The Hymnal, a Book of Poetry
Have you ever thought of the hymnal as a book of poetry?, or are you too busy singing to pay attention to the words you are singing? Most hymns started out as poems then someone put them to music. They are beautiful words. Open up the hymnal to any page and just read the words and think about what the poet is saying and what God is saying to you. Here are a few of my favorite poems and a little about the Authors.
First one I want to talk about was the first song I fell in love with “Beautiful Savior” The first verse goes like this.
Beautiful Savior
King of Creation
Son of God and Son of man
Truly, I'd love Thee
Truly, I'd serve Thee
Light of my soul my Joy my Crown
That was written by Anonymous . It was written by German Jesuits about 300 years ago. This is the way it appears in the Lutheran Hymnals. In other hymnals it is call “Fairest Lord Jesus” and the first verse is different. When it was translated from the German it was translated both ways, either way the words are beautiful.
Here is another very popular hymn that I love very much. It is called “What a friend we have in Jesus'
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and grief's to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry ,
everything to God in prayer.
Isn't that beautiful, God wants to take our problems, our pain, and our sorrows all we have to do is pray and ask him to take them. Then we can forget them. That poem was written by Joseph M. Scriven. He was born in Ireland and the day before he was to get married his fiance drowned. Joseph was so distraught he left Ireland never to return and made his home in Canada. He lived a very simple life. He gave most of what he had to help others. This poem was written to help his mother in Ireland when she was dying. When Joseph was on his deathbed a friend found a copy of the poem and ask Joseph for permission to put it to music. It is now a favorite hymn among many people.
Another beautiful poem was written by a sea captain . This sea captain was captain of a slave ship. Over 300 years ago he sailed to Africa and bought slaves and took them to the United Sated and sold them. You can't get much lower then trafficking in human lives. After a very bad storm at sea he got scared and started calling out to God. God was there for him and he started believing . He retired a few years later and lived in England and studied under John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church. His Poem is called “Amazing Grace”, and it goes like this.
Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound,
That save a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I am found,
Was blind but now I see.
That was written by John Newton. Aren't those words beautiful. If someone as low as John Newton can be saved think what he can do for you. God wants to save you. He sent his son Jesus to die for you so that you can be saved. All that you have to do is ask.
There is one verse in that song that was not written by Newton it goes like this.
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We no less days to sing God's praise
Then when we just begun.
Wow isn't that beautiful. That verse is listed as anonymous in the hymnals. In my research I found out it was one of about 50 to 70 verses of a song the slaves passed down from generation to generation called “Jerusalem my happy home. It was first popularized by Harriet Beecher Stowe in her anti-slavery book “Uncle Tom's cabin”
When Tom was at his lowest he sang Amazing Grace and she added that verse to it. It has been connected to the song ever since. Amazing Grace was sung using more tunes then any other song I know of. It seems that every group or person that wanted to sing it had to sing it with a different arrangement.
Blessed Assurance another beautiful poem. This was written by Fanny Crosby. Fanny Crosby was blind she was not born blind but due to a Doctors mistake when she was about 6 months old she lost her sight. She is credited with writing over 8000 hymns and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for writing the most hymns. She often was working on two or three hymns at once and when she was satisfied her secretary wrote them down for her. You would think with all those hymns she would have lots of money but she was cheated out of some of it and most of the money she did have she used to help the poor in New York City. She live in a small modest apartment with her husband . She owned very little because she gave most of it away.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchased of God,
Born of his spirit washed in his blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
There is one more Hymn I would like to talk about it is probably one of the most recognized hymns of all. It is a Christmas hymn and is most beautiful when sung without instruments. It is called “Silent Night”. It was written by Father Joseph Mohr
Silent Night, Holy Night
all is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent Night, Holy Night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories streams from heaven above
Heavenly host sing Alleluia!
Christ the savior is born
Christ the savior is born
Silent Night, Holy Night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at the birth
Jesus, Lord, at the birth
Wow! I mean wow it takes my breath away every time I read those words. What a beautiful picture he is creating. The story goes the Church organ was broken so Joseph got out this poem he wrote a couple of years earlier and asked his friend Father Frantz Xavier Gruber to write music for it so that it can be used at the mass. Since the only instrument they had was the guitar it was a simple melody written for the guitar. It is funny it is one of the few hymns I know of that is always sung with the same music. I have never heard of anyone changing the music.
If you have a favorite hymn and would like to know more about it, Who wrote it, Why is was written and the thought behind the hymn there are several books written on the subject. Two I recommend are '101 Hymn Stories” and “101 more Hymn Stories”. Both written by Kenneth W. Osbeck, or you could just go to your computer and type the name of you favorite hymn and see what pops up. Sometimes you will not get much other times there are pages and pages. They are always updating so don't be afraid to go back from time to time. There may be new information or corrections.
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