My Faith Looks Up to Thee -- Ray Palmer

Ray Palmer was just a young fellow, but he had feelings and physical symptoms that belied his age and clouded his future. So in 1830 he composed a poem “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” as a very personal prayer – a needy individual calling out for divine help. Its creation offers a method that other writers may find is not easily duplicated, for did Palmer really intend the outcome that came about when he sat down and poured out the words in despair? Would anyone else intentionally submit to such a process? If they knew that’s how God works, would that alter their music-writing ventures?  

Ray Palmer’s first effort at songwriting would not be his last, and his first had been incubating for perhaps several years before it was hatched.  Palmer’s schooling as a teenager had been suspended for a time out of financial necessity, but his education continued later in his youth and coincided with his heart turning to God. He eventually attended and graduated from Yale University with an aim toward ministry, while coincidentally teaching part-time at a girls’ school in New York City – no doubt a taxing schedule. He had been ill, both physically and emotionally, for a year when he sat down as a 22-year old to reach inside himself and find God’s help through words from his heart. He wanted something that he could carry as a reminder, to lift his spirit daily, for he must have seen a long road in front of himself. ‘Would the previous year’s experience be what ministry entailed?’, he may have worried. His devotion to God had spawned in his teens, and he was still clinging to that faith and to the road to ministry he had set before himself. But, there was no denying that loneliness, depression, and sickness also inhabited his being – he admitted this too. He kept the four-stanza composition in a notebook in his coat pocket. His poem might have remained between himself and its addressee (God), if two years later he hadn’t bumped into his friend Lowell Mason, a music-writer who was hunting new songs for his latest project. The rest, as has been said, is history. Palmer would write a few dozen other song poems during his life, yet he may have employed the best technique for this part of his ministry just as he was beginning.

Palmer probably never forgot how his prayer played out – that we know the story of its conception assures us of this. It really sticks with a believer, to sense when God has heard and delivers His response. Ray admitted to Him how he felt in his verses – guilt, weakness, fear, overwhelming sadness, and even some distrust. Perhaps Ray felt that he had nothing to lose at that point. After all, the year had already been pretty tough on him, so why not be honest, while telling Him you still think He’s capable of delivering the Providential goods? That Palmer was still engaged in ministry two years hence, when he encountered his friend and shared the poem, tells us that God did reply. Maybe God taking his servant’s request-prayer to the next level—making it public, and lifting it for others to see for the last 185 years--was what Palmer could not have anticipated. What do you think Ray would say if he were here today? He’d probably say ‘See, God’s still here…and He may have a surprise for you’.     

Information on the song was also obtained from the books  Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; 101 More Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

See following site also. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/f/myfluptt.htm

Thou My Everlasting Portion -- Fanny Crosby

She must have really meant what she said, someone might have observed when examining Fanny Crosby’s situation in 1874. How she chose to live really was reflected onto the page as she wrote “Thou My Everlasting Portion”, also known as “Close to Thee”. As a 54-year old woman, Fanny was blind and in poverty, by all appearances. And yet, if asked, she probably would have contended with such an assertion. Who could say they’re poor if they have God, despite what one’s surroundings in a New York City slum (one that could have looked like this picture in Crosby’s neighborhood) might tell you? And not just as a far-off, hoped-for future, but a present power – that’s what seemed to embody Crosby.

Frances Crosby (more commonly known as Fanny) was an amazing testimony to hope in Christ. Her life story is well-known, even among secular folks, because of the stark nature of her challenges compared to her accomplishments. One might suspect that the former (her challenges) actually spurred the latter (her accomplishments). Knowing a little of the background to one of the many songs she composed in 1874 leads one to suspect this synergy was a fact in her existence. One account of “Close to Thee” indicates she employed a method that was familiar to many of her song-writing ventures – someone played a tune, which sparked some words from her to match what she heard. This version says a hat salesman, Silas Jones Vail, probably one of her Long Island-Manhattan neighbors, played her one of his tunes. Her ear and her spirit must have already had quite a reputation, for someone to bring a nameless piece of music and expect Crosby to respond with meaningful prose. But, she didn’t disappoint, saying that one repeated phrase in Vail’s tune called out ‘close to thee’ over and over. Another source reports that Fanny was pondering God’s proximity late one day when the song’s words just leapt out of her. From what we know of Crosby’s life, the mid-1870s were a rough period, one in which it’s thought she was impoverished, deep in the heart of New York. That makes her words all the more special – they are a personal pledge she was vocalizing to her God. The words ‘everlasting portion’ also suggest she was reading Psalms, and echoing the songwriter’s words of utter dependence on Him (Psalm 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; 142:5). Was she struggling to feed and clothe herself, to stay warm? No matter, Fanny says. He’s all I need. I only require His companionship.

Fanny’s life among the poor spoke credibly of her beliefs, about the closeness she felt toward God. She seems to have viscerally understood that knowing Him meant living like Him. Maybe she believed that the poor would listen to a God-message, since they had little else to lean upon for support. Or, maybe she felt more like she had a secret to share…that the weak (like herself) were the really rich ones. Attached to Jesus, being like him in His common estate, and connected to the One who transcends earth – that would get anyone’s attention. She might not have seen with her eyes, but her vision let her reside with contentment in an area that depressed others. Am I better or worse off than Fanny?

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, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc; and from the website: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/c/l/o/closthee.htm  

See biography on composer here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby

Jesus, Flow Like a River -- Dennis Jernigan

He was 30 years old, and had once felt out of control outside of Him, and then experienced being out of control with Him. How could Dennis Jernigan want to be in such a state, and in fact exulting in it as he wrote “Jesus, Flow Like a River”? It had been only a short time since he’d emerged from behind the proverbial curtain, and he was still discovering the clout that his own life’s story could have, even as he discovered how it intersected with God’s. How does one best describe the feeling he was having? It was a sensation that you might have riding in a raft down the rapids of a fast river (like this one shown here), yet not being spilled out of the boat. Perhaps it was an adventure like nothing he had ever imagined before. 

Perhaps Dennis would say 1988 was a ‘watershed’ point in his life, the completion of a break with his past and realization of what his future held. He keeps no secrets about who he was a decade earlier – a homosexual, though struggling with this identity because of his upbringing as a God-believer. With the help of a friend and a musical encounter, Jernigan confronted this part of himself and allowed God to work on him. His subsequent marriage and fatherhood to nine children are well-known, declared parts of him now, too. But, Dennis also shares in his testimony that his decision to share in 1988 his dark past with his wife and church caused a stir among others – like confessions, and healing that continue. The next year, he also discovered for the first time his grandmother’s intercession, through prayer, for him as a child, that his life in music would bless others. So, there was all this emotional torrent of joy rushing over Dennis when he composed “Jesus, Flow…”in 1989. Whether there were other events that spurred his words are not clear, but since DJ has written so much (over 2,200 songs) one could say the ‘raging river’ he describes riding might be a metaphor for the outpouring of musical praise that began professionally at that time. It’s continued for the last two to three decades. Perhaps he also read some of his bible for imagery of rivers – in John 7:38 or Revelation 22:1-2; or Psalms 36:8; 46:4; 78:16; 105:41; or Isaiah 41:18; 43:2; 66:12; or Ezekiel 47:9. If he did, he may have been reminded that God’s life surges like a river through those who seek Him out.  

Dennis Jernigan’s life and music speak for themselves. Or, it’d be more in tune with DJ’s sense of the truth that his life and music speak for God. It’s a personal Dennis-to-God conversation he’s having, if one notices the tense in which “Jesus, Flow Like a River” is written. ‘You’ and ‘Your’ relate that Dennis was addressing Him. If you’ve ever been in a raging river, it’s pretty exciting, capable of causing even the most composed, soft-spoken of us to cry out ‘O God!’ You just might address Him in those most desperate, heart-throbbing moments, when life seems to hang in the balance. Dennis might say that’s the place to stay.

Some biographical information on Dennis Jernigan:

websites:

 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.

Praise the Name of Jesus -- Roy Hicks Jr. and David

This pastor was going through a rough stretch, and so he resorted to a method that a spiritual ancestor had used many years before. Since he was a preacher, well-versed in the bible he held in his hands, Roy Hicks, Jr. must have understood the background to the verses and song “Praise the Name of Jesus” that he adapted to his own situation one day in 1976. Could he have known the spark it would cause, or was he really only expecting to find solace for the moment? It must have been the former, since he didn’t keep the thoughts and emotions of that time to himself. He shared them, perhaps in not too different a way than his ancient predecessor did.

Roy Hicks read his bible for inspiration and instruction as a 36-year old church pastor in Eugene, Oregon, and so he may have imagined himself in a very distant land nearly three millennia ago as he turned to the pages of scripture in 1976. He must have wanted to lean upon examples in biblical history, upon someone who had struggled and come through the other side of a challenge, even a spear-dodging episode (like the one shown here, by Jose Leonardo). Roy was watching as a church he was trying to lead shrank, and feeling discouraged, he sought out someone with whom he thought he identified. His example was David, the great king and psalm-writer, who endured many episodes that were not only discouraging, but in fact life-threatening. The metaphors for God that Hicks observed David using in Psalm 18’s opening verses spoke in a meaningful way to him. He needed strength for his church’s declining circumstances, so he called out to a God he needed to be his ‘rock’, ‘fortress’, and ‘deliverer’.  Roy must have felt this church in Eugene was in a life-threatening condition, a group of God’s people who were dodging the spear-throwing efforts of Satan and his demons. David’s song is probably the same one he sang as he reminisced about his rescue from Saul and the defeat of foreign adversaries (2 Samuel 22). Roy just took what David said and added one name – Jesus.  

Roy Hicks didn’t just repeat David’s praises. He updated them. It’s said that he taught “Praise the Name of Jesus” to the Eugene church a week after its words and tune made their way into his being. Perhaps Roy told them the source of his inspiration, stories of David’s hair-raising adventures and the protection he received. David knew not Jesus, but would probably have recognized Him, don’t you think? For the ‘man after God’s own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), he would have had eyes to spot the God in Jesus. Roy must have concluded the same, and thus enhanced David’s original words without hesitation. The 1976-version of Psalm 18 is one that David, the original composer, can also enjoy. Maybe he’s already doing so.      

The source for the song story is the book “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.

Also see New International Version Study Bible, Editor Kenneth Barker, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985. 

See biographic information on composer here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Hicks,_Jr.

We Will Glorify -- Twila Paris

She had a new career, a direction she had considered, so she must have had a few thoughts about an overarching strategy for this plan. Perhaps it was something she wanted to be the overriding theme of her latest project, her second album as a 20-something. “We Will Glorify” was a declaration that Twila Paris made early in her career as a singer-songwriter, as a 24-year old who probably wanted to convey not just a brief message about her own intentions. She evidently thought of this as her life’s approach, and sought to bring others along for the journey. I can glorify, but what’s it like when others join in (like the picture here by Charles Sprague Pearce suggests)?   

Twila Paris’ message would not have been a surprise to anyone who’d witnessed her life up until her 24^th year, one bathed in Christian examples and habits that she continued to draw upon for her musical influence. She was an active part of her family’s evangelistic life, even as a child who before the age of 10 had recorded her first album that included hymns her father’s ministry used in his messages. She was accustomed to the group experience as a Christian believer, and must have heard God’s various names repeatedly. What would one expect to hear from Twila Paris on an album she was making in 1982 with the title Keepin’ My Eyes on You? Twila hasn’t shared exactly what made “We Will Glorify” spring from her consciousness that year, perhaps because it’s pretty obvious what motivated her. She was thinking of the various names, the multiple roles that God played in the life she’d led up to that point. ‘King of kings’, ‘lamb’, ‘Lord of lords’, and ‘Great I Am’ are just the ones she called out in the first verse. The Lord’s position as Jehovah, and as overseer of every created being above, below, and in the universe beyond was also on Twila’s mind. Could He be any larger or more omnipotent than how she describes Him in the song’s four verses? How can one believer acclaim His being even more? Maybe this song is Twila’s answer, as she uses ‘we’ to express the multiplicity of those who call out to Him. The way to magnify my joy at praising Him is to draw, to invite, others to do the same.

I can thank Him for taking care of me personally, but to see His hand on so many others around me is also reason to exclaim, to pump my fists in jubilation. Twila’s experience as a worshipper, among, inside, and around others must have made it very easy for her to think others would want to worship, to glorify Him. And, not just as a one-time ‘thank you’, either. ‘How does one keep her eyes on someone like God?’, Twila may have quizzed herself in 1982. He has so many names, it just makes a lot of spiritual sense to use them all and remind myself and others just how vast His being is. He has lots of names, perhaps because there are so many of us who need Him in so many ways.

      

Check out the following links to read about the composer:

http://twilaparis.com/bio.php

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

http://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/artists/paris_twila.aspx

See the book“Our God Reigns: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2000, for further background on the composer.