Music For Our Souls - Life-Changing Hymns of Isaac Watts

Where would we be without music? When God created us with the desire for song, to invent an endless array of instruments and rhythms, He knew that such a gift would speak to us in a million ways, and that sometimes we would actually need music in order to speak the deep things of our hearts. We use music to express praise, joy, sorrow, longing, hope, blessing--pretty much every emotion we can name can also be expressed with music. There many verses of Scripture which tell us the benefits of music and list occasions for singing or "making melody". Ephesians 5: 18-20 says it most clearly.

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Oftentimes, when I'm working on writing a novel, a hymn or other piece of music will pop into my thoughts that helps me to express the heart of my story--or better said--the heart of my characters. And why not? Since music offers such vitality of spirit to our lives, wouldn't it imbue a character's life also?

In my recent release, Courting the Country Preacher - Four Stories of Faith, Hope, and Falling in Love, my hero Everett Shepherd (The Angel and the Sky Pilot) preaches a sermon to a rough and tumble logging crew in which he uses the lyrics of a beautiful hymn to express what God did for him. Overcome with humble passion for Christ's transforming power, Isaac Watt's hymn At Calvary describes Everett's own conversion story.

Isaac Watts himself, was the author of hundreds of hymns, some of which the only record is the title, but many others we still enjoy today. He was born July 17, 1674 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, the son of a schoolmaster. He was already writing verses at seven years old. At the age of sixteen, he became a student in the non-conformist academy of an independent minister, Reverend Thomas Rowe. Watts preached his first sermon when he was 24 years old, and went on to become a pastor in London in 1702.

His first published hymn, written at age twenty, is said to have been composed for religious worship. It was titled Behold the Lamb. While Watts's writings included sermons, treatises, poems, and hymns, and he developed a very large collection, it was for the writing of psalms and hymns that he is best known. His published hymns alone number more than eight hundred.

Watts died November 25, 1748. He was known by his friends as a man of great learning and piety, with generousness and largeness of heart. He was buried in a Puritan resting place at Bunhill Fields, but a monument was erected in his honor in Westminster Abbey. Many other monuments have been erected this famous Christian writer over the centuries. 

But it might be said that the best monument of all, is the monument raised in song whenever we sing or play one of his many rich hymns.

Photo: Isaac Watts, Westminster Abbey Memorial, Wikipedia Commons (14GTR)

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Read into the New Year with

Courting the Country Preacher!

Four Stories of Faith, Hope, and Falling in Love

Meet Everett and Angeline in The Angel and the Sky Pilot

Can a new preacher earn the respect of hard-living men—and still respect himself—after a trader's daughter joins the all-male congregation?

HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND HAPPY READING!

A Great Hymn with roots in my hometown

by Kathleen L. Maher

I have written on a few occasions about 19th Century history as it touched my hometown Elmira, NY. This tie-in to my local history took me to an unexpected turn, and one of my all time favorite hymns.

Famous hymn writer and revivalist Civilla Durfee Martin traveled the east coast with her husband Walter, writing songs for revival meetings. Dr. Walter Stillman Martin earned his degree from Harvard and preached as an ordained Baptist minister. In 1905 their travels took them to Elmira. Staying with a married couple, Mr and Mrs. Doolittle, Civilla felt inspiration strike. 

Both of the Doolittles suffered great physical conditions which left the Mrs. bedridden for two decades, and the Mr. confined to a wheelchair. But it did not limit the couple's devotion to the Lord or to one another.. Mr. Doolittle wheeled himself to work, and around the house to take care of his bride, and their affection for one another filled the Martins with awe. Asked what gave them both such cheer in the midst of their adversity, Mrs. Doolittle responded that her great faith in God gave her bright hope. She said "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

That wonderful phrase Mrs. Doolittle of Elmira, NY had spoken turned in Civilla Martin's mind. The words to that beloved hymn His Eye is on the Sparrow sprang from this humble woman's testimony of God's great faithfulness, and overnight, Mrs. Martin sent the lyrics to the man who would set it to melody, Mr. Charles Gabriel.

Matthew 6 scribes Jesus' words in the sermon on the Mount. "Look to the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." And again in Matthew 10, Jesus says "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father noticing... Fear ye not therefore, for you are of more value than many sparrows."

I am personally encouraged by the Doolittles' faith and the beautiful song inspired by it that has remained a popular hymn for over a century.

Hymn Stories: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Christmas favorite "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is one of more than 6,500 hymns written by Englishman and Anglican priest Charles Wesley...but the original song, first published in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, was not quite what we sing today.

Charles Wesley was born in 1707 to Samuel, an Anglican priest, and Susanna, one of nineteen children, although nine would die quite young. One of his older brothers, John Wesley, would later found Methodism. After studying at Oxford, Charles Wesley was ordained into the Anglican church in 1735, as his father and brother John had been.

Charles Wesley, painter unknown. Public Domain

Despite his ordination, he experienced a conversation in May of 1738 which influenced his understanding of the Holy Spirit. He felt strengthened to share the Gospel in new ways, included open-air preaching, and began to write hymns. 

Within the year, he'd written "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and seen it published. The form was different than we'd recognize now: it contained ten four-line verses, with no refrain.Wesley's theologically rich song was intended to be set to a slow, serious tune. It also began like this:

HARK how all the Welkin rings

"Glory to the Kings of Kings,

"Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,

"GOD and Sinners reconcil'd!"

Joyful all ye Nations rise,

Join the Triumph of the Skies,

Universal Nature say

"CHRIST the LORD is born to Day!"

"Welkin" means "sky" or "heaven." 

"Worship of the Shepherds" by Bronzino. Public Domain

George Whitefield, fellow preacher and a fellow student with Wesley, took hold of the hymn and made some big changes in 1753. Where Wesley wrote, "Glory to the King of kings," Whitefield preferred "Glory to the newborn King." There were other changes that were possibly theological in nature, and Whitfield cut the final four verses. 

Whitefield's version was published in his 1754 Collection of Hymns for Social Worship. Wesley was so upset, he refused to sing the new version. 

In 1782, the hymn was revised yet again with the addition of the familiar refrain in New Version of the Psalms of David by Tate and Brady: "Hark! the Herald Angels sing/Glory to the newborn king."

In 1855, the hymn saw new life when English musician William H. Cummings adapted a tune by composer Felix Mendelssohn (from Festgesang) to fit the lyrics. Mendelssohn never thought that piece suitable for sacred music, ironically.

In 1885, it was considered one of the "Great Four" Anglican hymns by the Rev. James King, who wrote a book about the hymns most often sung in the Anglican Communion. Two of the four are by Charles Wesley; the other is "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending." (The other two? "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me" by Toplady and "All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night" by Ken.)

It is this version we sing today, a beloved and so familiar it was featured in 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It is difficult to imagine a Christmas Eve church service without it.

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Your Turn:

What is your favorite Christmas hymn?

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BIO:

Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she's the award-winning author of over a dozen historical romances who's seen her work on the ECPA and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller Lists for Inspirational Fiction. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne lives in California and enjoys fancy-schmancy tea parties, genealogy, the beach, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. Her books include My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho: Rebecca's Plight, a mail-order mix-up. Visit Susanne at www.susannedietze.com

Hymn Stories: How Great Thou Art

How old are some of your favorite hymns?

How Great Thou Art, a popular and well-beloved hymn (justifiably so) isn't as old as some might think it is. At least, not as we know it.

(To hear it sung, press play for this public domain version of Yolanda Adams at the White House.)  

Carl Boberg (1859-1940) was born in Sweden to a carpenter and his wife. In his early years, Carl worked as a sailor and served as a lay minister in his congregation. He was also a writer, and he published more than 60 poems, hymns, and songs.

Carl Boberg. Public Domain

In 1885, Boberg walked home from an afternoon church service with friends when suddenly, a storm appeared. Lightning, thunder, and strong winds accompanied rain. Boberg noted the majesty of the lightning, the way the wind moved the grain in the fields, the feel and smell of the rain. Shortly, the storm ended and a rainbow appeared. 

He remained thoughtful when he returned home, noting how calm and lovely the the bay of Mönsterås looked. He could hear church bells and birdsong, and breathed in the storm-clean air. With a sense of peace and wonder, he set to writing.

His poem was titled O Store Gud (O Great God), and it was published in Mönsterås Tidningen (Mönsterås News) the following year. Within two years, the poem was paired to an old Swedish folk tune and sung in a church in 1888. 

In 1890, Boberg became an editor for a weekly newsletter, Sanningsvittnet (Witness of the Truth), a job he held until 1916 (also serving in parliament). In 1891, he published O Store Gud in Witness of the Truth with the music for the first time, with instrumentation for piano and guitar provided by a music teacher named Adolph Edgren (in 3/4 time).

About this time, Boberg sold the rights to the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, and all nine verses were published in the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden's songbook in 1891. 

By 1894, the timing of the song had been changed to 4/4 time, as it is sung today. 

In 1907, the song was translated into German, and then, in 1912, into Russian (Velikiy Bog, or Great God). E. Gustav Johnson, a professor at North Park College, Illinois, translated some of the verses and published them in 1925 as O Mighty God, but the hymn had not yet found its moment in America.

In the early 1920’s, Methodist English missionaries Rev. Stuart and Edith K. Hine lived in Poland learned the Russian version of the hymn. Stuart Hine (1899-1989) wrote his own translation and adjusted the arrangement of the tune, titling it How Great Thou Art. 

Hine also added verses, including the third and fourth, which he originally wrote in Russian. These verses are among the hymn's most popular. In 1949, Hine had the hymn published in a Russian gospel magazine, Peace and Truth, which circulated among refugees in fifteen countries, including the USA. Apparently, an African missionary named James Caldwell was the first to sing in in America at a conference in New York in 1951.

Around the same time, Dr. J. Edwin Orr of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, heard the hymn song for the first time in a small church in India. He brought it home to California and introduced it at the Forest Home Christian Conference Center in 1954. From there, it was published by Gospel Light Press. 

This version became the theme song of the Billy Graham Crusades in the 1950s. 

Billy Graham. Public Domain

Because Hine's version of the song was copyrighted in 1949, it is not public domain, so it may not be quoted here. However, it is easily found online and youtube. Today, millions of believers of all languages sing this profound and lovely hymn.

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YOUR TURN: Are you familiar with this hymn?

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BIO: Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she's the award-winning author of over a dozen historical romances who's seen her work on the ECPA and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller Lists for Inspirational Fiction. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne lives in California and enjoys fancy-schmancy tea parties, genealogy, the beach, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com, and check out her newest release, My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho. 

The Queen of Gospel Song Writers

Fanny Crosby

By Marilyn Turk

How many of you know the hymn “Rescue the Perishing?” Or “Blessed Assurance” or “To God Be the Glory?”

Did you know they were written by a blind woman?

Indeed, they and about 8000 other hymns and gospel songs were written by Frances Jane Crosby, otherwise known as Fanny Crosby. Born in 1820, Fanny is one of the most prolific hymn writers in history. Over 100 million copies of her songs have been printed. She’s known as the “Queen of Gospel Song Writers and the “mother of modern congregational singing in America.”

Most American hymnals contain her work, rivaling Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley in productivity. In addition to hymns written under her own name, she wrote under almost 200 pseudonyms because some publishers were reluctant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals. She also composed over 1000 poems, as well as, secular and patriotic songs.

Fanny became blind months after she was born, a fact she considered a gift from God. At the age of eight, she wrote her first poem. Years later, she said, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things around me.”

Fanny Crosby

She also once said, “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”

Fanny gave credit to her blindness for her good memory as well, saying that had it not been for the affliction, she might not have so good an education, have so great an influence, and certainly not so fine a memory. And what a memory she had. Vefore the invention of braille, she was not able to write herself, so she had to dictate her hymns to someone else, sometimes storing as many as twelve in her mind at once before they could be dictated. At one point, Fanny composed forty hymns before they were transcribed.

Her creative productivity was amazing and her work ethic impressive. But the secret to her talent lay in her method. She described it this way. “It may seem a little old-fashioned, always to begin one’s work with prayer, but I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration.”

In addition to her method, her motivation stirred her to write, setting a personal goal to win a million people to Christ through her hymns, and that, too, was part of her prayers.

Although Fanny Crosby is best known for her hymns, she preferred to be known as a city mission worker. As she aged, she saw her true vocation as one who helped the needy, inner-city people rather than as a famous songwriter. She preferred to live in the poorer areas of Manhattan to better relate to the needs of those in urban rescue missions. Afraid to be considered wealthy, she gave away most of her earnings to those less fortunate. Many of her hymns were inspired by her involvement in missions, in particular, “Rescue the Perishing,” which became the theme song for the home missions movement.

Do you have a favorite Fanny Crosby hymn?

Fanny Crosby's Tombstone, Died Feb. 12, 1915

Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coastal South. By popular demand, her lighthouse blog at marilynturk.com, has spawned Lighthouse Devotions, now available at Amazon. Click here.