Hymns With A Message: July 2014

Sunday, July 27, 2014

WE'LL UNDERSTAND IT BY AND BY

So many of the hymns that we have featured here over the years have shared the fact that our lives here on earth are filled with trials, and challenges and problems. And often we question why we must encounter these difficulties. And many times the answers just don't come. But someday they will be revealed. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." And it is with that knowledge ,and the peace that God alone can give, that we move on. "By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home,we'll tell the story how we've overcome, for we'll understand it better by and by." Charles Tindley was born near Berlin, Maryland, in July of 1851, the son of a free mother and slave father. His mother passed away when Charles was only four, and a year later he was separated from his father. When he became old enough to work, he was hired out to work with slaves, although his status as "freeborn" was recognized. In his teens he taught himself to read and acquired a fair amount of liberal-arts and theological education, largely through correspondence courses. After having been ordained a Methodist minister, he returned as pastor to a church he had previously served as janitor. Eventually he built the church he headed, in Philadelphia, from some 200 parishioners to a membership of over 12,000 in the 1920s. He wrote some 45 hymns, generally to accompany his own sermons, in almost all cases composing the tunes as well as the words. After bearing eight children, his wife Daisy, passed away in 1924, the very day the congregation entered the new sanctuary for the first time. Initially struggling with her death, he would later explain, "one day I will understand it better by and by". And so his hymn reminds us of that hope that someday the reasons for our trials and struggles will be revealed and we will fully see and understand their purposes in our lives. May that realization and hope encourage you this week as you face the challenges in your daily path. I've included all four verses of Tindley's writing, but the last two are probably the best known today and are usually the ones chosen by those who sing this song.

(1) We are tossed and driv'n on the restless sea of time;

Somber skies and howling tempests oft succeed a bright sunshine;

In that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away,

We will understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We'll tell the story how we've overcome,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

(2) We are often destitute of the things that life demands,

Want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands;

We are trusting in the Lord, and according to God's Word,

We will understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We'll tell the story how we've overcome,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

(3) Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand

All the ways that God could lead us to that blessed promised land;

But He guides us with His eye, and we'll follow till we die,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We'll tell the story how we've overcome,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

(4) Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares,

And our hearts are made to bleed for a thoughtless word or deed;

And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best,

But we'll understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We'll tell the story how we've overcome,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

Listen to it being sung here. LISTEN

Sunday, July 20, 2014

WHY SHOULD HE LOVE ME SO?

Recently my pastor spoke on Matthew 5:44 - 45, " But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." He concluded his message by challenging each of us to think of someone who we might classify as an enemy, somebody who has treated us unfairly, someone whom we can't stand to be around. Then he asked us to pray for that person regularly during the coming week. Now most of us don't have a problem thinking of people who would fit that description. We all have folks who have hurt or mistreated us. They may have ridiculed us or even persecuted us for our beliefs. There are those who just upset us by their presence. But pray for them? As hard as that may seem, that is what Jesus challenged us to do. And He set the example for us when He left all the beauty and riches of heaven to come to this earth to die for our sins. And the scripture reminds us that we have all sinned and come short of His glory. And while we were yet sinners, He came and died for us. We certainly didn't deserve it at all. Ephesians 2:4-5, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved." And how often I have questioned why He would ever do this for me. And I can't come up with a single answer except that it was His great love, a love unmatched by any other action in history. And probably it was this overwhelming question that drove Robert Harkness (1880 - 1961) to pen this question and put it to music in 1924. In 1902, evangelist R. A. Torrey, and his song leader, Charles Alexander, were conducting revivals in Australia. Harkness, a local author, composer, and musician, attended a service. He met the two and soon became Alexander's pianist. Not long after that, under the influence of Torrey's preaching, Harkness was converted. He made several round-the-world tours with them. He became well known for his radio program, "The Music of the Cross," and his correspondence course, "Evangelistic Piano Playing." Not the least, he wrote over 2,000 hymns and Gospel songs. In the later part of his life, Harkness and his wife conducted many sacred concert tours throughout North America, England, Scandinavia and the Continent. He returned to Australia and his home city of Bendigo seven times. On each occasion he gave sacred concerts and played hymns tunes on his father's foundry whistles. A feature of the concerts was his invitation to the audience to suggest a text to which immediately he would compose and play a tune. The verses in this week's hymn emphasizes the substitutionary nature of Christ's death, the suffering involved in Christ's death, and the purpose of Christ's death. As you meditate upon the words of this hymn this week, may your love for the Lord be rekindled as you ponder why He would do this for you.

(1) Love sent my Savior to die in my stead;

Why should He love me so?

Meekly to Calvary's cross He was led;

Why should He love me so?

Why should my Savior to Calvary go?

Why should He love me so?

(2) Nails pierced His hands and His feet for my sin;

Why should He love me so?

He suffered sore my salvation to win;

Why should He love me so?

Why should my Savior to Calvary go?

Why should He love me so?

(3) O how He agonized there in my place;

Why should He love me so?

Nothing withholding my sin to efface;

Why should He love me so?

Why should my Savior to Calvary go?

Why should He love me so?

You can listed to it here. LISTEN

Sunday, July 13, 2014

HE KEEPS ME SINGING

As I search the history of the writing of various hymns, I am continually impressed with the number of hymns that are the result of sorrow and tragedy. Over the years the Lord has often used such events to stir the writing of music that has spoken and helped so many people. Luther B. Bridges (1484 -1948) began preaching at the age of seventeen and was ordained as a Methodist Minister. He then served as an evangelist in the American South and in mission work in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Russia. He pastored in Georgia and North Carolina before retiring in 1945 in Gainesville, Georgia. As a teen he met Sarah Vetch and they reportedly fell in love at first sight. They were both younger than twenty years old when they married. They had three boys. In 1910 Bridges accepted an invitation to minister at a conference in Kentucky, so he left his family in the care of his father-in-law and made the trip to Kentucky. There he had two wonderful weeks of ministry. He closed the last service with great joy and was excited to be called to the telephone. He couldn't wait to tell his wife about all the blessings. But it wasn't her voice on that long distance line. Instead he listened in silence to the news that a fire had burned down the house of his father-in-law and his wife and all three of his sons had died in the blaze. He was bereaved for his wife and children and asked himself, "How could this happen while I was doing God's will?" But that distraught father leaned heavily on His Savior and expressed his faith in God and during a tearful moment he penned the words of this week's hymn. When you sing the words of this "upbeat" song you'd probably never sense the pain and sorrow of the author. But knowing the story behind it, you can see his sorrow with phrases he uses such as ... Fear not ... peace be still ...discord ... heart with pain ... broken strings ... His sheltering wing ... and then, in verse 4, waters deep ... trials ... path seems rough and steep. Maybe at times in your life you've used the same words to express your situation. But notice that the author always answers with ... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ... fills my every longing ... keeps me singing as I go. I trust that you have a song in your heart, no matter what your situation may be. But I can't end this blog without mentioning the hope of the final verse - soon He's coming back to welcome me ... I shall reign with Him on high. And that truth should enable us to live each day with a song of expectation in our hearts ... keeps me singing as I go!

(1) There's within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,

In all of life's ebb and flow.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(2) All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,

Discord filled my heart with pain,

Jesus swept across the broken strings,

Stirred the slumbering chords again.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(3) Feasting on the riches of His grace,

Resting 'neath His sheltering wing,

Always looking on His smiling face,

That is why I shout and sing.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(4) Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,

Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,

See His footprints all the way.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(5) Soon He's coming back to welcome me,

Far beyond the starry sky;

I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,

I shall reign with Him on high.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

Listen to it here. LISTEN

Sunday, July 6, 2014

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

With apologies to my many readers from outside the United States, this week I have chosen to share one of the great patriotic numbers from the United States. This week we celebrated Independence Day on the traditional Fourth of July with many parades, celebrations and firework displays. I was touched when I heard a beautiful rendition of America The Beautiful, a patriotic song which probably is no longer politically correct to sing. I wonder if it is ever sung in our schools anymore. The lyrics were written by Katherine Lee Bates and music was composed by a church organist and choirmaster, Samuel A. Ward. Bates originally wrote the words as a poem, Pikes Peak, first published in the Fourth of July edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. At that time, the poem was titled America for publication. In 1893, at the age of thirty-six, Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, took a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a short summer school session at Colorado College. Many of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem. These included the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise of the future contained within its alabaster buildings. Likewise the wheat fields of America's heartland Kansas, through which her train was riding as well as the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Zebulon's Pikes Peak. It was on the pinnacle of that mountain that the words of the poem started to come to her, and she wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room. Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward too was inspired to compose his tune. The tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in New York City, in 1882, and he immediately wrote it down. He was so anxious to capture the tune in his head, he asked fellow passenger friend Harry Martin for his shirt cuff to write the tune on. He composed the tune for the old hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem", retitling the work "Materna". Ward's music combined with Bates' poem were first published together in 1910 and titled, America the Beautiful. The song is such a great reminder of how God has blessed this nation over the decades, something that sadly is no longer remembered today by many of our citizens. It reminds us of the many "heroes" who gave their lives to gain and preserve our freedoms and independence. It reminds us of the dreams that these patriots had for our future. But in verse two it also pleads that God would mend our every flaw. I can't help but wonder if we have passed the point that God would continue to shed His grace on us as a nation if we would return to Him. Would He forgive us for turning our backs on Him in so many ways? May it be our prayer that we would return to Him and that He would bring a revival to this nation which appears to be in rapid decline. Thank the Lord for what this country has stood for in the past as God blessed and preserved us as a great nation. Truly I have been blessed to have been born here and to have lived here. "America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!"

(1) O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

(2) O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare of freedom beat

Across the wilderness!