Come, Ye Disconsolate

For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up;
they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me:
O Lord, make haste to help me.
~ (Psalm 40:12-13)



Every person, at some point (and probably many) in life, will know profound sorrow and anguish. It may be the passing of a loved one, some material or financial devastation, or a diagnosis of serious illness. It may be the dashing of one's hopes and dreams: the failure of a business venture, or worse, the breakup of a marriage. Or it may be the guilt, shame, and regret that usually follow upon gravely sinful conduct. Whatever it is, the sufferer may be crushed by feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness--unless he or she finds someone who can sympathize, ease the burden, and provide encouragement and hope.

One of the most precious truths we know is that such comfort is available to every person, without condition, 24/7: our very own Savior and brother Jesus Christ. He entreats us to  "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)  He is our advocate with the Father, our "great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God . . . we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

So we are reminded in one of the greatest hymns of reassurance, Come, Ye Disconsolate. The text was written in 1816 by Thomas Moore (1779-1852), an Irish-born poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer. Under the title "Relief in Prayer," it was first published that same year in Moore's Sacred Songs, Duets and Trios, one of 32 hymn texts in that collection.

Thomas Moore, 1817

We don't often see the word "disconsolate" in modern American usage; it has been defined as "without consolation or solace; hopelessly unhappy; inconsolable."  At least outwardly, Thomas Moore's career  was not of the sort one would expect to engender despair.  Son of a Dublin grocer, Moore initially studied law but achieved fame, even as a young man, once he turned his talents to poetry, music, and the performing arts. He married an actress, traveled extensively in Europe and America, and was a widely read poet, playwrite, songwriter, biographer, novelist, and social critic. He also became a popular society figure in London, hobnobbing with the Prince of Wales and performing for the future Queen Victoria. He is still fondly remembered today for the lyrics to the Irish patriotic song The Minstrel Boy, as well as those to such romantic songs as The Last Rose of Summer and Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms. Nevertheless, his personal life was dogged by tragedy, including the deaths of all his five children within his lifetime, and a stroke in later life, which disabled him from performances--the activity for which he was most renowned.

Thomas Hastings

While Moore's career flourished, "Relief in Prayer" remained obscure until it was reworked in 1831 by American composer and choir master Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). He was born in Connecticut, moving with his family at the age of two to Clinton, Oneida County, New York. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to Utica, New York, where he directed the Oneida County Choir and was editor of a religious magazine, The Western Recorder. In 1832 Hastings was invited by twelve churches to come to New York City to improve their psalm singing. He stayed there the rest of his life, composing, writing, teaching, and directing. He was a prolific writer of hymn tunes, and what fellow hymnist Lowell Mason called the "simple, easy, and solemn" style of his music remains a major influence on the hymns of the Protestant churches to this day. Hastings is best remembered today as the composer of TOPLADY, the tune for the hymn Rock of Ages.

Hastings made a few minor changes to the first and second stanzas of Moore's text, and substituted his own third stanza, when he published the hymn under the title Come, Ye Disconsolate in Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (Utica, New York: 1831-32), compiled by Hastings and Lowell Mason. It is generally agreed that these changes made Moore's poem easier to sing and more suitable for evangelical church use. [See Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 365 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, Kregel Publications 1990, 2002, p. 199]

Samuel Webbe, Sr.

For the hymn's tune, Hastings adapted one originally set for solo voice to the Marian hymn "Alma redemptoris mater" by English composer and organist Samuel Webbe, Sr. (1740-1816) in his Collection of Motetts or Antiphons (1792).  The tune is now generally known as CONSOLATION, although it is sometimes given as ALMA or CONSOLATOR.

The version of the text below, found in modern hymnals, incorporates the changes to Moore's original words (which can be read here) made by Thomas Hastings:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure."

Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.

Here is Come, Ye Disconsolate as it appeared in Hastings' 1831 collection Spiritual Songs for Social Worship:

  

 Here is a presentation in a more modern notation style:

REFLECTIONS

Come, Ye Disconsolate is an invitation, a call for sufferers and sinners to come to Christ and find healing (st. 1), hope, and comfort (st. 2), and to enjoy spiritual sustenance in the feast of the Lamb (st. 3). The text emphasizes the consolation that Christ offers to those who turn to him in faith. To Him we may bring our anguish, and cast upon Him all our cares (1 Peter 5:7). Comfort and salvation are promised to sinners who approach Him in repentance (2 Cor. 7:10; John 14:16-18). Indeed, Jesus Himself is the bread of life who gives life unto the world (John 6:32-33); it is through Him that we can see the waters flowing from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1-2) and are able to participate in the "feast of love," the bounty of joy in oneness with God that looks forward to the eternal marriage feast (Rev. 19:9). Come, Ye Disconsolate surely ranks as one of the most moving hymns of consolation and reassurance, along with such treasures as It is Well With My Soul.

COMFORT IN THE DARKNESS OF WAR

We know the great impact that hymns can have on the lives of individuals: sparking eternal insights, stirring emotions, creating precious memories of childhood, family, and home. Sometimes, one hymn can have a deep and lasting effect on the lives of many who hear it at the same time, and thus on history itself. And so it was with Come, Ye Disconsolate.

On the night of July 2, 1863, at the height of the American Civil War, as many as four thousand dead and wounded soldiers carpeted the 26 acres of the (now) infamous "Wheat Field," where some of the most vicious fighting of the Battle of Gettysburg had just taken place between the Army of the Potomac (Union) and and the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate). As darkness gathered, the field became a macabre “no-man’s land” between the exhausted armies. As reported by Cpt. George Hillyer of the Ninth Georgia Infantry regiment, which spent the night lying within earshot of the Wheat Field after being beaten back from the nearby hill known as Little Round Top, one of the men between the lines began to sing, loudly enough to be heard on both sides.

“He was probably a boy raised in some religious home in the South,” Hillyer recalled later, “where the good old hymns were the standard music.” There were “thousands of desperately wounded men lying on the ground within easy hearing of the singer,” the captain observed,“ and as his voice rang out like a flute . . . not only the wounded, but also five or ten thousand and maybe more of the men of both armies could hear and distinguish the words.”  The lines that they heard had been penned four decades earlier by an Irish poet named Thomas Moore and then set to music and published in 1831:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish; / Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel; / Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; / Earth has no sorrow that heav’n cannot heal.

When the unidentified man finished singing, thousands of soldiers on both sides clapped and cheered.  [See Robert Tracy McKenzie, "The Battlefield at Gettysburg–Final Reflections" (November 1, 2013);  Allen C. Guelzo, Gettysburg: The Last Invasion (Vintage Books, 2013), p. 570]

Union dead at on the Gettysburg battlefield

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Several high-quality video renditions of Come, Ye Disconsolate can be found online, although there seems to be a trend to re-arrange the Webbe-Hastings tune or give the hymn an entirely new musical setting. This writer prefers the hymn as originally set, but the modern efforts are also impressive.

In the video below, the hymn is sung beautifully to the traditional tune CONSOLATION, by an unidentified choir. The Moore-Hastings text is included, so it's easy to follow along.



The performance below is by Freddie Ashby, Hope Shepherd, and Daron Bradford to a more reflective, plaintive arrangement. The video itself is beautiful and moving, as is the orchestration:



Yet another touching modern arrangement, by contemporary Christian composer and producer Rob Gardner, is sung in the video below by Loni Hawkins.

* * * * *

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death,

neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain:

for the former things are passed away.

(Rev. 21:4)

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

[W]hen he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? ~ Matthew 14:30-31

With the recent Valentine's Day observance here in the United States, we've heard much talk (especially from sellers of flowers and candy) about "love" and "lovers."  Of course, it's the romantic sort of love that people have in mind. What many forget or fail to appreciate, however, is a kind of love that has nothing to do with attractiveness or favorites, material generosity or even mere affection. This is the love that brought the universe and every person into being, that gives everything and endlessly without condition or seeking for itself, that pursues us like no human lover ever would, and that, like no human lover's, will ever flag or fail. That, of course, is God's love for each one of us.

In a modern world dominated by the works and wants of man--especially where material goods and comforts are plenty--we lose sight of how much we need God's love, and how empty and hopeless we would be without it. When times are good, we grow smugly self-confident and feel that we need no God, or even that He doesn't really exist. Yet, when things change for the worse and we can't cope, we instinctively turn to Him for rescue. Our relationship with the Heavenly Father is thus much like that between a young adult and his or her parent: the "new grownup" strides into the world confidently, believing that the parent's guidance and support are no longer needed. But when the strength of youth has been spent, the "prodigal son" flees home to the patient, loving parent, who forgives all and once more showers the child with blessings. This relationship is beautifully expressed in what some have called the finest hymn in the English language: Jesus, Lover of My Soul (sometimes also titled "Jesu, Lover of My Soul").

THE TEXT

Charles Wesley

The text of this immortal hymn was written by the great English evangelist Charles Wesley (1707-1788), and was first published in his collection Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1740 (it was originally titled “In Time of Prayer and Temptation”). This hymn has as its theme the sufficiency of Christ to give comfort, power, and grace in any circumstance. In five compact stanzas, Wesley captures the essential nature of our flawed and and helpless human condition and our dependence on the grace and mercy of the Savior for salvation. He expresses that relationship by contrasting stormy seas and safe havens, defenselessness and protection, need and succor, sickness and healing, sin and and redemption:

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,
O 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.

Wilt Thou not regard my call?
Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—
Lo! on Thee I cast my care.
Reach me out Thy gracious hand!
While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand,
Dying, and behold, I live.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
mor than all in thee I find;
raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
false and full of sin I am;
thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
grace to cover all my sin;
let the healing streams abound,
make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee:
spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity.

Of Wesley's thousands of hymns, Jesus, Lover of My Soul is generally considered to be his finest. The distinguished American preacher, Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), acclaimed the hymn's greatness when he wrote:

I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley’s than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth. It is more glorious. It has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. He will die. He is dead, and does not know it . . . But that hymn will go singing until the last trump brings forth the angel band; and then, I think, it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God.

Dr. George Duffield (1818-1888), author of Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, similarly wrote that "If there is anything in Christian experience of joy and sorrow, of affliction and prosperity, of life and death, that hymn is the hymn of the ages!"

Many other anecdotes relate how beloved is Jesus, Lover of My Soul, and of its transformative power. Among the most heartwarming is one that purportedly occurred during the American Civil War:

[T]he opposing armies of the Federals and Confederates on a certain occasion, were facing each other. One night a Confederate sentry was on duty when he heard the sound of singing coming from the Federal lines. He proceeded cautiously in their direction, and observed an enemy sentry pacing up and down, singing "Jesu, Lover of my soul". Bringing his gun to his shoulder, he was about to shoot, when the singer came to the words, "Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of Thy wing". This was too much for the Confederate and he lowered his weapon and allowed his would-be victim to go unharmed. Many years passed, and the Confederate, now a private gentleman, was aboard an excursion steamer on the Potomac River, when he heard an evangelist singing this hymn. Memories were aroused, and thinking he recognised the voice, he made his way to the singer and in conversation found that the evangelist was indeed the sentry he had nearly shot. Great was their mutual joy when he revealed to the singer the peril from which he had been saved in that night long ago, when on sentry duty he besought divine protection by singing, "Jesu, Lover of my soul".

Given these accolades, it is interesting to note that when Charles Wesley first presented this hymn to his brother John, the founder of Methodism, he rejected it on the ground that it was "too sentimental" or "too pietistic and . . . intimate for public worship"!

Several accounts or theories about the circumstances in which Jesus, Lover of My Soul was written have been advanced, none of them authenticated. One is that it was written at some point after Charles Wesley's return to England in the fall of 1736, after a brief and disappointing sojourn in the American colonies. Wesley's ship was caught in a severe storm at sea and it appeared certain that she would go down with all hands. But on December 3 the ship reached port, and Wesley noted in his journal for that date that "I knelt down and blessed the hand that had conducted me through such inextricable mazes."  Others suggest that Wesley was inspired to write the hymn when, during this storm or on some other occasion, a frightened bird flew into his room and sheltered in his bosom for comfort and safety. A popular account, promoted by American evangelist Ira Sankey (1840-1908), is that Wesley wrote the hymn while hiding under a hedge on a farm in County Down, Ireland while being pursued by an angry mob that opposed his Methodist ministry--an interesting mental picture, except that, so far as is known, Charles Wesley never visited northern Ireland! (See Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Kregel Publications, 1982), p. 130).

THE MUSIC

The history of the hymn's music is as rich as that of its text.

Over the years, Jesus, Lover of My Soul has been paired with several different tunes. In the United States, the hymn first became popularly associated with the tune MARTYN, composed by American choir director and singing-school teacher Simeon Butler Marsh (1798-1875) (of whom no image is available). In 1834, Marsh was making his weekly round of singing schools between Amsterdam and Johnston, New York, when he wrote this tune, intending for it to be sung with John Newton’s hymn Mary to Her Savior’s Tomb.Because of this association, the melody is sometimes listed in hymnals as the "Resurrection Tune."  It was published in 1836 with Newton’s text in the first volume of Musical Miscellany, a collection by American hymn composer Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). MARTYN was first paired with Jesus, Lover of My Soul in 1851 in Darius E. Jones’s Temple Melodies. Some years after that, Hastings too discovered that MARTYN was well-suited for Wesley's text, and he began using it with great response in his new publications.

Somewhat unfairly, perhaps, MARTYN has been characterized as "a bland and repetitious tune . . . with a range of just a sixth. It does not seem to capture any of the restlessness of flying or tempests referenced in the text but rather to provide the safe haven that the singer seeks in Jesus." (See Music and the Wesleys, edited by Nicholas Temperley, Stephen Banfield, University of Illinois Press (2010), p. 81).

Jesus, Lover of My Soul has also been widely sung in the United States to the tune REFUGE, composed in 1862 by Joseph Perry Holbrook (1822-1888) (also of whom we have no image), an American musician whose other hymn tunes are little used today. REFUGE is the tune paired with Wesley's text in the current edition of the LDS (Mormon) Hymbook.

Joseph Parry

But today, in Great Britain and just about everywhere else, Jesus, Lover of My Soul is most popularly sung to the tune ABERYSTWYTH. It was written in 1876 by Welsh composer and musician Joseph Parry (1841-1903) and first published in 1879 in Edward Stephen's Ail Lyfr Tonau Ac Emynau (Welsh for "The Second Book of Tunes and Hymns"). Parry was at the time the first professor and head of the new department of music at University College Wales, Aberystwyth, now called Aberystwyth University, and so the tune is named after the Welsh coastal resort town in which Parry then lived. The D minor key and steady rhythm of this compelling tune perfectly reflect the plaintive, urgent spirit of Wesley's text.


Here is the text of Jesus, Lover of My Soul set to Parry's ABERYSTWYTH:

Below is Wesley's text set to Marsh's MARTYN:

And here is the hymn set to Holbrook's REFUGE:

RENDITIONS

While Jesus, Lover of My Soul is a beautiful and powerful hymn sung solo, congregationally, or by a choir, its first-person expression is ideally suited to a solo performance. Here is an excellent one, to the tune ABERYSTWYTH, by Christian singer, composer, and worship leader Fernando Ortega. All stanzas are sung, and Ortega's voice, as well as the spare piano/cello accompaniment, perfectly capture the spirit of the hymn.



Click here for an excellent rendition by an unidentified congregation (perhaps from the British Christian music program Songs of Praise?), also to the tune ABERYSTWYTH. Uunfortunately, the embedding feature has been disabled, so the video can't be played directly in this page.

The hymn as sung to the tune MARTYN may be somewhat less compelling, but is beautiful and endearing nonetheless. Here is a rendition by an unidentified--Mennonite?--congregation in a community sing:



The following rendition of the hymn is to Holbrook's tune REFUGE, performed by the Altar of Praise Chorale:



There are several contemporary arrangements of Jesus, Lover of My Soul, but by far the best is the one below by Christian artist Chris Eaton. His music is very heartfelt and, like ABERYSTWYTH, conveys the hymn's sense of urgency.

* * * * *

 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

~  Isaiah 25:4

    

Great is Thy Faithfulness

On November 28, here in the United States, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. This event was instituted nationwide in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, who proclaimed it a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."  Traditionally, the holiday is typified by the gathering of families and and friends around a dinner table heaped with fruits of the harvest, and the recitation of good things which the participants are thankful to have. But do we think beyond the good things or "blessings" we have, and reflect sufficiently on where they came from and why we have them?

In this context, a "blessing" is not just a desirable state of affairs or a beneficial thing or event that fell to us by chance. Rather, it has been defined in various dictionaries as "the bestowal of a divine gift or favour" and as "a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness."  Thus, the ultimate source of the benefit--our Father in Heaven--is just as important as the thing itself. Otherwise, getting it is just "good luck."  Moreover, blessings are a gift, and not just a reward for good behavior. Scripture tells us that "a faithful man shall abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20), and surely a steady faith in God and obedience to His Commandments will bring those spiritual and familial benefits that the Commandments were intended to secure to us, if not all the worldly benefits men desire. But if you think about it even for a moment, you should realize that you're blessed far beyond anything you could possibly earn or deserve, no matter how "good"--or bad--you are. If you don't feel very blessed, perhaps it's because you haven't thought about this very much, or at all.

So, WHY does our Heavenly Father bless us so abundantly, and freely?  I submit that it's simply because, as John says, God is Love (John 4:8). Like any good parent, His love is unconditional and beyond measure, and He wants nothing so much as our happiness. This is the core of His nature, and the way He always is. This commitment, this determination, is so great that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to ransom us from sin and death with His own blood, His own death--while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8)--so that we could know eternal happiness with Him. This is the greatest gift of all!

Moreover, God's love and provision for us never fail; we can count on them absolutely. As the Bible puts it, He is ever "faithful" in blessing us:

Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations . . . (Deuteronomy 7:9)

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

Thomas O. Chisholm

One of the most moving celebrations of God's absolutely faithful love for us is the beautiful hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.The text was written in 1923 by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960). He was born in Franklin, Kentucky on July 29, 1866, little more than a year after the end of the American CIvil War, in a log cabin. He attended a small country school and became its teacher at the age of only 16. At age 21, he became associate editor of Franklin's weekly newspaper. In 1893, at the age of 27, he accepted Christ as his Savior during a revival in Franklin led by Methodist evangelist Dr. Henry Clay Morrison. Chisholm later moved to Louisville, Kentucky at Morrison's request and became editor of the widely read Pentecostal Herald, and was himself ordained a Methodist minister in 1903 at the age of 36. He served a pastorate in Scottsville, Kentucky, but had to resign after one dear due to poor health. After moving his family to a farm near Winona Lake, Indiana (also home of the famous preacher Billy Sunday and, until 1990, headquarters of the Free Methodist Church), he became an insurance salesman. In 1916, at the age of 50, he moved his family again, this time to Vineland, New Jersey. He finally retired in 1953, when 87 years old, and passed away in February 1960 at the age of 93.

Chisholm had a hard adult life. His health was fragile and he was sometimes confined to bed, unable to work. Between illnesses he put in extra hours at various jobs in order to make ends meet. Nevertheless, he found great comfort in the Scriptures, and in the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of sickness and to provide for his needs. One of his favorite Bible passages was Lamentations 3:22-23: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

William M. Runyan

In addition to selling insurance, and despite poor health, Chisholm wrote during his lifetime more than 1,200 poems and hymns (including among the latter O To Be Like Thee and Living for Jesus).  He also often wrote to friends, among them fellow Methodist minister and composer William Marion Runyan (1870-1957) in Kansas, who was affiliated with both the Moody Bible Institute and Hope Publishing Company. Chisholm sent Runyan several of his poems with these letters, including the text of Great is Thy Faithfulness. Runyan found it so moving that he decided to set it to music, and the hymn was published in 1923.

For some years thereafter the hymn received little recognition, until it was discovered by Moody professor William Henry Houghton, who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the hymn became the unofficial theme song of the Institute. It was not until 1945, however, when George Beverly Shea began singing Great is Thy Faithfulness at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world. Despite its eventual popularity, Thomas Chis­holm wrote that were no spe­cial cir­cum­stanc­es which caused the hymn's writ­ing—just his ex­per­i­ence and Bi­ble truth.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been,Thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

(Refrain)

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own great presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.

(Refrain)

The best reflection on this great hymn that I've read observes as follows:

Verse 1 speaks of God’s faithfulness revealed  in his Word, and is adapted from James 1:17:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Verse 2 tells us of God’s faithfulness revealed in creation. The seasons, the sun, moon, and stars all continue on their courses perfectly, orderly, quietly – guided by God’s faithful hand, without any help from us.

Verse 3 reminds us of God’s faithfulness revealed in our lives. He pardons all our sins, fills us with his peace, assures of his presence, gives us strength, hope, and blessings to numerous to count!

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Great is Thy Faithfulness is marvelous to hear sung by a large congregation, making the rafters ring with their happy, exultant praise of our Lord for His ever-faithful goodness to us. Here's just such a presentation, by the congregation of Southwark Cathedral in London, England:



Click here for a lovely small group performance by the Blue Rock Mennonite Youth.

Great is Thy Faithfulness also lends itself well to solo performance, in a spirit of quiet, humble gratitude. Here is such a rendition, highlighted with stunning scenes of nature, by contemporary Christian artist Chris Rice:



Another Christian artist, Fernando Ortega, is known for new arrangements of traditional hymns and gospel songs that are very appealing, as well as faithful to the spirit of the original works. Here is his version of Great is Thy Faithfulness:

*******

As you give thanks for abundant blessings this holiday--or at any time--reflect not just on the things and advantages you enjoy, but especially on the One who lovingly bestowed them on you, and who blesses you beyond all deserving. Remember that His goodness goes hand-in-hand with His faithfulness, so that you may know that blessed assurance of a place with Him in eternal peace and happiness!

It is Well With My Soul

Perhaps the hardest test of faith for a Christian believer comes when he or she is struck by a tragic or profound loss: grave illness, the death of a loved one, natural disaster, family or financial turmoil, or the like.  Especially when times are good, we come to expect that "following the rules" and "living right" will ensure a safe, comfortable life; that God will look with favor upon us and protect us from the calamities that befall others, especially those who don't know the truth or follow upright ways. Then, when the worst happens to us anyway, we may wonder in anguish whether God is really there. We may feel betrayed, hurt, and angry: "I don't deserve such punishment! I'm a GOOD person! What more do you want of me?"

The Old Testament Book of Job sheds much light on this problem. In this beautiful parable, Satan suggests to God that the righteous man Job is pious only because God has blessed him with prosperity, and that if Job were deprived of everything he had, he would certainly forsake his faith and curse God. Agreeing to this test, God allows Satan to take away from Job his herds, his servants, and then most tragically, his ten children. Still Job does not curse God, but blesses His name, acknowledging Him as the source of all that we have, now or ever. ("Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."  Job 1:21)  When Satan then smites Job with boils, he again refuses his wife's suggestion to "curse God, and die," replying: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:9-10)  Job was in spiritual as well as physical agony almost impossible to imagine, but he knew that a humble follower of God must be ready to accept afflictions as well as all the blessings and mercies He bestows on us. Although God had allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him, Job's reaction nevertheless was, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15).

More light yet is shed in the New Testament. Here we are taught to "glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope . . ."  (Romans 5:3-4)  Even more illuminating is Christ's own teaching as recounted in the Gospel of John:

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (John 9:1-3)

Thereupon Jesus bid the blind man go and wash in a certain pool, which he did--and received his sight!  Being found by Jesus a while later, the man humbly acknowledged Him as the Son of God.  The man had been a sightless beggar all his life, but his suffering had had a precious purpose: providing an occasion for Christ to manifest His power and His compassion, and for the man to see and be personally touched by his own Savior!

Maybe these truths were in the mind of Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) when, in the mid-1870s, he wrote the words to one of Christendom's most moving and beloved hymns, It is Well With My Soul.  Although it appears in hundreds of hymnals and gospel music publications, and has been a favorite among believers for well over a century, it's surprising how many people still aren't familiar with this hymn or don't know the incredible story behind it.

THE STORY BEHIND "IT IS WELL"

If ever there was a modern-day counterpart of Job, it was Horatio Spafford.

Born in Troy, New York in 1828, Spafford excelled academically and after law school, traveled west to Chicago where he taught law, championed the abolition of slavery, and supported the election of Abraham Lincoln. A devout Christian and Presbyterian church elder, by the 1870s Spafford had become wealthy as a senior partner in a large Chicago law firm. He and his Norwegian-born wife Anna were prominent socially and close friends with Dwight L. Moody and other leading evangelists of the day.  After the Civil War Spafford invested large sums of money (much of it borrowed) in Chicago-area real estate. At this point all seemed well indeed in the Spaffords' life.

Horatio and Anna Spafford

But suddenly, their fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse. On October 8, 1871, Horatio Spafford was financially ruined--literally overnight--when the Great Chicago Fire consumed all of his real estate holdings as well as his law office. Although their finances were largely depleted, Anna and Horatio used what resources they had left to help those who were suffering because of the Fire and assist in rebuilding the city.

In 1873, concerned about Anna's declining health, Horatio planned a vacation for his wife and four young daughters in England, where they could also take part in a revival being conducted there by Dwight Moody and musical evangelist Ira D. Sankey.  Shortly before their departure the Spaffords' finances were further strained by the Panic of 1873. Nevertheless, they proceeded with their plans. Anna and the children--11-year-old Anna, 9-year-old Margaret Lee, 5-year-old Elizabeth, and 2-year-old Tanetta--boarded the French steamship Ville du Havre in New York. Horatio was not with them, however; he had been held back at the last minute by business developments--someone had inquired about buying one of his heavily-mortgaged properties--so he promised Anna and the children that he would follow them on another ship to England in a few days.

The Spafford daughters

At two o'clock in the morning of November 22, 1873, the Ville du Havre was struck by the Scottish iron clipper Loch Earn, and sank in 12 minutes. Of the 273 people on board, only 47 survived. Anna Spafford was found by the Loch Earn's crew dazed and clinging to a piece of wreckage, but the four Spafford girls had all drowned, despite Anna's frantic efforts to save them. When she reached Cardiff, Wales a few days later, having been picked up with other survivors by an American vessel, she cabled home, "Saved alone, what shall I do?"

The Sinking of the Steamship Ville du Havre

Needless to say, Horatio was wracked with grief upon learning of his daughters' fate. He immediately booked passage on another ship to join Anna in England. According to Bertha Spafford Vester, another daughter born to Horatio and Anna several years later--and presumably the story she was told by her father--the captain en route called Horatio to his private cabin and told him that they were then passing the place where the Ville du Havre had gone down. Though at that moment he was surely passing through the "valley of the shadow of death," Horatio returned  to his own cabin and wrote out the lines that would be known ever after as the hymn It is Well With My Soul. Other accounts, however, suggest that Horatio returned to his cabin and wrote simply, "It is well; the will of God be done", and completed the text based on these words about two years later, when Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey were staying at the Spafford home in Chicago.

Either way, no other hymn better expresses the faith, hope, confidence, and contrite submission of the true Christian believer than this one:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

[Bertha Spafford Vester noted years later that the fourth stanza above was added to the familiar version some time after the rest of the hymn was composed.]

Gospel singer and composer Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876), another close associate of Moody and Sankey, was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed a beautiful piece of music to accompany the text. It  was published by Bliss and Sankey in 1876. Bliss called the tune Ville du Havre, after the name of the stricken vessel on which the Spafford girls were lost. Tragically, Bliss himself died with his wife in a train wreck in Ohio, not long after this music was written.

THE REST OF THE STORY

It would be satisfying to say that it was altogether well with the Spaffords after their terrible ordeals with the Great Fire, and then the loss of their daughters. But that wouldn't be quite accurate. In February 1880 their only son, Horatio Goertner Spafford, died at the age of four years, of scarlet fever.  Horatio also came into increasing conflict with the Presbyterian church he attended, over theological and financial issues, and he angrily left the church amid whispers by other church members that his family's trials were divine retribution for their heresy and misconduct. Horatio's law practice suffered, as he became increasingly consumed with a belief that the second coming of Jesus, to Jerusalem, was imminent. The Spaffords formed their own Messianic sect, dubbed "the Overcomers" by the American press. In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children, and set up what became known as the American Colony.

At first this community was seen as something of a bizarre cult, and regarded with suspicion and disdain, by many Westerners living in Jerusalem. However, in time their work was blessed with success. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives, thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian populations. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting these communities through the great suffering on the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable ventures. Although the American Colony ceased to exist as a religious community in the late 1940s, individual members continued to be active in the daily life of Jerusalem. Toward the end of the 1950s, the society's communal residence was converted into the American Colony Hotel. The hotel is now an integral part of the Jerusalem landscape where members of all communities in Jerusalem still meet. In 1992 representatives from the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel met in the hotel where they began talks that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.

Horatio Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem.  Anna Spafford passed away in 1923 after a long illness, and is buried in the American Colony Cemetery in Jerusalem.

REFLECTIONS ON THE HYMN

Given the calamitous series of events that led to the penning of It is Well With My Soul, no one would be surprised if it had brimmed with woe and painful resignation over the agonizing, unfathomable will of God. Instead, the hymn is suffused with the most vibrant faith and thankfulness for Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, banishing sin and death and conferring the "blest assurance" of eternal peace and happiness with Him--despite all of the trials and defeats that burden us in this life.  It is Well echoes not only Christ's agonized submission in the Garden of Gethsemane ("My soul is exceeding[ly] sorrowful unto death . . . Nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt."  Mark 14:34-36), but also the joyful promise of Revelation: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4)

VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

The first presentation below is by an unidentified choir, with beatiful nature scenes accompanying a thoroughly traditional rendition including solos on some verses:



The next rendition is by a large congregation--more than 5,000 people, if I'm reading the notes right-- from the album, Together for the Gospel Live, by Sovereign Grace Ministries. This video also features beautiful nature scenes and lyrics on the screen as the hymn is sung.



My favorite solo rendition is by contemporary Christian artist Chris Rice--again, accompanied by beautiful natural and Christian imagery:



A still more contemporary performance by Christian singer Brian Doerksen can be viewed here, weaving the story behind the hymn with the music using photographs of Horatio Spafford and his family (although it errs about the year in which  their 4-year-old son died).

For an impressive video presentation on the history behind It is Well With My Soul, see the following:

* * * * * *

Every one of us, regardless of how righteously we live, will experience some profound loss during our lives. Christ Himself gives us the warning, and the solution:  "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33)  The issue isn't whether grave misfortune will or should befall us at some time, but how we deal with that challenge. Will it be with bitterness and despair?  Or will it be with humble submission to the will of our sovereign Lord, thanks for the suffering He endured to purchase us from death, and firm faith in His promise of eternal peace?  It's that "blest assurance" that enables us to overcome the world with Him, and to echo Horatio Spafford in declaring, "It is well with my soul."

     

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. ~  Psalm 126:5

On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand

Moses Viewing the Promised Land (1846),
by Frederic Edwin Church

Tyranny, terrorism, massacres, corruption, financial collapse, riots, wars, environmental disaster, hunger, disease, earthquakes and storms--the world seems engulfed in a wave of calamity. Individuals are everywhere beset with personal crises as well--family discord, divorce, unemployment, bankruptcy, homelessness. So many desperate people, knowing not where to turn, take their own lives or turn on their neighbors in helpless rage. Is there any hope for the world, or for ourselves?

Blinded by our modern expectations and distractions, we forget that such troubles have been the common plight of mankind since we appeared on this earth. Yet, people of the past seem to have coped better with the trials of life; they were at once more accepting of adversity, and met challenges with greater resolve and endurance, than most people do today. Whence came that inner strength, that reservoir of hope and confidence?

I think it was faith in God, and in His assurance of a happier world beyond this one. As is stated in the letter to the Hebrews, the faithful:

not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, . . . were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. . . .  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Heb. 11:13-16)

The believer's fervent longing to dwell in that city, that "better country," is often expressed in the hymns people wrote and sung in earlier, more spiritually "enlightened" times. A common theme, often appearing in the latter verses, is the joy of deliverance and perfect peace in the Lord's kingdom when our sorrowful sojourn here is over. In this theme death is not feared, but anticipated, as the doorway to eternal life and happiness--to "a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Luke 12:33, 34)

A marvelous example of this attitude is the hymn On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand, written by English Baptist minister Samuel Stennett (1727 – 1795), one of the most respected and influential preachers among the Dissenting or non-conformist groups of his time.The text of this hymn was first published in John Rippon’s 1787 Selection of Hymns, with the title “Heaven Anticipated.” The tune to which the hymn was first set, called "Promised Land," appeared in William Walker's 1835 Southern Harmony, and was attributed by Walker to Matilda Durham (1815 - 1901 (of whom no known image exists), a music teacher from Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Later, prominent Southern musician Rigdon McCoy McIntosh changed the tune from minor to major and added the refrain. The hymn was first published in its present form, in 1895, in a hymnal called The Gospel Light, edited by H. R. Chrisite.

Samuel Stennett

Rigdon M. McIntosh

Among the best known revival spirituals, this hymn was especially popular among 19th-century American Methodists, being sung in camp meetings and brush arbors, and is part of the American shape note tradition.

Below is the text to this delightful hymn, which points us to the true destiny of the believer and echoes the exultant cry of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

Refrain
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.

O the transporting, rapturous scene,
That rises to my sight!
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight!

Refrain

There generous fruits that never fail,
On trees immortal grow;
There rocks and hills, and brooks and vales,
With milk and honey flow.

Refrain

O’er all those wide extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns,
And scatters night away.

Refrain

No chilling winds or poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and feared no more.

Refrain

When I shall reach that happy place,
I’ll be forever blest,
For I shall see my Father’s face,
And in His bosom rest.

Refrain

Filled with delight my raptured soul
Would here no longer stay;
Though Jordan’s waves around me roll,
Fearless I’d launch away.

Refrain

What I so love about this hymn is its joyful and sure conviction of the deliverance to come. As another astute observer has noted, "anticipation has always been an important characteristic of God’s people. In the Old Testament, it was Israel’s anticipation of the promised land, Canaan. For the New Testament believer, it is the glorious hope of one day sharing eternity with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ." (an excellent analysis of On Jordan's Stormy Banks as expressing the believer's "anticipation of heaven" can be found here)

The Jordan River today

Perfectly complementing the text is the happiness and pleasing rhythm of the music. I can't imagine a better thing to sing to lift one's spirits and get through some trial of life, great or small.

You'll see what I mean in the following video by Bill and Gloria Gaither and Friends--this is my favorite rendition of the hymn:


Bill & Gloria Gaither - On Jordan's Stormy... by Bill-Official

Following is a very different take on the hymn; while basically faithful to the original text and tune, it's sung here in a very creative, vocally impressive performance arrangement by the Brigham Young University (BYU) Singers:

* * * * *

No matter how difficult and challenging life becomes, remember that there is always hope, always light, always life at the end of the tunnel--if you have faith, there IS a beautiful, happy, eternal home prepared just for you, where our Lord awaits with open arms!

I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also. ~  John 14:1-3