps like Mozart? Someone who heard music in his head, and composed as easily as the rest of us breathe? Astonishing, amazing – where did it come from? Perhaps while in the womb he heard his own father singing and teaching. With this ability, maybe Gabriel himself wondered and marveled at this God-given talent.

The words of the gospel hymn “I Stand Amazed” were written in 1905 when Gabriel was 49 years old, after more than three decades into his life’s work in music. The hymn’s words indicate he was not self-absorbed, as some with his talent over such a long stretch of time might have been. Instead, Gabriel focused his attention on the One who had gifted him musically. Gabriel’s composition shows he saw his own faults (a sinner, condemned, unclean – verse 1), but that’s not where he dwelt. Gabriel evidently had emerged from his own struggles – including his father’s death when Charles was still a teenager, and his failed first marriage - to recognize the Lord’s work in his life. Look at Him, hold Him in awe, and open your mouth in joyous response as you look forward to a face-to-face encounter. That sums up Gabriel’s song-message. It’s not hard to find something amazing about Him – you just have to look.


Information on the song was obtained from “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. Also, see the following websites for information:


More biographic information on composer:

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/g/a/b/gabriel_ch.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Gabriel

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/FAMOUSIOWANS/501300335

Alleluia Alleluia Hearts to Heaven -- Christopher Wordsworth

It was Easter that Christopher Wordsworth was considering when he wrote one of his two hymns for that holiday occasion, “Alleluia, Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven” in 1862. He was an educated, multitalented man, with his heart bent toward Him in his life of scholarship and poetry that is thoroughly evident in this great hymn. His life’s purpose and ability merge in the composition, a compelling statement that one feels Wordsworth must have felt from deep inside. It was something he was saying after many years of development as a believer and a scholar. It was the most basic - and powerful - message one might hear.



Wordsworth’s London upbringing in a theologically and academically gifted family played no small part in his development. One might say that the publication of his first collection of hymns in The Holy Year, otherwise known as Hymns for Sundays and Holy Days Throughout the Year, and for Other Occasions, in 1862 (his 55th year) was a window on his family’s life. The poetry with which he was gifted was also shared by his famous poet-uncle William Wordsworth; Christopher won the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for poetry in 1827 and 1828. One wonders if Uncle William had previewed and edited his nephew’s prose. The hymnist was also a writer of topography and archaeology, including a notable work in epigraphy (study of ancient inscriptions). His father, also Christopher, was a doctor of theology, and his brothers, John and Charles, were scholars in their own right. Several of his own children and a son-in-law likewise were accomplished scholars or professional educators. So, the songs he wrote must have been the product of his erudite environment, too, and undoubtedly approved by those closest to him. Even the athletic ability he and his brother Charles possessed may have contributed to the agile words he composed. Indeed, the faith that shines forth in “Alleluia, Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven” shows a healthy mind and body were Wordsworth’s.



Wordsworth believed, like many hymnists of that era, as well as those of today, that compositions should teach truth. Oh sure, Easter is an immutable fact, the most important of all scripture, someone says, but aren’t there other truths? Wordsworth and his family certainly knew and discussed others. Nevertheless, the resurrection’s reality hadn’t dimmed for Wordsworth. His poem’s five verses restate Christ’s seminal moment in various forms, telling us that its author never grew tired of his faith’s foundation. My favorite verse is the one that translates His risen state to me, describing me as harvested grain. I hope I’m continuing to grow and ripen as the tall stalk, which Wordsworth writes is fed by Christ’s light. That’s great imagery, meant to touch my emotional center. God, too, is a poet – just look at Christ’s words. And, so I’m reminded by the composer that He’s trying to reach my soul – my emotional hub. He wants to draw me to the universe’s emotional-spiritual axis. So that’s what His resurrection is for.


Information on the composer was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and “A Treasury of Hymn Stories (Brief Biographies of 120 Hymnwriters with Their Best Hymns)”, by Amos R. Wells, Baker Book House, 1945.


Also see the following websites for a brief biography of the composer and some information on the hymn, which has five verses (according to two of the sources):

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/o/r/wordsworth_c.htm



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



http://www.hymnary.org/text/alleluia_alleluia_hearts_to_heaven_and_v

Heavenly Father, We Appreciate You – Anonymous

Why do I need God in three forms? Otherwise put, why the Trinity? Isn’t it confusing relating to one Divine Being, not to mention three? There’s many art masterpieces that depict the Trinity, most often with the Spirit as a dove, while in contrast the Father and Son appear human-like, rather than God-like. (I wish I could write something stunning to match one of these masterpieces, like the one shown here by Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo, painted circa. 1665-1670). Well, maybe the writer of the song “Heavenly Father, We Appreciate You” had figured out the answer, or perhaps had struggled through this conundrum like me in order to come to some understanding of Him. The song’s writer is in fact not known, so in this anonymity, each of us is free to write his or her own song story here. Just for ease of discussion, let’s pretend that all of us are the writers of this song’s words, and we’ll call ourselves collectively the anonymous writer ‘Anon’ (short for Anonymous).

Anon must have gone through various phases of relationship with Him, based on the three verses he has us sing. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The Father, the One to whom I prostrate myself -- a ‘bowing down’, as I conclude the opening verse. I think that Anon must have felt particularly humbled because of his own most recent experience in sin (whatever it was), and the utter ignominy he felt that contact with the Most Holy One inspired. I might feel this way, acutely, only occasionally. But, its remnants stick with me, and I need genuine submission and the resulting freedom from guilt for a healthy faith. The Son causes Anon to marvel. He came to become less than God, somehow – an amazing thing. And, He must have known I’d be incapable of recovery from contact with the Father, if the shame were not excised from my consciousness somehow. In a word, He gave Anon and the rest of us a MIRACLE, a way out of jail for every wrong thought, deed, or word. Anon, like me, must have had plenty of those in his debt column when he wrote this song. The Spirit is here to keep me company, but not just for friendship, but advice too. Anon probably felt lonely at times, and empty about his life’s purpose. With his companion, the vacuum disappeared, at least when he maintained contact.


Sound familiar? There’s many facets to any relationship, which may explain why He’s three persons for me to know and appreciate. Appreciate? ‘Is that too tame?’, someone complains. Maybe, if you’re trying to thank Him or say you love Him. But, appreciation can also mean (according to Websters’) that I value something justly, that He gets from me what He really deserves. Something of true value also appreciates over time; it gets better and better. That’s God, when I keep messing up and He refuses to discard me or demote me when I come running home. His Son’s blood keeps on washing…keeps on amazing me with its endless cleansing power. The Counselor-Comforter-Friend stays with me, but refuses to overpower me, even when I douse Him. He knows me, even better than I know myself. Still think of yourself as ‘Anon’? I bet God doesn’t call you that.

Come Christians Join to Sing -- Christian Henry Bateman

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. (Psalm 33:3)

Children become adults, but all adults are still children. Perhaps that’s the best way to sum up the hymn “Come, Christians, Join to Sing” written by Christian Henry Bateman in the 19th Century, which was first published in 1843. And, with his own adaptation of Bateman’s hymn, Randy Gill in 2003 echoed Bateman’s effort with “Come Worship Christ the King”. One might say that Gill’s composition is the offspring -- the child -- of Bateman’s original hymn. Let’s travel back to Bateman’s era, and see what he was doing, thinking, and saying with his hymn that we sing today with renewed vigor. The year was 1843, and Bateman had taken an assignment with a Congregational church in Edinburgh, Scotland. What else was going on?

Christian Bateman’s hymn was originally pitched toward children: “Come, Children, Join to Sing” was included in the collected works that he edited and entitled Sacred Melodies for Sabbath Schools and Families. This collection was also known as the The Children’s Hymnal and Christian Year, and another alternate title indicates it contained 200 songs. The song’s straight, uncomplicated melodic rhythm is easily grasped, allowing me, the worshipper, to focus on its simple theme. Christ is my forever Lord, and I can rejoice, with abandon, in that basic truth. Nothing too difficult to communicate there, but it’s so often far removed from the minds of adults distracted by daily life. Not so for kids, perhaps. As a kid, I didn’t think about work, paying bills, traffic headaches, or other such intrusions. I thought about play, things that I wanted to enjoy – softball games, band practice, watching cats frolic. Perhaps Bateman wanted to tap into that well of joy that kids so easily gravitate toward, reminding us what joy we adults have, even as life threatens to drag us down. Whoever changed the original title from ‘Children’ to ‘Christians’ must have thought we adults need this joyful song as much, or even more than kids.

Randy Gill changed a few words and a few notes in 2003 with his composition. The child still celebrates inside me as I sing, but Gill helps me capture in the music a new energy with an offbeat syncopation, versus the straightforward beat that Bateman originally used. ‘It’s jazz’, my spirit exults. It’s a head-bobbing, jumpy celebration – it’s a party! – that I cannot ignore, if I want to sing in the spirit. Perhaps Randy Gill didn’t realize it, but the joyful spirit of the song he helped further may have originated in the faith background of the hymn’s composer. Although Christian Henry Bateman ministered in several Congregational churches in England and Scotland as an Anglican, he actually studied as part of the Moravian Church (one of many Protestant offshoots, initiated by Jan Hus in 14th Century Bohemia and Moravia [present-day Czech Republic]) early in his life. Moravians’ basic tenets are said to include happiness. Bateman wouldn’t have recognized the jazz (a 20th Century invention) that Randy Gill employs to underscore the message in the hymn, but he would have appreciated its compelling nature. Worshipping Him makes one happy. Now who -- children and adults, alike -- wouldn’t want that!

Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

More biographic information on composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/a/t/bateman_ch.htm

See also the following site, for background on Moravians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church

Love Divine -- Charles Wesley

Here’s a tough question: What could one say about a single composition that would be unique among the more than 6,000 hymns written by Charles Wesley? What was Wesley saying or feeling when he wrote “Love Divine” in 1747? Answer: Love, perfection-style, to put it briefly. That much is obvious from the hymn’s title and the words this great hymnist penned, including the words ‘pure’ or ‘perfect’ (four times) that Wesley uses to characterize His affection for me. What else was happening in Wesley’s heart and mind as he wrote? Wesley was in his 40th year when he composed “Love Divine”, making one wonder what episodes in the life of the composer might have affected him by this time.

Commentators have speculated that Wesley’s hymn words are in fact a reworking of a secular song “Fairest Isle” that is sung by the goddess Venus in the play King Arthur by John Dryden. Also, some of Wesley’s words may have been based on Joseph Addison’s “Hymn of Gratitude to the Deity”. OK, that doesn’t diminish Wesley’s effort. He just shows that he was aware of his surroundings, and appreciated other artists of his day and their efforts. We may gather that Wesley probably attended plays, therefore, and listened to other composers’ music, borrowing what his contemporaries had said on the ‘Love’ subject, and astutely adapting for his audience what would have been familiar words they might have heard elsewhere already. Clever, huh? Much more could be said about the hymn’s genesis, but you may read all about it at one of the links below (a Wikipedia entry on this hymn).

A personal evolution in Wesley’s life, two years after “Love Divine’s” publication in Hymns for Those that Seek and Have Redemption (1747), also might suggest the song’s subject was especially personal for him. Wesley was married in April 1749 (to Sarah [Sally] Gwynne), a reportedly happy union that endured throughout Wesley’s remaining life; so, assuming his relationship with Sally developed and culminated in marriage over a period of several months or perhaps a few years, was his own experience with love tuning his heart and mind for this great work?

Try this exercise, one that really brought home how my imperfect attempts (and resulting confirmed bachelorhood, at least as of April 2011) at love contrast with God’s. I pondered how many names I could remember of the opposite gender that I have tried to ‘love’ (tried to, or at least thought about dating, OK?) in the last 30+ years. It was more than I thought it would be when I first began. And, with some alarm, some of the names I discovered I could not even recall – not even a first name, ouch! Wesley probably had no problem remembering Sally’s name, right? But, like me, he may have had other failed ‘love’ attempts whose names he couldn’t recollect…or probably wisely chose not to mention to Sally! What of God’s love, the kind that knows every hair on everyone’s head, not to mention names? And, also the kind that knows the heartache of rejection. God knows all, and has felt from one extreme to another on the love spectrum, too. Think He might be the one to talk to if I feel a little pouty over my ‘love’ deficit here?

Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

More biographic information on composer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley

http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwesley.html

Link to all four verses that the composer originally wrote: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/d/ldalexcl.htm

A history and background of the song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Divine,_All_Loves_Excelling

In Heavenly Love Abiding -- Anna L. Waring

She was 27 when she wrote “In Heavenly Love Abiding” in 1850, and she must have felt her life had been somewhat bumpy already, if her writing was a snapshot of her autobiography. But, she found a therapy. It was her writing, one might surmise, that was an extension of her meditation upon the blessing of having God. Maybe it was her best way to communicate, since she was reportedly shy, the owner of a placid personality. Her introspection offers you and me the chance to relate to Him personally, even as we sing this song among many others.

Anna Laetitia Waring was something of a prodigy and writer-in-waiting, probably from the moment she was conceived in Wales in 1823. Her father Elijah and an uncle Samuel were writers, who no doubt influenced Anna from a young age. Her sharp mind lent her the ability to grasp Hebrew as a youngster, so that she could read daily the Old Testament in its original language. You think maybe she picked up something about God consequently, in the same way that the people of Israel learned of Him? She had evidently seriously examined her faith, not blindly accepting her own family’s Quaker predilection, and as an adult being baptized into the Anglican Church of England. She published two works that contained dozens of her hymns, Hymns and Meditations in 1850 (in which “In Heavenly Love Abiding” appears) and Additional Hymns in 1858. She wasn’t content to be a mere intellect and writer, however. She also philanthropically engaged in prison ministry. Her hymn texts, particularly for “In Heavenly Love Abiding”, show she was a struggler with unnamed challenges. Nevertheless, she reached out to those less fortunate through the Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society. Her hymns likewise reached out.

Waring may have been a shy, at times lonesome figure (she died never having been married), yet she knew what to do to combat those traits. Could they have been the source of her struggles, the ‘fear’, ‘storm’, ‘darkest clouds’, and missing ‘green pastures’ of which she wrote? If they were, she’s not alone in history – many people have struggled with loneliness, whatever the cause. Indeed, the Lord described Himself as ‘meek and lowly’ (Matthew 11:29) – sounds kinda like Anna Waring, doesn’t it? Anna drew strength from writing songs. She also examined herself, her characteristics, in hymn-writing, as one can sense if you read between the lines. ‘Don’t dwell on those dark feelings’ she says with her words, but rest in your future. That attitude, too, became a recognizable Anna Waring attribute. Now, just where do you suppose that part of her came from?

Information on the song was obtained from the books “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; and “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006. The following link is for a book of poetry “Hymns and Meditations” written by the composer, in which the hymn text appears:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/waring/hymns.H9.html

More biographic information on composer:

http://www.ccel.org/cceh/archives/eee/waring.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Laetitia_Waring http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/a/r/waring_al.htm