All Things Praise Thee -- George Conder

An Englishman who was in his last year of earthly life, and did he realize this? George William Conder was most likely in the metropolis of London (see a period photo here in 1886 of London’s Royal Exchange, something that would have been a familiar sight for Conder) and ministering at a church when he penned “All Things Praise Thee” in 1874. He must have wandered outside of the urban environment in which he lived and ministered, as his poetry hints. He thought about nature and his Creator’s power, things that might have been a bit more obvious if he escaped the bustle of London to observe the things of which he wrote. Did he have the feeling that humanity did not give the Creator His due, despite all the evidence of His work? Maybe the rest of us should echo what George did at the conclusion of each of his five verses – a little self-examination and a spur toward what each of us owes.

‘…Lord may we’, is what the 52-year old George wrote to sum up each of the verses he wrote, sounding a lot like the minister in the pulpit that he frequently occupied. By the time he wrote about the corporate praise that he coaxed other worshippers to join in 1874, he was a veteran of ministry in several churches, and had undoubtedly interacted with hundreds or even thousands of people. The Forest Hill area of London was the fourth church where he’d been since first completing his studies some 30 years earlier. ‘All things..’ he said to begin and end his verses, something one might imagine a minister telling his listeners as he delivered a message about the devotion to praise offerings that was expected in each person’s attendance in the church service. But, the insides of the church building would not be the only place to offer this praise. ‘All things’ meant all that the human senses could observe, and that just in their existence they testified of Him. None of them owe their survival to any of us…the ‘earth’, ‘sea’, and ‘sky’, and particularly ‘heaven’ (v.1), and those that Conder listed in v. 3 – ‘rain’, ‘dew’, ‘snow’, a ‘sunset’, a ‘cloud’, and a ‘stream’. ‘Get outside and note what He has done for each of you’, Conder might have directed. ‘Take these things for granted no longer’. George didn’t stop with the creation that he and his hearers all lived within, however. ‘Time and space’ (v.2) and all things of heaven like the ‘angels’ (v.3) are markers for us to acknowledge His preeminence, things that we’ll come to appreciate more in the afterlife. George Conder didn’t tell his contemporary hearers or those of us centuries later what precisely motivated his poetry, but he didn’t really need to utter the reasons so explicitly. He was a minister, in touch with what scripture told him, and an alert observer of his surroundings. Perhaps one just might conclude that George’s cup overflowed, and that he felt compelled to urge others to join in, enthusiastically.

Could George have sensed his own end was near, when he picked up his pen to compose? You and I have 20-20 hindsight, and therefore the advantage to see what a person was doing and what transpired shortly thereafter. Were events connected that otherwise seemed disparate? Scarlet fever ended George’s earthly life in November 1874, just a few weeks shy of his 53^rd birthday. Kinda sad, you say? Yet, look at George’s words, and it’s clear what impressed him about God. He doesn’t mention life, or health, or family members he might miss when life would end – including prematurely, as happened for himself. Even his vocation in ministry was not on his mind when he wrote ‘All Things…’. Hmmm, was he sick at the time, and did that refocus his attention on whom is really important, worthy of praise? Look at what George was thinking when he said ‘thank you’.      

See all five original verses here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/a/t/p/atpraiset.htm

 

See brief biographic information on author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/o/n/d/conder_gw.htm

Before the Throne of God Above -- Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft

She was just 22 years old and living in a rather obscure village called Brookeborough in a Northern Ireland county (see the coat of arms for the county of Fermanagh here). And yet, Charitie Smith had a feeling that she was not forgotten, especially by the God whom she imagined she would encounter someday. She didn’t keep that to herself, but coaxed others to think about what it might be like to stand “Before the Throne of God Above”. It was 1863. She had quite a ways to go to inherit her eternal reward – in fact, another six decades, into the next century. Yet, that didn’t seem to discourage Charitie from pondering her condition -- not with a faraway, hoped-for, ‘please save me’ request. No, she thought of her condition in terms of the present. That’s faith.

Her father’s influence in Charitie’s early life was undoubtedly a major factor in how her faith expressed itself in ‘Before the Throne…’. Charitie’s father was a minister serving in a local church at the time that she crafted this song, so we can safely assume that she and her family had conversed or sat under the sound of one of his sermons, giving rise to what she would pen in the three verses we have today. She reportedly used the title “The Advocate” for what she wrote originally, so could those have been words from one of her father’s sermon texts that stuck with her? What bible might she and her minister-father have used at the time? The King James Version would seem to be a plausible answer, and if so, just one place has that word: one of John’s letters (1 John 2:1), where the great apostle with this name writes of Jesus. Without other known circumstances for what Charitie composed, we can assume that John’s words and other biblical reference points regarding Jesus’ role as Charitie describes Him were foundational for what she penned. She calls Him ‘a great high priest’ (v.1), ‘the risen Lamb’, the ‘I AM’, and the ‘King of glory and of grace’ (v.3). Why would someone like Charitie, as well as probably her father, think of Jesus as an advocate, except that she was very aware of her shortcomings and needed someone in a legal sense to defend her? Her vision of the heavenly courtroom is made more distinct with words like ‘plea’ and ‘plead’ (v.1), guilt and pardon, (v.2). God’s sovereignty on ‘the throne’(v.1), and in ‘the just’ (v.2) nature He possesses is not something to be debated or doubted. And yet, He’s ‘Love’ (v.1), the perfect counterpoint to what might otherwise be a heartless, autocratic, rule-maker. At 22, Charitie undoubtedly had lived enough to have experienced making plenty of mistakes. She needed mercy, but loved Him for His grace, too. Her name was ‘on His heart’ and ‘His hands’ (v.1), and she’d been ‘purchased’ (v.3) by Him, allowing her life to be ‘hid’ with His (v.3).

Do earthly attorneys fashion a relationship with clients the way Jesus does with me? In 19^th Century Northern Ireland, what might Charitie and the rest of the Smith family have experienced if crime befell them? Perhaps such an episode reminded them of the difference – starkly so – that God makes in the Divine-Human interface. Not every lawbreaker (including especially road rulebreakers, right!) pays for his or her penalties. God is more thorough, ultimately, as a traffic court judge than the ones I’ve seen here. That makes me cower, as I recall how many errors I’ve made in 58 years. But, I should sigh with relief – even ecstasy – that He’s also on the receiving end of my punishment. Think about it. What other God is on a throne and on a cross?

See the following site for some information on the song’s author: https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/before-the-throne-of-god-above

See this site for all of the song’s verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/e/f/beforetg.htm

See some scant information on the author here also: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/a/n/c/bancroft_cls.htm

See more extensive biography on the author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitie_Lees_Smith

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord -- Don Moen

This fellow was 36 years old, and was in the midst of the first album he recorded that included a one verse proclamation. This must have been something that Don Moen felt was so basic, these words saying “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord”, that they just needed to be said. Maybe Don actually wrote the words in another place, but at least when they were officially recorded, he and the others who helped produce the album (Give Thanks) were in a church in Mobile, Alabama in 1986. (See its seal here.) You can tell they were not in a studio during the recording, if you pay attention to a couple of words Don penned and sang in this song. What he said could be pretty similar to what’s to come, a preview of what you and I can expect, an eternal church where we gather in a way not dissimilar to what Don experienced in Mobile in 1986.  

The words that Don Moen wrote and the other songs’ titles for this first album in 1986 tell us something about his state of mind when ‘Blessed Be the Name…’ was crafted. It was a joy-filled gathering in the Covenant Church where Moen and his crew recorded that day in 1986. ‘One accord…’, Don wrote about this congregation and the singing and worshipping they experienced together, even as the professional music folks went about their business of cutting an album in the Mobile-based church. One gets the impression that Don must have imagined this was the venue in which he thought the song should be recorded, given the words of the song’s third line – ‘we lift up holy hands…one accord’. Was it a corporate worship service elsewhere, like the one in Mobile, that first sparked the words that Don wrote? The album’s title, ‘Give Thanks’, convey at least one of the emotions that Don was feeling – gratitude. The word ‘celebrate’ is also among the songs’ titles on that album, among a collection of praise phrases that flowed out of Moen’s spirit, and through that Mobile church, too. This collection tells something about the nature of thanksgiving – it cannot be contained in just one song. And, not just one morning or day will do. That was likely something that Don Moen discovered about this business of music-making in the Christian environment in which he found himself, and why it’s not a surprise the he’s more than an American musical performer. He’s been all over the world to translate what began on that first album called ‘Give Thanks’, reportedly travelling to six continents (all of them on the globe except Antarctica) to express this overflow.

What specific incident or collection of circumstances prompted Don Moen’s creation in 1986? It’s not been shared, at least not in a widely-publicized way, but would its emergence change anything about what Don would want to communicate as a worship leader? If it was significant, one could imagine that Moen would have made sure we knew it. Instead, he’s directed yours and my attention away from himself, and onto another. Pay homage to ‘the Name’, he directs in ‘Blessed Be…’. Whatever else was happening at that moment when the words sprang from Don’s insides, these events were springboards for the most important part of the story. The great God is the One worthy of the spotlight. Don would probably say he’s just been along for the ride for the last three-plus decades, and that it’s not over yet. How about jumping aboard for the ride!     

See this site for information on the author-composer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Moen

See author-composer’s official site: https://donmoen.com/about/

Information about the album on which the song appears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Thanks