RELIGION AND LIFE

THE HYMNS I’VE ALWAYS LOVED

By HANDEL ANDREWS

a.k.a. BRO. LIBIRD

This time I’m going to call your attention to five of my favorite hymns, and, arguably, the five best loved in all Christendom.

Abide Wih Me was written by Henry Francis Lyte, a British curate, in 1847. He was born June 1, 1793 in Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and took holy orders in 1816. In 1847, as he lay dying of tuberculosis, he wrote "Abide with Me," one of the most popular hymns in Christendom. Rev. Lyte died in Nice, France, two weeks after completing it.

When one attends funeral services these days one is constantly told that the service is a celebration, and the music is up tempo. Not so when I was growing up. Yes, funeral services were a celebration of the life of the dearly departed, but there was a solemnity befitting the occasion. "Abide with Me" used to bring tears to my eyes and still does.

The stanza I love is:

"I need Thy presence every passing hour.

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?

Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me."

This is a wonderful confession of faith, which has everything to do with life. The hymnist confesses that he needs God’s help every hour of every day of his life. If God does not protect us, we should fall prey to the tempter. But with God at our side, we shall fear no evil.

Life is full of victories and defeats, rejoicing and sorrowing, fulfilled aspirations and broken dreams. Many times we feel discouraged and complain about the crosses we bear. We have no choice but to accept that "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord." "Through cloud and sunshine, Lord abide with me."

"JESU, Lover of my Soul" was written by Charles Wesley, younger brother of the founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley. He was born December 18, 1707 and died March 29, 1788, two months after Lord Byron’s birth, four years before my beloved Percy Bysshe Shelley’s and seven before John Keats. It is fair to assert that he was a true 18th Century Romantic poet.

His father Rev. Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epsworth, Lincolnshire, England, and his mother, Sussanah Wesley, a strict British woman, brought up Charles and his brother to think on the things of the spirit.

Charles Wesley made the Methodist Hymnal as popular as the Anglican’s "Book of Common Prayer." Known as "The sweet singer of Methodism," he wrote more than 6,500 hymns. Some of the more memorable are: "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," "Hark! the herald angels sing," "Christ the Lord is risen today!," "O for a heart to praise my God," "Soldiers of Christ arise," "O for a thousand tongues to sing," and "Lord divine, all love excelling."

However, his considered masterpiece is "Jesus, Lover of my Soul, "The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher said of this grand, old hymn: "I would rather have written this hymn than have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth."

The story behind its composition is that one night Charles was roused from his sleep by a terrible storm. He put on his dressing gown, opened his casement window and looked outside.

Suddenly a bird, exhausted by the wind, and hotly pursued by a hawk, flew through the open window right into his breast for protection. Having saved the bird and placed it in security, Wesley went to his desk and wrote this beautifully meaningful hymn.

"Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let me to thy bosom fly,

While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high:

Hide me, O my Savior, hide,

Till the storm of life be past!

Safe into the haven guide,

Oh, receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none,

Hangs my helpless soul on thee;

Leave, ah! leave me not alone,

Still support and comfort me:

All my trust on thee is stayed,

All my help from thee I bring;

Cover my defenseless head

With the shadow of thy wing."

The hymnist manages to capture the bird’s experiences in the storm and relates it to our own Christian journey. The life of a person born of a woman is full of trouble. We need the steady guidance and protection of our Heavenly Father to see us through the storms of life. Whenever I sing this truly death song, I thank my unconquerable soul for my Eternal Projector. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 81:1).

As I come now to call your attention to "Rock of Ages" I cannot help but marvel at the simple, trusting faith that my mother exhibited when she walked among us. It was one of her favorite hymns. I pause and sing the words to her memory.

The hymn was written by Augustus Montague Toplady, who was born in Surrey, England, on November 4, 1740 and died August 11, 1778. Like Charles, and John Wesley with whom he had a life-long theological disagreement, he attended Trinity College, Dublin, where, like the brothers, he obtained the M.A. degree.

He was ordained an Anglican deacon in 1762 and later became curate of Blagdan in Somerset. He wrote "Rock of Ages" in 1763. The story surrounding its writing is that one day he was traveling along the countryside, when he was caught in a thunderstorm. He got shelter under a large rock at Burrington Cambe. The rock is now marked as the "Rock of Ages."

Although historians have largely discounted the story, the hymn remains a perennial favorite. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s son, had it played to him on his deathbed, and it was played at the funeral of William Ewart Gladsone, Prime Minister of England.

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save from wrath and make me pure."

Like "Jesus, Lover of my Soul", this hymn seeks the protection of Almighty God through the storms of life. It is also a strong profession of faith in the efficacy of Jesus’ death on the cross, as a substitute for our sins. "Be of sin the double cure."

Space does not permit me to draw your attention to the gloriously penitent hymn "Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me," and my most loved of them all, "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah."

However, until next time, friends, think on these things.

The conclusion of Differences between Judaism and Christianity will be published in the July 16 issue. Sorry for any inconvenience.