I Bring My Sins to Thee -- Frances Ridley Havergal

She had a life that was well-tuned to her Creator, but still felt the need to vocalize her commitment to him when she was 34 years old. Was there something in 1870 that compelled the Englishwoman Frances Ridley Havergal to declare “I Bring My Sins to Thee”? Was it an especially close loss, either recent or soon-expected, that stirred her poetic spirit to write about four parts of her life that she offered to give to the ultimate Giver? Perhaps she felt that all things were from Him anyway, so why not be willing to relinquish all that her life was currently possessing? These included the adverse issues, as well as those at the opposite end of the spectrum. Take all of them, because whether good or ill, they compose me, and make me unique. That was indeed true of Frances.

Frances Havergal had experienced her share of heartache and joy by the time “I Bring My Sins to Thee” gestated in her spirit in 1870. Raised in an Anglican minister’s home, Frances showed the same poetic and hymn-writing traits as her father, William Henry Havergal. A brother, Henry, was a priest and played the organ. Although her mother died when Frances was just 11 years old, it may have been this mother’s deathbed words to the Havergals’ youngest daughter that impacted her most deeply – words urging her to be totally committed to God, to be His vessel. With these stimuli, Frances did indeed follow a path that would have undoubtedly pleased her mother, while using the gift most evident in her father. This very bright, highly educated young girl (she studied six languages) was also affected by her father’s ill health, forcing the family to move, including at least once as he took on ministry in a smaller church. Frances was likewise occasionally plagued by illness as a young woman, eventually succumbing to an infection at age 42. Eight years earlier, was her father’s death in 1870 a precipitating factor in her composition of “I Bring …”, perhaps? She mentions four broad facets of her life – anyone’s life – that she offered to the One she worshipped. Could these have been occupying her mind in the wake of her father’s death, or alternately, as she watched him decline? ‘Sins’ (v.1), ‘Grief’ (v.2), ‘Joys’ (v.3), and ‘Life’ (v.4) were all parts of herself that she wanted to surrender to Him.  Understandably, the offerings she made in the first two verses one could speculate are easier – who wants to hang onto sin and grief, after all? But, what about joy and life itself? What would a 34-year old’s vantage point look like, that would make her say this? Perhaps she’d surmised by this time that one had to accept that good and evil coexist. Would her poem have been more aptly entitled ‘I Bring It All to Thee”?       

Frances was looking at her own experience broadly, probably not for the first time, but maybe in sharper relief, as death was becoming all too real yet again for herself and those to whom she was closest. Is there an escape hatch? Though still a relatively young woman, even negative events had prospered Frances Havergal – her mother’s dying words inspired her, and conceivably it was her other parent’s mortality that helped spawn “I Give…” over 20 years later. I don’t welcome the negative. Nobody does. Yet, somebody once said something about a seed dying and giving new life. Who was that?

See this site for information on the composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/v/havergal_fr.htm

See also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal

 

See all four original verses of the song here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/b/r/ibringms.htm

Read the composer’s obituary here: https://www.truthfulwords.org/biography/havergaltw.html

What a Day That Will Be -- James Hill

He really admired and felt badly for his mother-in-law. But, that’s not the conclusion of the matter, and not where Jim Hill chose to spend his energy. He was a 25-year old who chose to look ahead, though the present could have overruled his thoughts. Jim, who might have been in Ohio (see picture) at the time, let his imagination be captive to thinking about “What a Day That Will Be”, because he could tell that this inspirational focus had transported him to a different emotional plane. And, the same thing happened later when he and some close relatives sang this new song to the one who’d been responsible for his motivation. Even in a mind that is debilitated, the chord that Jim had struck was able to urge a joyful response. That’s potent stuff.

One might think that Jim Hill’s life was changed forever for the better by a tragedy in his extended family life -- his mother-in-law’s stroke. She was just 50 years old when this calamity struck, an incident that burdened him emotionally, and which had been ongoing for a few years when Jim’s thoughts turned the clock forward. James Vaughn Hill had wanted to be a professional singer for some time, and had begun his musical journey as a teenager by taking part in quartet singing in several groups and by studying opera. So, his gift for music was already pretty well-developed, though reportedly he’d never really written a song before his mother-in-law’s illness. The words came to him in a spark, as he thought about her while driving his car, and later on his house’s front porch with a piece of cardboard as his artistic pallete. The colors he wove on this poetic canvas left him uncertain initially – was it any good? – though the haste he took to record what flowed into his mind spontaneously suggested he felt it had potential. His intuition proved accurate when he and his wife and sister-in-law sang this invention to his mother-in-law shortly thereafter. A smile creasing her face and some fresh vigor spoke all the words that Jim and the women needed to hear. It was, in sense, a microcosm of what Jim could see awaiting this dear woman, and indeed countless others. Debilitation will be overcome by rejuvenation. Jim could foresee many ‘no mores’ – heartaches, clouds, tears (v.1), sorrow, burdens, sickness, pain, and parting (v.2) would all become relics, mere speed-bumps on the mortal’s way to Eternity. Think of the glorious day approaching, instead, because it will never end. That’s therapy for a hurting body, isn’t it?

Jim Hill’s imagination didn’t stop with his expected arrival in heaven. He allowed himself to ponder gazing into the face of Him, and being escorted around the forever home by none other than God (refrain). If it worked for Jim and his mother-in-law, how about others? “What a Day That Will Be” quickly became a Southern Gospel standard here on earth in the latter half of the 20^th Century. It’s still going, and its elemental truth hasn’t waned. A part of Jim must have been wondering, as he saw his mother-in-law brought low, if that was awaiting him too. Will I get sick someday, beyond recovery? Breathe deep…’probably’ might fall short of describing the prospects for this. But, Jim knew something else that was even more likely. How about you?  

       

One source for the song story is the following: “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 

See also here for the song’s lyrics and a brief version of the song’s story: https://namethathymn.com/christian-hymns/what-a-day-that-will-be-lyrics.html

See this encyclopedic site for further information on the composer: https://books.google.com/books?id=EViMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=james+vaughn+hill&source=bl&ots=OjH6zILdhb&sig=SAdR12zgquJ_C34IVnZrkDiIqZM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM1IqE3eDdAhUHnOAKHZJEALkQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=james%20vaughn%20hill&f=false

Trust and Obey – John H. Sammis

This one traveled through two other people before lodging in the imagination of John H. Sammis, a 40-year old minister. It conveys two directives that an anonymous young man vocalized for a crowd in Brockton, Massachusetts, really on the spur of the moment. Daniel B. Towner was spending one evening as he had probably on many other occasions, directing singing at a revival, when he heard these two words, “Trust and Obey”. They stuck, and he must have sensed that they were something special, or he wouldn’t have related the story to his acquaintance and friend, John. What was it in John’s makeup that made Daniel think his friend would craft a poem worth putting to music? Perhaps it was the coalescence of events that made this song’s birth special.

‘Trust and Obey’ has a story that is widely known, and probably represents one of the more commonplace methods of songwriting. Someone hears or speaks something from a sermon, and just like that, little else needs to be understood. Someone says ‘Yes, but He’s at work nonetheless.’ ‘Trust and Obey’ is like that, for who put the attitude inside the heart of an anonymous young fellow who stood up in that moment in Brockton when asked to share, and testified that he would just follow those two words’ instructions? He evidently heard something in Dwight Moody’s sermon, or in the songs that Daniel Towner was directing, that resonated inside himself. Perhaps he’d been wayward enough, and experienced the opposite side of life, so that he appreciated the novelty and the delight of receiving God’s favor just by being compliant. Daniel shared the experience with John Sammis, evidently because he thought the words, and the perhaps the simplicity of their delivery also, would stir a poem. John had been in professional ministry only five years, having trusted and obeyed himself to leave a successful career in business because he felt ‘a call’. And so, John could identify with what following divine orders might mean to someone – he’d done it. He crafted five verses to acknowledge and provide his own testimony for others to consider. ‘Do you want to know the secret of happiness?’, John seems to be asking in his five verses. It’s interesting that John chose to share so many ‘not’ things in his testimony. Count ‘em – no less than a dozen (vv. 2-3) had been cast out of his experience as a result of following what the song’s title words directed be done. Shadows, clouds, doubts, fears, sighs, tears (v.2); burdens, sorrows, griefs, losses, frowns, and crosses (v.3) – does that cover everything that might torment a person? Maybe John had more, but instead chose to dwell more on the ‘secret’ formula contained in the song’s name. After penning his poem, John collaborated with Daniel, laying it in his lap to formulate the music to underscore the message of his words.

Did the original speaker of the trust and obey theme ever realize his contribution to Towner’s and Sammis’ inspiration? The story has been so widely circulated that one might believe so. What might have been that man’s reaction? Did he conjure up other emotions or physical impediments that he’d overcome by trusting and obeying? John’s list is not exclusive – there’s more that you or I could add, unique to an individual’s experience. I just need to make certain I incorporate the first two words that the young man in Brockton first spoke. John and Daniel thought they were well worth repeating.

  

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; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Also see this link, showing all five original verses, and a brief recitation of the song’s story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/r/u/s/trustobey.htm