The Perfect Wisdom of GodAs I mentioned earlier this month, I’m reading through The Knowledge of the Holy. Today, I read Chapter 11, entitled The Wisdom of God. It, as well as other chapters, has been a great blessing to me spiritually. The quote today is somewhat lengthy, but I hope it will encourage and challenge you.
“Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.
“All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done: a better way to do them could not be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.
...
“The operation of the gospel, the new birth, the coming of the divine Spirit into human nature, the ultimate overthrow of evil, and the final establishment of Christ’s righteous kingdom - all these have flowed and do flow out of God’s infinite fullness of wisdom. The sharpest eyes of the honest watcher in the blest company above cannot discover a flaw in the ways of God in bringing all this to fruition, nor can the pooled wisdom of seraphim and cherubim suggest how an improvement might be made in the divine procedure. ‘I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.’
“It is vitally important that we hold the truth of God’s infinite wisdom as a tenet of our creed; but this is not enough. We must by the exercise of faith and by prayer bring it into the practical world of our day-by-day experience.
“To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.
“There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him.
“Here is His promise: ‘And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them’” (emphasis mine).
Over the last several months, I either have read or am currently reading several books that have had a powerful impact upon my life. I want to share something about them with you over the next two weeks.
The Hiding Place
This is a powerful and moving story. Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch believer, lived through the Holocaust. She and her family were heavily involved in the Dutch underground during World War II, and helped to save the lives of hundreds of Jews. On February 28, 1944, the family was arrested. Corrie, along with her sister Betsie, spent 10 months in concentration camps, the final one being the infamous Ravensbruck. Betsie died there, but Corrie was released due to a clerical error (God’s providence!). I visited the house where it all took place in August 2008, before I read the book. Now, when I see pictures of concentration camps, I am often reminded of what Corrie’s sister Betsie said: “There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.” If Corrie ten Boom could go through such horrors, and yet still trust in God, how can I not trust Him in my relatively easy life?
The Knowledge of the Holy
No-one writes like A.W. Tozer. The Knowledge of the 
Holy is love for and knowledge of God, distilled into meaning-filled chapters. If you underline the books you read, as I hope you do, you will underline almost every paragraph! This book has more in it than I can grasp and absorb in one reading. It has impacted my spiritual life in a meaningful way. Consider these excerpts:
“The doctrine of the Trinity is truth for the heart. The spirit of man alone can enter through the veil and penetrate into that Holy of Holies. ‘Let me seek Thee in longing,’ pleaded Anselm, ‘let me long for Thee in seeking; let me find Thee in love, and love Thee in finding.’ Love and faith are at home in the mystery of the Godhead. Let reason kneel in reverence outside” (from Chapter 4).
“We can never know who or what we are till we know at least something of what God is. For this reason the self-existence of God is not a wisp of dry doctrine, academic and remote; it is in fact as near as our breath and as practical as the latest surgical technique” (from Chapter 5).
“Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one. A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, ‘I AM.’ That is sin in its concentrated essence; yet because it is natural it appears to be good” (from Chapter 5).
Read this book. It will challenge your misconceptions about God, and give you a hunger to truly know the One “with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).
The life of William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) presents a quandary for Christians. The man who wrote touching poetry and beautiful hymns (God Moves in Mysterious Ways; There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood) struggled with despair and depression for most of his Christian life. How do we reconcile spiritual songs and insanity?
Cowper was born in 1731 near London, England. His mother died when William was six years old, and his father sent him to boarding school, which was an exceedingly traumatic experience for the young boy. “From the age of ten till he was seventeen he attended Westminster private school and learned his French and Latin and Greek well enough to spend the last years of his life fifty years later translating Homer and Madame Guyon” (see footnote).
He began to be depressed in 1752, at the age of 21. He had not yet trusted Christ. He wrote about his first bout with depression thus:
“(I was struck) with such a dejection of spirits, as none but they who have felt the same, can have the least conception of. Day and night I was upon the rack, lying down in horror, and rising up in despair. I presently lost all relish for those studies, to which before I had been closely attached; the classics had no longer any charms for me; I had need of something more salutary than amusement, but I had not one to direct me where to find it.”
He fell in love with his cousin Theodora. They became engaged, but her father forbade the marriage at the end of seven years. This broke Cowper’s heart.
Cowper had been trained as a lawyer, and that was his profession. In 1759, he was to be made the Clerk of Journals in the British Parliament. He was required to pass an interrogation, which prospect struck him with terror; so much so that he went insane under the strain. He tried to commit suicide in three different ways, and was committed to a mental asylum.
After his third suicide attempt, he wrote:
“Conviction of sin took place, especially of that just committed; the meanness of it, as well as its atrocity, were exhibited to me in colours so inconceivably strong that I despised myself, with a contempt not to be imagined or expressed ... This sense of it secured me from the repetition of a crime which I could not now reflect on without abhorrence ... A sense of God's wrath, and a deep despair of escaping it, instantly succeeded.”
A Dr. Nathaniel Cotton took care of the patients at that asylum. He was a believer in Christ, and God, in His mercy, was pleased to use him in Cowper’s conversion. Cowper found a Bible lying on a bench in the garden, about six months after he came to the asylum. He read John 11, and then Romans 3:25 (“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God”). Of this experience h
e wrote:
“Immediately I received the strength to believe it, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel ... Whatever my friend Madan had said to me, long before, revived in all its clearness, with demonstration of the spirit and power. Unless the Almighty arm had been under me, I think I should have died with gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with tears, and my voice choked with transport; I could only look up to heaven in silent fear,
overwhelmed with love and wonder.”
We could stop here, and think that this was the end of William’s struggles with despair. Surely, looking back through the many dim years that have passed, this seems to be a true conversion. Sadly, William’s “life seems to be one long accumulation of pain” (see footnote) as well as depression and insanity.
In 1767, having been out of the asylum for about two years, Cowper met John Newton, the curate of the church in Olney. This was the most important relationship in Cowper’s life, as far as spiritual influence is concerned. Newton was a warm and happy man, and was loved by his people. Cowper moved to Olney, and remained there for the remaining 19 years of his life.
In 1769 Newton asked Cowper to help him in writing a hymnbook. Cowper only wrote 68 of the over 250 hymns in the hymnbook. It was at this time that There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood was written. In 1773, Cowper had another attack of insanity. He tried again, more than once, to commit suicide, but God did not allow this. Yet this was not the end, for in 1786 he again fell into despair, and attempted suicide.
He wrote this in 1784:
“Loaded as my life is with despair, I have no such comfort as would result from a supposed probability of better things to come, were it once ended ... You will tell me that this cold gloom will be succeeded by a cheerful spring, and endeavour to encourage me to hope for a spiritual change resembling it—but it will be lost labour. Nature revives again; but a soul once slain lives no more ... My friends, I now expect that I shall see yet again. They think it necessary to the existence of divine truth, that he who once had possession of it should never finally lose it. I admit the solidity of this reasoning in every case but my own. And why not in my own? ... I forestall the answer:—God's ways are mysterious, and He giveth no account of His matters:—an answer that would serve my purpose as well as theirs that use it. There is a mystery in my destruction, and in time it shall be explained.”
In 1792, he told John Newton that he often felt as if he were “scrambling in the dark, among rocks and precipices, without a guide. Thus I have spent 20 years, but thus I shall not spend twenty years more. Long ere that period arrives, the grand question concerning my everlasting weal or woe will be decided.”
“The last days of his life brought no relief. No happy ending. In March of 1800 he said to visiting Dr. Lubbock, ‘I feel unutterable despair.’ On April 24 Miss Perowne offered some refreshment to him, to which he replied, ‘What can it signify?’ He never spoke again and died the next afternoon" (see footnote).
His life, as full as it was of darkness and despair, has been used by God. There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood has been a blessing to untold thousands of hearts. It seems to me to be nearly impossible to reconcile his depression and his doubts of being accepted by God with his wonderful hymns and poetry. We need to remember, however, that God knows the heart. An unstable mind can misrepresent God and His Word to itself; God, however, always remains faithful: “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
Let us also be merciful and compassionate in our evaluation. It is easy to be hard and judgemental, removed as we are so many years from his life. John Newton was a great lover of God, and a faithful pastor, and he treated Cowper with compassion, and remained his friend through all of the darkness, until Cowper’s death. Perhaps the words of J.C. Ryle will help here:
“Let us never set down men in a low place, as graceless and godless, because their faith is feeble and their love is cold. Let us remember the case of Thomas, and be very pitiful and of tender mercy. Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many dull pupils in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, many lame sheep in His school. Yet He bears with them all, and casts none away.
“Happy is that Christian who has learned to deal likewise with his brethren. There are many in the Church, who, like Thomas, are dull and slow, but for all that, like Thomas, are real and true believers.”
Let us close with the words of the hymn There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood. When we sing it in church, let us remember that God can use even the weakest of us for His glory.
1.There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
2.The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
3.Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
4.E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
5.Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
6.Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.
Footnote: The quotes in this article were taken from an excellent account of Cowper's life, which can be found here.
Earlier this month, the famous antitheist Richard Dawkins was interviewed on a Toronto radio station. The host was John Moore, himself an atheist. I’d like to share two excerpts from that interview, and share some thoughts on
John Moore: “Is there anything for you... that is sacred? I mean the kind of feeling of awe and majesty that the faithful enjoy. Is there anything for you that is sacred?”
Richard Dawkins: “...One sense of sacred, I would say that something like truth is sacred. But you’re asking [something] a bit different, something like the equivalent to a spiritual experience. Yes. When I look up at the Milky Way, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, on a moonless night, you get a feeling of hearing the heavens singing, and you get a singing in your own breast, and its a feeling that must be very akin to a mystical, religious experience. There’s nothing supernatural about it. The human brain is a very complicated thing....”
The Bible says in Psalm 19:1-3: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”
The skies are pouring out speech daily, and even an antitheist like Richard Dawkins can hear it! However, he denies the supernatural in such an experience. This general revelation of God in the skies is one reason why no man will be able to claim innocence on the day of judgement, for “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20).
Here’s the second excerpt:
John Moore: “Is there a cost to not understanding evolution, to a society rejecting evolution?”
Richard Dawkins: “...I think there’s a...may I even use the word “spiritual” cost, since we’ve just been talking about that. It is such a waste of a life to spend a few decades on this planet without ever understanding why you’re here, which is what many people are condemned to by the ignorance which is forced upon them by a bad education. It’s such an enormous privilege to be allowed to understand why you’re here before you have to leave forever.”
Wow. If would have given that quote (minus the part about a bad education), without telling you who said it, all the Christians would be saying “Amen!” The only life worth living is one that is lived for the glory of God and the good of others. All other lives are wasted. Let us make sure that we know God, and that we live our lives for His glory. While atheists deny the general revelation of God, let us make sure that we do not deny or reject any part of God’s special revelation in His Word.
"The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord,
In every star Thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold Thy Word,
We read Thy name in fairer lines."
Isaac Watts
The heavens are singing, and God is speaking through His Word. Are you listening?
Although my favourite music to listen to is vocal music, I do enjoy a good instrumental CD. I first heard the CD Hear My Prayer through a friend, and purchased it a couple years ago or so. The liquid, golden sound of a classical guitar being masterfully played is incredibly relaxing. When mixed with oboe, flute, orchestra or strings, as in some tracks, the heart is quieted, and the spirit soars.
I appreciate that Matthew Burtner has included several old hymns on this CD. Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched; O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus and O Sacred Head Now Wounded are too often forgotten in our hymn-singing today. The inclusion of The Sands of Time Are Sinking is special as well, as it is one of my all-time favourite hymns. One way it became beloved to me is as I read about the life of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, and how the fourth verse was close to her heart:
O Christ, He is the fountain, the deep, sweet well of love!
The streams of earth I’ve tasted more deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.
Newer songs, such as Psalm 86; Saviour, Lead Us; and The Steps of a Good Man are also welcome additions. Some of the tracks were familiar to me before; others were new. The lyrics to all the songs are included in the insert, which is a great help, and an added blessing.
If you want an instrumental CD to relax with, and to edify you spiritually as well, go with this one. You can search for it here.
I am currently reading through The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer. I am teaching Theology Proper this semester, and this book is an excellent help. It is comprehensive, yet never dry. It is a book that could be read in a devotional setting as well. The famous preacher Warren Wiersbe said, “A.W. Tozer had the gift of taking a spiritual truth and holding it up to the light so that, like a diamond, every facet was seen and admired.” I highly recommended reading it.
The book is a scholarly, yet worshipful volume, with chapters that cover topics such as God’s self-existence, His eternity, faithfulness and goodness. I have only read the first five chapters, but this book is a bountiful feast that I’m sure I will return to again and again for spiritual nourishment.
I’ll leave you with a quote that will hopefully encourage you to read The Knowledge of the Holy. It is again from Warren Wiersbe: “If a sermon can be compared to light, then A. W. Tozer released a laser beam from the pulpit, a beam that penetrated your heart. If you have never read Tozer—what are you waiting for? Thirty minutes spent in a Tozer essay is often better than a week at a Bible conference.”
The following quote is from Chapter 5, “The Self-existence of God.”
“It is not a cheerful thought that millions of us who live in a land of Bibles, who belong to churches and labor to promote the Christian religion, may yet pass our whole life on this earth without once having thought or tried to think seriously about the being of God. Few of us have let our hearts gaze in wonder at the I AM, the self-existent Self back of which no creature can think. Such thoughts are too painful for us. We prefer to think where it will do more good - about how to build a better mousetrap, for instance, or how to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. And for this we are now paying a too heavy price in the secularization of our religion and the decay of our inner lives.”
(You can read The Knowledge of the Holy online here, or you can download the .pdf here. Just open the .pdf file in your browser, and select File, then Save Page As.)
Since I was a teenager, I have loved Mac Lynch’s voice. As a teenager, I tried to make my high tenor voice sound like his, attempting to emulate his rich, warm tones. To do this as a high tenor, I had to sing in my throat, in a way that would make any professional voice teacher cringe! I later unlearned this bad habit in voice lessons, but I have retained my enjoyment of Mac Lynch’s music. (I have also learned that you need to sing with the voice that God gave you, not trying to force it to sound like someone else’s!)
Proclaim His Name is one of my favourite CDs from THE WILDS. Mac Lynch obtained his B.A. (1976) and M.A. (1979) in sacred music from Bob Jones University. He joined the music staff at THE WILDS in 1988, and is currently their music director. Mac is a composer, arranger, soloist and accomplished pianist, as well as the producer of some of THE WILDS CDs.
For this recording, Mac is joined by Tim Fisher. Tim also received a B.A. and an M.A. from Bob Jones University, and taught on faculty for 9 years. He founded Sacred Music Services in 1998, with a goal of providing sacred music recordings for the home. He is an author, public speaker, composer, arranger, and performer. My speaking so highly of Mac Lynch’s voice isn’t meant to denigrate in any way Tim Fisher’s voice! Tim is a baritone, whose voice has a pleasing smooth and round tone. (Please forgive my florid descriptions of voices. I love music, especially vocal music, and am liable to wax verbose!)
In Proclaim His Name, Mac and Tim sing quite a few duets, as well as solos. They are joined by an orchestra, as well as a choir! This is a heavenly combination, with superb results.
The first track is O Worship the King. This majestic arrangement gave me a love for this old hymn. I wish I knew where to get the arrangement for it!
Before the Throne of God Above is another old hymn. Faye Lopez, who has published hymn arrangements for piano, wrote the music. The result is a stirring song of worship. The words of the hymn continue to encourage me. "Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea: A great high priest Whose name is Love, Who ever lives and pleads for me! My name is graven on His hands; My name is written on His heart. I know that while in heav'n He stands, No tongue can bid me thence depart."
Our church choir has sung Ashamed of Jesus? twice, I believe. Again, it is an old hymn, set to a beautiful new melody. The title of the CD comes from a line in this song: “No, when I blush be this my shame, That I have not proclaimed His name.” This is a challenging and moving piece.
When I think of the song Rest, I think of a dear lady at my church, Alicia Harrison. She went to heaven a few years ago, and it may have been near that time that I first heard this CD. “All is done, the race has ended; Weary bones are set aside.” Tim’s voice is perfect for this song.
The last track is I Will Go. The words here grew in meaning to me when I realized the chorus is based on a Bible verse, Psalm 71:16: “I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.” I love the line in the song that says, “Strengthened with might by His spirit in power, Fully assured that my Captain I know.” We do know Who our Captain is, and that should encourage us to witness boldly.
You can order this CD here for only $5.95 US! If you live in Canada, I believe you will have to order via phone. The number is (864) 268-4760.
The theme of the CD is, in their words, “to praise our glorious Creator.” Listen to this CD with your heart. You will be helped and blessed and moved to praise Him as well!
Here's another poem/song I wrote. It still needs a musical ending, a coda, with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.." Maybe it will come. I wrote the first two verses in 2005, and the third verse in 2005 or shortly thereafter.
1. Father, we come to You,
Bowing in adoration.
Holy, You are holy,
Exalted high on Your throne.
But we are unclean, undone;
Our hearts are full of sin.
Yet through the blood of Your Son,
We come to You,
We come to You,
Our Father.
2. Father, we come to You,
Bringing a heart that’s yielded.
Faithful, You are faithful;
Each day new mercies we see.
Perform Your perfect will;
And though it cause us pain,
We trust Your goodness still,
And come to You,
We come to You,
Our Father.
3. Father, we come to You,
Bowing in supplication.
Needy, we are needy;
We trust Your power to provide.
Give us our daily bread,
And keep us free from fear,
Your heart to trust instead,
And come to You,
We come to You,
Our Father.
I apologize for the lateness of this post. I tried to post it late this afternoon, but it seemed like Blogger was down, so I was unable to. Better now than never, though.
Frances Ridley Havergal had a natural gift for language. “For instance, while the others were having their German lesson, she would take care to be in the room, and without any one's knowing that she was listening, picked up so much that the master begged to be allowed to teach her.” Her father composed sacred music and sacred poetry, and at a young age, she would write down her rhymes.
Outwardly, she was a happy child, clambering up trees and climbing walls. However, there was a darkness in her little life. Even at the age of six, she knew that she did not love God as she ought to. "Up to the time I was six years old," she writes, "I have no remembrance of any religious ideas whatever; I do not think I could ever have said any of those 'pretty things' that little children often do, though there were sweet and beloved and holy ones round me who I must have often tried to put good thoughts into my little mind. But from six to eight I recall a different state of things. The beginning of it was a sermon at Hallow. Of this I even now retain a distinct impression. It was to me a very terrible one, dwelling much on hell and judgment, and what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God. This sermon haunted me. I began to pray a good deal, though only night and morning, with a sort of fidget and impatience, almost angry at feeling so unhappy, and wanting and expecting a new heart, and to have everything put straight and be made happy all at once.”
Sometimes men who preached at her father’s church would come over to their home. She writes, “I did so wish they would talk about the Saviour whom I wanted, but had not found. It would have been so much more interesting to me, and oh! why didn't they ever talk to me about Him, instead of about my lessons or their little girls at home? They did not know how a hungry little soul went empty away.”
Her little world fell apart when she was eleven years old, when her mother died after a long period of illness. Her grief was extreme, but she hid it under a facade of merriment and laughter.
After her mother’s death, she spent much time with her sister, Ellen. About this period of time, Frances wrote, “Between thirteen and fourteen, a soberising thoughtful time seemed to fall on me like a mantle, and my strivings were no longer the passionate spasmodic meteor flashes they had been, but something deeper, more settled, more sorrowful. All this was secret, and only within my own breast very few knew me to be anything but a careless, merry girl, light-hearted in the extreme. Now came a more definite and earnest prayer, for faith. Oh, to believe in Jesus, to believe that He had pardoned me! I used to lie awake in the long summer twilight praying for this precious gift. I read a great deal of the Bible in a 'straight on' sort of way. Once I determined, if eternal life were in the Scriptures, find it I would, and resolved to begin giving an hour a day to very careful and prayerful reading of the New Testament.”
It was around that time that she began her formal education. Among all of her friends, there was one girl, Diana, whom Frances “loved with a perfectly idolatrous affection.” Up to this time, Frances had only spoken to her sister, Ellen, about her lack of love for God. However, the longing was still there.
On December 8, 1850, the light began to dawn on Frances’ soul. She writes, “For some time I had noticed a slight depression about [her ‘idol’ Diana]. That evening, as I sat nearly opposite to her at tea, I could not help seeing (nobody could) a new and remarkable radiance about her countenance. It seemed literally lighted up from within while her voice, even in the commonest remarks, sounded like a song of gladness. I looked at her almost with awe. As soon as tea was over she came round to my side of the table, sat down by me on the form, threw her arm around me and said: 'Oh Fanny, dearest Fanny, the blessing has come to me at last. Jesus has forgiven me, I know. He is my Saviour, and I am so happy! Only come to Him and He will receive you. Even now He loves you, though you don't know it.’”
In February, 1851, on her knees in her room, Frances trusted Christ as her Saviour. “Then and there I committed my soul to the Saviour; I do not mean to say without any trembling or fear, but I did; and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment; I did trust the Lord Jesus.
"For the first time my Bible was sweet to me, and the first passage I distinctly remember reading, in a new and glad light, was the fourteenth and following chapters of St. John's Gospel.”
This glimpse into the tender heart of the young Frances Havergal reminds us of the need to preach the Gospel to children as well as to adults. Even a young child can understand the Gospel. Jesus said, after all, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.” It also helps to shed a new light on her first hymn, I Gave My Life for Thee.
Frances was about 22 years old. In Dusseldorf, Germany, she saw the painting Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), which portrays a flogged Christ standing before Pilate. Immediately the words of her hymn came to her. She wrote them down on a piece of paper, but decided to toss the paper into the fire. However, the paper was only singed. It was not until months after this that she showed the poem to her father. He wrote a melody for it, and it was first printed in 1859.
Frances Havergal also wrote the well-known hymn Take My Life, and Let It Be, as well as Golden Harps Are Sounding and Who Is on the Lord’s Side?
I recommend that you read the biography of her life at Wholesome Words. It is wonderfully written, and is the source of the quotes in this post.
1. I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might’st ransomed be
And quickened from the dead.
I gave My life for thee;
What hast thou given for Me?
2. I spent long years for thee
In weariness and woe
That an eternity
Of joy thou mightest know.
I spent long years for thee;
Hast thou spent one for Me?
3. My Father’s home of light,
My rainbow-circled throne,
I left for earthly night,
For wanderings sad and lone.
I left it all for thee;
Hast thou left aught for Me?
4. I suffered much for thee,
More than My tongue may tell,
Of bitterest agony,
To rescue thee from hell.
I suffered much for thee;
What canst thou bear for Me?
5. And I have brought to thee
Down from My home above
Salvation full and free,
My pardon and My love.
Great gifts I brought to thee;
What hast thou brought to Me?
6. Oh, let thy life be given,
Thy years for Me be spent,
World’s fetters all be riven,
And joy with suffering blent!
I gave Myself for thee:
Give thou thyself to Me.
I have been reading a lot of books lately. As a teacher, books help to inspire and educate me as I seek to inspire and educate my students. Today, rather than a music quote, I'll leave you with a quote from Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book.
“There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher’s icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your blood stream to do you any good.
Confusion about what it means to “own” a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type — a respect for the physical thing — the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contains, without staking his claim by pasting his bookplate inside the cover. Having a fine library doesn’t prove that its owner has a mind enriched by books; it proves nothing more than that he, his father, or his wife, was rich enough to buy them.
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best sellers — unread, untouched. (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books — a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many — every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.) …
But the soul of a book “can” be separate from its body. A book is more like the score of a piece of music than it is like a painting. No great musician confuses a symphony with the printed sheets of music. Arturo Toscanini reveres Brahms, but Toscanini’s score of the G minor Symphony is so thoroughly marked up that no one but the maestro himself can read it. The reason why a great conductor makes notations on his musical scores — marks them up again and again each time he returns to study them—is the reason why you should mark your books. If your respect for magnificent binding or typography gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.”
HT: Tim Challies
I have been studying different arguments recently, which attempt to prove the existence of God in varying ways. One argument for God’s existence is the cosmological argument, also known as the argument from first cause. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, taught that the creator did not create the universe out of nothing, but rather took something called “necessity,” which co-existed with the creator, and organized it into what is now our universe. Aristotle taught something similar, although he and Plato disagreed about the nature of what the creator organized to form everything that is. In the following centuries, many others, such as Thomas Aquinas, posited their own ideas about the universe’s origin. The millennia-wide study of philosophy abounds in innumerable, differing and irreconcilable ideas about God!
I look in vain at all the reasonings of men for hope and certainty. The sum of the speculations and philosophisings of the wisest men is a whirling sea of contradictions, confusions, and inconstancy. Behold! The Word of God! I place my feet upon it, and find it an unmovable, everlasting rock. On its broad base I set the full weight of my faith, and find my mind and spirit and soul satisfied, content, forever safe.
In lieu of a review, I'm posting today some connected thoughts about the power and character of music.
Music is a powerful force, for either good or evil. I think the first time I realized how powerful music can be was when I was studying music history. One the compositions I studied was Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The first movement, Allegro con brio, is one of the most famous four-note sequences in Western music. It has been compared to the knocking of fate at the door, and was used by the BBC during World War II to introduce its broadcasts, as the opening four-note motif is the letter "V" (for "victory") in Morse code.
I listened to the movement in my bedroom. The amazing sound, coming through the speakers and the subwoofer, blew me away. I was impressed by the sheer power this music had to move me deeply.
The blogger Dissidens, in his blog Remonstrans, mentioned an experience he had with music, which must have been both pleasant and unpleasant:
"There was a time in my life when I was not the sterling example of humanity poets write sonnets about. And I recall in those days putting a vinyl disk on the spindle, setting the needle and sitting down to listen to some JSB [Johann Sebastian Bach]. It was maybe eight bars into the piece and I don’t recall the words that occurred to me, but I do recall the sensation: 'You are nothing but a punk and a wretch! What gives you the right?' As I say, it was more visceral than voiced, but it was as real as a toothache."
The composition that Bach wrote was doubtless beautiful, orderly and symmetrical. Beauty and proper order in music contradicts the ugliness and disorder of our sinful natures.
This concept is well-illustrated by Theodore Dalrymple, a writer for City Journal, in his article When Hooligans Bach Down. I especially enjoyed the story he relates by one Simon Leys:
"Leys was sitting in a café where other customers were chatting, playing cards, or having a drink. The radio was on, tuned to a station that relayed idle chatter and banal popular music (you are lucky these days if popular music is banal only). But suddenly, and for no apparent reason, it played the first movement of Mozart’s clarinet quintet, transforming the café into what Leys called “the antechamber of paradise.” The customers stopped what they were doing, as if startled. Then one of them stood up, went over to the radio, and tuned it to another station, restoring the idle chatter and banal music. There was general relief, as if everyone felt that the beauty and refinement of Mozart were a reproach to their lives to which they could respond only by suppressing Mozart."
The music you listen to has power to affect you for good or evil. The music you listen to is also a reflection of who you are. I wonder: what does the music you listen to say about you?
In Part 1, I talked about pleasing God with our music. Today, instead of publishing another hymn story, I want to talk about the place where pleasing God with our music starts: our hearts.
Keep in mind that the music that we sing at church, whether we are singing a special number, as part of a choir, or sitting in our pews, has two directions: ourselves, and God. Colossians 3:16 says: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
The first direction is to each other. We are teaching and admonishing each other. All things are to be done to edifying, Paul said in I Corinthians 14:26, so that is one goal of our church music.
However, the primary direction, which I mentioned in Friday’s post, is God. We are to be “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” God not only hears us sing with our mouths, he sees the condition of our hearts. This is where pleasing God begins.
Man sees the outward appearance, but God sees deeper (I Samuel 16:7). He sees our motivation: are we singing to be praised by men, or to express praise to God? Are we singing because we are required to in church, or are we singing because our heart is overflowing with love for Him? He sees, He knows, and He cares: He cares if we have grace in our hearts as we sing, or if our hearts are cold and hypocritical. He cares if we are making melody in our heart, or just with our tongues.
Pray before you go to church this Sunday. Ask God to help you sing to Him with your spirit, and not just with your voice. Ask God to help you focus on Him as you sing. Ask God to touch your heart with the words of a song, and move you to praise Him genuinely.
Then go worship with the congregation, your heart singing with the psalmist David: “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High” (Psalm 9:1-2).
I have the privilege to direct our church choir. I’m thankful for the blessing that the songs we have sung have been to my heart, to the hearts of the choir members, to our pastor’s heart, and, I believe, to the hearts of our congregation. Yet, if the songs have only pleased me, the choir, our pastor and the congregation, we have failed. God must be pleased with our music.
First of all, God must be pleased with the music itself. In contrast to what many modern Christians proclaim, I believe that music is not neutral. It isn’t my goal to get deep into that discussion in this post, but music alone, even without lyrics, does carry a definite moral message. Is the music we sing pleasing to God? Or does it cater to the sinful desires of my carnal nature? Is it conformed to the rebellion of the world? Is it mediocre in quality, or does it evidence the excellency of our Creator? Our music must be pleasing to God.
The reason for this is that our music is primarily for God. If He is our first and pre-eminent audience, then the first question that must be answered is “Is this music acceptable to our God?” not “Is this music acceptable to our audience?”
This is the primary reason we do not use rock music in our services. A fleshly, rebellious style of music cannot be pleasing to Him. God is holy; we as His people must be holy; and the music we use to worship Him must be holy. One Christian author said it well:
“Drugs, immorality, satanic lyrics, backward masking – you’ve heard it all before. Meanwhile, books and lectures about rock continue to warn that rock kills plants; rock will damage your hearing; rock’s low frequencies affect your heart rate and body metabolism; the music bypasses your brain’s conscious control centers, and the rhythm stimulates immoral desires. You’ve heard all of this, too.
What you may not have heard is that the real issue is holiness. The word is seldom used today, but the Bible makes it clear that Christians are to be a holy people. They are to be separated from the world unto God. (Psalm 1:1; I John 2:3-6)
By talking about houseplants, hearing, and heart rates – instead of holiness – far too much discussion of rock has focused on rock’s effects upon man rather than its offensiveness to God. The result is that many are more interested in what God might permit than in how He might be pleased” (Richard Peck, Rock: Making Musical Choices (Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1985), p.7, emphasis mine).
Not only must God be pleased with our music, but He must also be pleased with our hearts. I’ll get into this aspect of our music in the next post.
Today (September 24, 2009) is the 250 anniversary of the birth of Charles Simeon. You can read more about his life here, or here. I listened to a sermon on his life several weeks ago for the first time, and was blessed by it. The following quote really struck me. A friend of Charles Simeon asked him how he managed to overcome and continue to serve God faithfully in the midst of adversities. Simeon said this:
“My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently; we shall soon be partakers of His victory” (H.C.G. Moule, Charles Simeon, London: InterVarsity, 1948, 155f.).
Speaking of the church, Christ is “the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God” (Colossians 2:19).
In your suffering, remember Christ.
I love to hear men sing. This is a general statement, of course, contingent upon the quality of the men’s voice, and the style of music they are singing. I enjoy hearing a well-blended, beautifully sung men’s chorus; I do not enjoy hearing the raw-voiced screaming that passes for music in many circles.
I Sing the Mighty Power of God is an example of the former kind of singing! It is the first men’s CD put out by Sacred Music Services, run by Tim Fisher (the author of the insightful book The Battle for Christian Music, which should be on every conservative Christian’s bookshelf, and which I am planning on reviewing for this blog). They have put out several more men’s CDs, all of excellent calibre; but this one to me is exceptional.
The songs are rich theologically: I Sing the Mighty Power of God; Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise; and Lamb of God. There are often-used and well-loved hymns and gospel songs: Faith of Our Fathers, Were You There, and There’s Room at the Cross. There are also pieces that are lesser known, quite undeservingly: Opened for Me, That Day at Calvary, and Praise Ye the Triune God.
This CD is easy to listen to, but this doesn't mean the songs are weak or tepid doctrinally, or empty of true spirituality. I have been ministered to by many of the songs. Permit me to talk about some of my favourite tracks.
The title track is the standard-setting men's arrangement of I Sing the Mighty Power of God, as far as I’m concerned. The men sing with power, and the piano playing is strong and artistic. The message of God’s majesty comes across loud and clear.
Opened for Me is an older song, written by Merrill Dunlop in 1936. It is a comforting, encouraging song. I have used it in our congregational singing, and will do so again. It is a hymn worth learning.
Another definitive arrangement is of Were You There. This song raises one’s soul to the very threshold of heaven! When the men sing, “Sometimes, I feel like shouting glory, glory, oh glory!” your spirit is irresistibly led to respond with excitement and joy!
Lamb of God is an old hymn, published in 1841, with lyrics by James Deck, accompanied by a new melody. The new melody was written by Ed Rae, who was on the music faculty at Bob Jones University. The music fits marvellously well with the words, and the perfect blend glorifies Jesus Christ in beauty, reverence and joy.
If you are looking for a conservative, excellent, uplifting, encouraging, soul-strengthening CD, this is it. Buy it, listen to it, and let the music enter your bloodstream. You will not be disappointed.
Purchase the CD (and listen to audio samples)
The author of this week’s hymn, George Beverly Shea, should be familiar to many of you. His rich, warm voice is well-known in the Christian world. You probably know the song, as it became famous through its use in Billy Graham’s crusades. The story of his hymn I’d Rather Have Jesus is told by Earl Willer.
“It was in the thirties. Business curves were still heading downward and there was rumor of a salary cut at the New York insurance office where twenty-two-year-old Beverly Shea was employed as a clerk. Possessor of a deep melodious voice, the young man was offered a radio contract and immediately saw opportunities for fame and possible riches in his regular appearance on a secular program.
He had been pondering the matter for several days when he sat down to the piano early one Sunday morning to rehearse a hymn he was to sing in church that morning. As he played and sang his eyes fell on a piece of paper, on which was written:
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I’d rather be His than have riches untold!
The poem, by Mrs. Rhea Miller, had been placed where Beverly would see it by his mother, a minister’s wife, who knew of the offer her son was pondering. Above all, she wanted her son, a Christian, to become wholly consecrated to his service.
As his eyes raced over the words, the sentences I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause and I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame struck his very heart. His fingers unconsciously left the tune he was rehearsing and began to find this melody which is today known to millions.”
Shea is still alive at the age of 100! He is considered the first Christian singing star, and the Guinness Book of World Records has him as the world record holder for singing to the most people at one time, with “an estimated cumulative live audience of 220 million people” (Wikipedia).
However, I’m sure George Beverly Shea would still say, “I’d rather have Jesus.”
I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
CHORUS:
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.
I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause,
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I'd rather be true to His holy name.
He's fairer than liles of rarest bloom,
He's sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He's all that my hungering spirit needs,
I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead.
I had a wonderful experience last Sunday morning. We sing three hymns or gospel songs per service, as well as a chorus in the morning (not including the invitation). One of the hymns we sang that morning was Fairest Lord Jesus. I don’t know if we had ever sung that hymn at our church before. If we have, I don’t remember it. This isn’t a criticism of my church; I’m the one who picks the hymns!
As we sang (or rather, as the congregation sang and I played the piano), I looked at my pastor. He had stopped singing. It seemed to me that he was pondering the words of the hymn, and that he had been moved by them. That gave the words greater import to me, and my spirit was awakened and stirred. The first and fourth verses read:
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son:
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honour,
Thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Beautiful Saviour! Lord of all the nations!
True Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine!
What wonderful words! Think about them: is Jesus your soul’s glory, and joy, and crown? The stirring words and simple, yet affecting melody and harmony touched my heart. Singing hymns like this one is very different fare from the upbeat, trendy happy-happy-happy-all-the-day songs we hear so often today.
Donald Hustad is an authority on church music. He is the author of a book called Jubilate: Church Music in the Evangelical Tradition, , a 595-page volume. On page 124, he has this to say about church music today, and I agree with him:
"American [and Canadian] evangelicals often exhibit a considerable gap between the materials they sing and the theology of their preaching. We confess to believe in a transcendent God who is above all His creation, yet sing few hymns which reveal Him in His excellencies. We insist on the ‘strong meat’ of biblical theology in our preaching, but seem to be satisfied with ‘milk’ or even lollipops in our hymns."
There is nothing inherently wrong with singing In My Heart There Rings a Melody, or even In My Life, Lord, Be Glorified, but our congregations also need solid food, to give them the spiritual nourishment that they need. They must learn biblical doctrine from their hymnbook as well as from the pulpit. As Hustad says in his book, “A hymn, a solo, an anthem or a cantata is first of all a theological concept expressed in words” (p. 76).
Let’s sing not only milk, but also Grade A steak.
Singing is something that I love to do. Before I went to Bible college, one of the main influences on my singing style was Mac Lynch, from The WILDS Christian Association. He has a beautiful, mellow, rich voice, and I would listen to him sing on a CD and try to copy his voice. Because my voice isn’t as rich and full as his, I taught myself to sing using my throat in the wrong way, to give my voice the same sound as his.
It wasn’t until I went to Bible college that I took my first voice lessons. What an eye (or ear!) opener that was. I was privileged to have a wonderful teacher, who caused a series of light bulbs to turn on in my head through the course of taking lessons (and playing piano for other students’ voice lessons), each light bulb switching on when a concept of how to sing properly would “click.”
I remember in particular one lesson, where I was to crescendo and decrescendo on held notes, gradually growing louder and gradually growing softer at different times. My teacher, Mrs. Baker, told me that my crescendos and decrescendos were not pronounced enough. I disagreed. Inside my head, I knew where each rise and fall was supposed to be, and I was doing them; I knew it. Out came a cassette tape. I sang the song again, while the tape recorded every note. I listened to it, there in Mrs. Baker’s office, and sure enough, the crescendos were non-existent! Mentally, they were there, but physically they were not.
A similar phenomenon goes on in the mind of a singer as he stands in front of the church, whether he is singing a solo, or is part of a larger group. Mentally, he is smiling; but physically, he is often expressionless. I have seen this many times; often, I want to close my eyes, and not be distracted by the expressionlessness of the singer, but enjoy the beauty of the music.
Have you ever watched a preacher preach who was expressionless? He talks and talks, and maybe even tells a story, but his face registers no emotion. He may be gripped by the power of the message he is proclaiming, but you, the listener, cannot tell. He may be preaching the truth, but his demeanour does not match the import of what he is saying.
On the other hand, have you ever watched a preacher preach who was full of expression? His face is animated; he shouts when a point must be emphasized; his voice is full of passion as the importance of the truth he is preaching overwhelms his heart. What happens to you at that point? Are you not then gripped by power of the message of God’s Word? Are you not impressed with the importance of the truth? Both preachers may preach the same message; both preachers may even have an equal passion for God’s Word; but I dare say the second preacher will have the greater impact on your heart. This is because the messenger is a vital part of the message.
In Haggai 1:13, we read of a special description of the prophet Haggai. “Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.” Haggai was the Lord’s messenger. Both a message from God and a messenger from God are crucial in the communication of the truth. Might I presume to say that the manner in which God’s man proclaims God’s message is also significant? The proclamation is indispensable; but the way it is proclaimed will have an impact on its reception! The congregation needs to know that the preacher believes what he is saying!
As the preacher is an integral part of the truth he communicates in preaching, so the singer is an integral part of the truth he communicates in singing. I ask those of you who minister in special music: Are you gripped by the power of the message you are proclaiming? Does the importance of the truth you are singing overwhelm your heart? If so, can those who are listening tell?
Don’t be like the deadpan-faced preacher. Remember, if your heart is excited about the message of the song, let your face know! Your facial expression is important. Ask God to help you communicate His passion, His love, His joy, and His truth through your music. God has a message; let Him make you His messenger. Your ministry of music will have a greater impact on those who hear it.
A friend of mine recently told me about a music CD by Ben Everson. I had heard a previous CD made by him, but hadn’t listened to any of his songs recently. God has blessed Bro. Everson with a great talent. He has a tremendous musical range, evidenced by his recordings of men’s quartets in which he sings all the parts (and sounds great in singing them, I might add). Placed online in July 2009, his new CD is called I’ll Pray Again.
Bro. Everson has written or arranged some of the songs on this CD. In the familiar hymn Brethren, We Have Met to Worship, he is the only vocalist, singing in his one-man a capella quartet. I enjoyed some of the harmonies in this one, especially at the end of the piece.
I’ll Pray Again, the title track, is the first song I heard from this album. It encouraged my heart, and strengthened my desire to write godly music to encourage believers. The song has been a blessing to my local church as well. You can purchase and download the song sheet for this song and four other of his songs from Lulu. Free sheet music for three songs (including The Final Account, which you can read about in the next paragraph) is available at Bible Revival.
The Final Account is a convicting song, with words written by Charles Wesley, and a gentle melody written by Bro. Everson. This song will help you to “be sober” (I Peter 1:13) in the Biblical sense of the word.
Besides songs written by Bro. Everson, there are some familiar pieces included: Wings As Eagles, by Ron Hamilton of Majesty Music, is a welcome addition. The old favourite Its Still the Blood is sung with great feeling and energy by the same one-man quartet.
This was an enjoyable CD. The orchestration is professionally done, and Bro. Everson’s voice is smooth and pleasing to listen to. The style is conservative; not quite as much as The WILDS, but much more conservative than most “Christian” music these days. You can purchase individual tracks, or download the whole CD in mp3 format for $9.99 USD from DigStation.
More listening:
Drawing Near (another CD by Ben Everson)
I have several favourite hymns. It would be hard for me to say which one is my favourite, although I have said in the past that Its Just Like His Great Love is my favourite hymn. However, it is not my only favourite hymn. There are other hymns that God has used to touch my heart at different times. Be Still My Soul is one shining star at the top of the list.
The lyrics were originally written in 1752, as Stille meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen, by Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel. Von Schlegel wrote over 20 hymns in Germany during the Pietistic Revival, which was a related movement to the Wesleyan revivals in England. She lived in Köthen in Central Germany. Music students will recognize that small city as the place in Johann Sebastian Bach served as a music director from 1717 to 1723, and the city in which he wrote his Brandenburg Concertos.
The hymn was translated from the German in 1855 by Jane Laurie Borthwick. It didn’t become associated with the famous tune Finlandia until 1899, for the simple reason that Finlandia was written between 1899 and 1900!
Jean Sibelius was one of the greatest Finnish composers. He wrote Finlandia as a symphonic poem. The first section is full of restless movement, symbolizing the distress Finland felt under the occupation of Nazi Germany. At the end of the piece, the now-famous tune is heard, flowing calmly and serenely. To avoid Nazi censorship of the piece, it had to be performed under various innocuous titles, such as “Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring.” Truth’s enemies are often well-aware of the secret power of music! How often truth’s friends are ignorant of this same power.
Finnish lyrics were written for this music in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi. It became one of the most famous national songs of Finland. Literally translated, the first verse reads:
O, Finland, behold, your day is dawning,
The threat of night has been banished away,
And the lark of morning in the brightness sings,
As though the very firmament would sing.
The powers of the night are vanquished by the morning light,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth.
Besides being the music to which Be Still My Soul is normally sung, Finlandia is the music associated with three other hymns: We Rest on Thee, A Christian Home, and This Is My Song. We Rest on Thee is the last hymn sung by Jim Elliot and the other martyrs of Operation Auca. The hymn’s inspiration was apparently I Chronicles 14:11: And Asa cried unto the LORD his God,and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.
The first verse reads:
"We rest on thee" - our shield and our defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
"We rest on thee, and in thy name we go."
Be Still My Soul has been a hymn of encouragement to me. Reading the wonderful lyrics and experiencing the powerful music is a feast of the choicest foods; a balm of the most precious ointment; a calm during the roughest storm. What help, what comfort, what joy, and peace have been brought to my soul while my little bark had been tossed about by waves of discouragement and sorrow! I leave the words of the hymn itself with you to encourage and bless:
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.
Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.
Helpful links:
Wikipedia
Wikipedia 2
Blessed Quietness
Fiddle-Sticks
Greetings, blog-readers all.
I had a very busy week last week. I have moved from Mississauga, Ontario to Ajax, Ontario, about an hour away. The Lord has given me an opportunity to teach at FaithWay Baptist College of Canada. Therefore, I will be busy unpacking, etc. I will be taking a one-week hiatus from the blog. I will be back on Monday, September 14, with another hymn story, this time on Be Still, My Soul (unless, of course, I come across another fascinating hymn story before then). I am excited and nervous about teaching here. Please pray for me, that God will use me.
See you on Monday!
Brent
“The purpose of music in the church is to prepare people’s hearts for the preaching.” This is a phrase that I have heard many times within the church environment in which I have grown up, and in which I serve. Wayne Hardy, pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Stillwater, OK, begs to differ. Here are some excellent words from Chapter Six of his booklet, The Great Exemption.
“I propose that preparing men’s hearts for the preaching is a necessary and precious by-product of a great music service, but not its primary intent. Further, I propose that a slightly altered view of the music in a service will further enhance the preaching time, not distract from it. We all know the dangers of a trend towards more music and less preaching, but should this not be attributed more to a weak pulpit, than an overbearing music program? That music overshadows preaching in some places says more about the preaching than it does the music....
“Take a moment to consider the prospects of using the music service to point men to God, not to the preaching. Suppose the song service was used primarily to provoke great thoughts of God. Using some of the great hymns with lyrics unequalled by modern pens can leave one in awe of God’s faithfulness or majesty....
“In the music service we might do a greater good to follow the example of the model prayer. Hallow his name first and foremost through music that recognizes Him for who He is, then the preaching comes through with great power to request that God speak to us and move us....
“This might involve a clarification from the pulpit that puts the immediate focus of the first thirty minutes of a service back on the Lord. Pastors could get settled into their place giving the Lord His due through singing rather than shaking hands with visitors or noting absentees. Musicians would be driven to greater excellence by sensing an even nobler call to point people solely toward Him, rather than the next part of the schedule. This mentality often causes people to be more deliberate about every part of the service because they believe it directly impacts Him and serves as a vital part of the service” (p. 15-16, emphasis mine).
As musicians who serve God in the local church, we need to remember that God is our audience. Our goal is to praise Him. Our hearts must be directed to Him, that the hearts of the congregation may also be directed to Him. We must sing for an audience of One.
Buy the booklet here:
Lancaster Baptist Church Campus Bookstore
There are some CDs that contain 3 or 4 songs that stand out, that you listen to over and over again. Other CDs contain so many wonderful songs that it is an almost impossible task to select only a few as your favourites!
I like The WILDS’ practice of beginning their CDs with an energetic, joyful song, and using a calmer song as the second track. The second track, Grace, has been an encouragement to me. The song is soothing, and the choir communicates the message sweetly.
The arrangement of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is one of the best tracks. The whole song is one beautiful, moving crescendo. I remember listening to this CD while driving my sister to a musical competition. As I listened to When I Survey, I was moved to tears by the words: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” The beauty of the music touched my soul at that point. What the 20th century songwriter E. Y. Harburg wrote is true: “Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.” The vital thought that I ought to give my life to God because of His sacrifice on the cross was communicated by the vehicle of godly music, and that powerful combination moved me deeply.
The arrangement of the gospel song ‘Tis Marvelous and Wonderful, the eleventh track, is an example of simple yet beautiful part-writing. The song flows energetically from beginning to end without letting up, and the texture is wonderfully homophonic and hymn-like.
The next song, Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart, provides a beautiful contrast. I love the rich sound of the four-part (or three-part?) men’s harmony in the first verse.
O for a Thousand Tongues is a joyous arrangement, fitting to the hymn. I often hear the chorale singing the words, “Hear Him, ye deaf,” from this arrangement as I play the hymn in church.
Sherry Oliver Trainer’s clear, beautiful high soprano voice rings out powerfully in many of the songs. Her high note at the end of When I Survey makes chills go down my spine. Her solo in the sixteenth track, Lord, I Need You is pure and inspiring.
I recommend this CD very highly! It would make an excellent addition to any Christian’s musical library. I appreciate the high standard of musical excellence and the spiritual quality and ministry of the songs. This CD has been a great blessing to me personally and, in my opinion, this is the one of the best CDs that The WILDS has produced.
Places to purchase the CD:
Light of Faith Resources
Old Fashioned Christian Radio Music Store
Well, it is that time of the week again. I love good hymns, and its time for another hymn story. First of all, I’d like to apologize for my lack of posts this past Wednesday and Friday. I have no good excuse, and I offer none. I will apply myself not to let my faithful readers (if faithful readers I have) down again.
Secondly, Monday is the day where I post a hymn story. I had planned to tell the story of the hymn “Be Still My Soul,” which is one my favourite hymns. But another hymn has come to mind. Allow me to introduce it.
Last Monday (August 24) was the 250th birthday of William Wilberforce, the great British Christian and abolitionist. During the early days of his conversion, he struggled to decide whether to remain in Parliament (to which he had been elected in 1780 at the age of 21), or to withdraw from public life.
During this struggle, he visited the minister John Newton for advice. Newton advised him to remain in Parliament, and to serve God there. Wilberforce became one of the prime movers of the abolition of the slave trade and eventually of slavery itself in the British Empire.
This preacher, John Newton, who had such an influence in the life of Wilberforce, was once a slave trader himself. Knowing his story has helped me to better appreciate his most famous hymn, Amazing Grace.
John Newton was born in 1725 in Wapping, London. His father was a shipmaster, and his mother was a godly woman. However, his mother died when Newton was six years old, and his father’s second wife had no interest in spiritual things.
At the age of 18, Newton was pressed into service on board the Harwich against his will. He says of himself, “I was capable of anything; I had not the least fear of God before my eyes, nor (so far as I remember) the least sensibility of conscience.” His only restraint was his love for Mary Catlett, a girl he fell in love with at the age of 17, and whom he married at the end of his miserable traveling years, seven years later.
When he was 20, after being discharged from another ship, the Pegasus, Newton accompanied Amos Clowe to Sierra Leone, Africa, where he assisted him in business. However, misfortune befell him, and for about a year and a half he became a slave to the slaves there, under the thrall of Clowe’s wife, the African Princess Peye, who treated him abusively.
Miraculously, a ship landed on his island at the end of this horrible period, which “just happened to be the ship with a captain who know Newton's father and managed to free him from his bondage” (Desiring God). He sailed with the ship for about a year, no doubt still his wicked and blasphemous self. However, God was seeking him.
God found him during a storm on March 21, 1748. The ship was in danger of sinking, and Newton cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us.” He had not cried out for mercy for years, and when the storm had passed, Newton began to seek God. He became transformed after this, although he marked his true conversion as happening at a later date.
In 1805, John Newton wrote in his diary, “March 21, 1805. Not well able to write. But I endeavor to observe the return of this day with Humiliation, Prayer and Praise.” Newton was still overwhelmed by the amazing grace that had saved such a wretch!
At the age of 82, John Newton said this: “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.” Newton’s life is a story of the great grace of God. Should not we, great sinners who have been redeemed by God’s amazing grace, also praise Him?
John Newton died in 1807, at the age of 82. His epitaph, written by himself, reads like this:
JOHN NEWTON,
Clerk,
Once an Infidel and Libertine,
A Servant of Slaves in Africa,
Was,
by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior
JESUS CHRIST,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the Faith
He had long laboured to destroy,
Near 16 years at Olney in Bucks;
And [28] years in this church.
AMAZING GRACE
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!
Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we'd first begun.
SOURCES:
http://www.joyfulheart.com/misc/newton.htm
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1485_John_Newton_The_Tough_Roots_of_His_Habitual_Tenderness/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton
This week’s hymn story is of the well-known hymn Abide with Me. I fell in love with this hymn after hearing a beautiful recording of it performed by choir, soloist, and orchestra, including the seventh verse (“I fear no foe...”), which I had not heard before.
This beautiful hymn was written by Henry F. Lyte in 1847 as he lay dying of tuberculosis. Lyte was the pastor of All Saints Church in Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England. He preached his farewell sermon at All Saints and wrote the words to the hymn on the same day. His state of mind can be seen in this excerpt from this final sermon:
“O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.”
He departed for Italy, seeking to regain his health. Still on his way to Italy, in Nice, France, Lyte breathed his last breath, only three weeks after writing what is surely one of the most famous hymns in English hymnody. Perhaps the words he had written only three weeks earlier rang in his ears as he left this life: “Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still if Thou abide with me.”
The music for this hymn was written by William H. Monk in 1861. His wife described the music’s origin:
“This tune was written at a time of great sorrow—when together we watched, as we did daily, the glories of the setting sun. As the last golden ray faded, he took some paper and penciled that tune which has gone all over the earth.”
So the sorrow of two men, at two separate occasions, combined to give us this treasure, which has comforted many thousands of sorrowing hearts, and will surely comfort many thousands more.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
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.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
I have found that I function well with a schedule. For instance, during my last year or so of being home-schooled, my mother had a schedule posted of what subject I would study, in hourly segments. This was a great help to me, possibly because I am naturally disorganized as regards time management. And so, I have made a blog schedule, to give me a framework and a goal to work towards.
So, without further ado, here is a brief listing of what you can expect from this blog in the coming days.
Monday: Hymn story of the week
Wednesday: CD or book review
Friday: Music quote
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and perhaps other days will see articles written on various subjects (not only musical) by myself, and hopefully by others as well, as the blog grows. Not every Tuesday and Thursday will see a post, as I have to work at a real job as well. I will do my best, however!
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2a).
The gaze of our soul needs to be constantly upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We need Him every moment of every day. Remembering Jesus and His Word will bring peace to the discouraged soul.
The other morning, I was driving along the 401 on my way to work, feeling discouraged. As I was driving, God used a passage of the Bible to encourage me. I think it was Matthew 14:22-33 (unless there is another passage in the Gospels about a storm on the sea of Galilee). The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water in a storm, and they were afraid. He comforted them with these words: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (verse27).
That morning, and one other morning that week, I wrote this poem. It was an encouragement to me, and I pray that it will be to you. If we keep Jesus before our eyes, we will have joy as we walk through our daily lives.
1. Lord Jesus, fill my vision;
The world’s display I see
Of brightly-coloured trinkets
That draw my heart from Thee.
Oh, foolish heart and sinful,
To thus believe a lie,
And drink from broken cisterns
That cannot satisfy.
2. Lord Jesus, fill my vision;
The painted lies of sin
Seduce me with their beauty
And hide the death within.
Oh, help me now to trust Thee;
Thy Word is ever true;
Delight me with Thy beauty;
My joy shall be in You.
3. Lord Jesus, fill my vision
When I am full of care,
When disappointments crush me
And life I cannot bear.
Oh, help me see Thee walking
Upon my stormy sea,
Each wind and wave controlling,
And speaking peace to me.
4. Lord Jesus, fill my vision,
That all the world may see
The brightness of Thy glory
Reflected now in me.
Through this weak, earthen vessel
Display Thy power and might,
In turning hearts of sinners
From darkness unto light.
5. Lord Jesus, fill my vision
Through all my pilgrim days,
Till death’s cold waves roll o’er me,
And I behold Thy face!
Upon the shores of glory
My song shall be of Thee,
And Thou shalt fill my vision
For all eternity!
Welcome to Grace. Music. Ministry.! For the first post, I wanted to give an explanation for the blog name, and a bit of the purpose behind it.
GRACE
We are saved by grace alone, and it is by God’s grace that we are enabled to live the Christian life. We “stand” in grace (Rom. 5:2): it is underneath us, supporting us; it is above us, protecting us; it is around us, teaching us. And it is with grace in our hearts that we are to sing: “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16).
MUSIC
Music is a wonderful gift from God. As Christians, we are instructed to sing (Eph. 5:16; Col. 3:16). By God’s grace, I am aware of the dangers of ungodly music, and I want to help spread knowledge of this deadly virus that is sweeping so many churches. God has also given me a love and a passion for good music, and I want to spread a passion for godly music among God’s people.
MINISTRY
In God’s church, “all things” are to “be done unto edifying” (I Cor. 14:26). The goal of our music must be twofold: firstly, to glorify God (Psalm 29:9; I Cor. 10:31), and secondly, to teach each other; in other words, to minister to each other (Col. 3:16). If our music doesn’t minister, then we have failed.
I hope that this blog will be a blessing to those who read it, and that all will be encouraged to sing with grace in their hearts, to listen to and sing godly music, and to minister to each other in song in the local church.
