Songs of Hope

Why should I worship a dead Jew?

The Story of He Lives

The words and music to the hymn He Lives were written by Alfred Ackley, a Presbyterian minister who had studied music in New York and at the Royal Academy of Music in London before being ordained to the ministry in 1914. In 1932, a series of evangelistic meetings brought Ackley into contact with a young Jewish man who challenged him with this question, “Why should I worship a dead Jew?” Ackley’s response? “He lives! I tell you. He is not dead, but lives here and now! Jesus Christ is more alive today than ever before. I can prove it by my own experience, as well as the testimony of countless thousands.” Then he went home and composed the hymn, He Lives.

Source: Simple Gifts: Great Hymns: One Man’s Search for Grace by Bill Henderson. Free Press, 2006.

An Orphan’s Song:

The Story of Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia

Bernhard Kyamanywa, born in Tanzania, Africa in 1938, was orphaned as a young child. He was then adopted by the Lutheran Bethel Mission and raised by a German deaconess there in Tanzania. As a young man, he felt called to become a pastor and entered the seminary of the Lutheran Church in Tanzania. It was while Pastor Kyamanywa was a theology student in 1966 that he wrote the hymn Mfurahini, Haleluya. He composed it to a very joyful Tanzanian folk tune. Howard Olsson, who was a missionary in Tanzania, translated the hymn into English as Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia in 1969. Subsequently, it has been translated into a number of languages including Swedish, German, and Norwegian. When asked about his popular hymn, Pastor Kyanamya said: “I had a need to proclaim God’s word, and I am delighted that the hymn has become so popular in other parts of the world. It was written to a traditional Tanzanian song, and I think it was received well because it sounds great with vocal singing and organ accompaniment.”

Source: Calvary Chronicle (Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Toronto). Volume 3, Issue 12, April 2012, p.4.

It's a Mystery:

The Story of Fairest Lord Jesus

The origin of the hymn Fairest Lord Jesus is one of those true mysteries of history. Though the first known appearance of the hymn was in a Catholic hymnal in Germany in 1662, legend has it that it was sung by German Crusaders, possibly children during the doomed Children’s Crusade, as they made their way to the Holy Land to liberate the home of Jesus from the hands of the Muslim “infidels.” Another legend says that this hymn was sung by the followers of Jan Hus, a 14th-15th century reformer who was burned at the stake for heresy. Not only do we not know where the original hymn came from, but we don’t even know who translated it into English. The first known appearance of the hymn in English was in 1677.

A Catholic Hymn:

The Story of Crown Him with Many Crowns

Crown Him With Many Crowns was originally written by Matthew Bridges. He was raised Anglican, but converted to Catholicism in 1848. He published the hymn that same year. The hymn is based on the description given in the book of Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ at His triumphant return. There John says, “On His head were many crowns” (Rev. 19:12). Bridges developed that thought and built his hymn around a series of descriptive titles for Christ: “Crown Him the virgin’s Son,” “Crown Him the Lord of love,” “Crown Him the Lord of peace,” and so on... As written by Bridges, the hymn had 6 verses. In 1864, Godfrey Thring, wanting to use the hymn, but objecting to some of its more Catholic theology, wrote 6 more verses to “Protestantize” the hymn. Generally most hymnals today use 3 verses by Bridges and 1 by Thring. Some hymnals combine parts of one verse with parts of another to form composite verses.

A Sunday School Hymn:

The Story of Holy Bible, Book Divine

During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, children as young as four were employed in factories under dangerous, and often fatal, working conditions. Many worked sixteen hours a day, six days a week, with only Sundays off. One afternoon, Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher, went into the slum area of the city looking for a gardener for his home. There he was jostled and knocked about by a gang of ragged boys. When he mentioned it to someone, she replied, “You ought to see them on Sundays, when the factories are closed and they have nothing to do but get in trouble!” Mr. Raikes felt that education could help the children to a better life, so he began a school for them on their day off, Sunday. John Burton, one of the teachers in Mr. Raikes’ Sunday School wrote the hymn Holy Bible, Book Divine for the students to sing at their school.

Sources: Wordwise Hymns Adapted from Material by Robert Cottrill. Used by permission

A Revolution in Church Music:

The Story of O God Our Help in Ages Past

Congregational singing in Puritan churches in England in the early 18th century was absolutely abysmal. Only Psalms were allowed to be sung, but most congregations had few if any Psalters and didn’t know the words to the Psalms. So the clerk would read out one line at a time and the congregation would drone it after him. Imagine attending such a service. I suspect their teenagers really hated worship. Then along came Isaac Watts, a young man with a talent for rhyming. Watts began to write hymns as a child and published his first hymnal at the age of 21. Many of his hymns were based on Psalms, and the music was so superior it won over all but the staunchest Puritans. O God Our Help in Ages Past is based on Psalm 90, the only Psalm we know to have been composed by Moses. Like the Psalm, the hymn emphasizes the shortness and often painfulness of life on earth. May we all desire, in the words of Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”

Sources: The Hymns We Love by Daniel Partner. Barbour Publishing, 2003.
Stories of Hymns We Love by Cecilia Margaret Rudin. John Rudin & Company, 1940.

 

From Scoffer to Soldier for the Lord:
The Story of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Young college student Joachim Neander was well known for his rowdy lifestyle. One Sunday he and a couple of his companions decided to visit St. Martin’s Church in Bremen, Germany to make fun of the new pastor, Thoedore Under-Eyck. But Under-Eyck’s preaching touched Neander’s heart and he gave his life to the Lord. Neander later became a lay pastor in the German Reformed Church, His hymn, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty contains quotations from or allusions to at least 5 Psalms. Can you find them?

Here are the words:

 

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, Who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth!
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have beeen
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the "amen"
Sound from His people again;
Gladly forever adore Him!

Sources: Hymnary.org
Wordwise Hymns  

Celebration Hymnal: Songs and Hymns for Worship. Word Music/Integrity Music, 1997.

One Percent Inspiration, Ninety-Nine Percent Perspiration:

The Story of Here I Am to Worship

Pastor’s son Tim Hughes became the worship leader in his father’s church while still a teenager. While a student at Sheffield University, Hughes had been meditating on the cross, and on the portrait of Christ’s humility in Philippians 2. As a response to these thoughts, he wrote the first two verses of Here I Am to Worship, beginning with the words, “Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness.” But when he became frustrated with trying to write the chorus, he put it aside. Six months later, he pulled the poem out and began to think about what an appropriate response to Jesus’ humility would look like. Then he knew what the chorus had to say. He found a melody he had saved in his ideas file that perfectly fit the words he had written and a song was born.

Source: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever by Lindsay Terry. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2008.

I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church:

The Story of The Church’s One Foundation

The Reverend Samuel John Stone, an Anglican priest, was concerned that his congregation might be reciting the Apostles Creed without a clear understanding of what they were saying. He wrote a series of twelve hymns, each explaining a section of the creed and defending the inspiration of Scripture. "The Church’s One Foundation" explains the ninth article – "I believe in the Holy Catholic (Universal) church, the communion of the saints." This series of hymns was printed in Lyra Fidelium (Lyre of the Faithful) in 1866.

Source: Songs and Hymns.org

A New Song for a New Venture:
The Story of God of Grace and God of Glory

Harry Emerson Fosdick was a talented and controversial Baptist preacher in the first half of the 20th century. John D. Rockefeller invited Fosdick to come pastor his church, Park Avenue Baptist in New York City. Fosdick refused because of the wealth of the congregation. But Rockefeller wouldn't give up, and finally started a new church just for Fosdick to pastor. Fosdick could hardly say no to that. The church was Riverside Church, also in New York. Fosdick wrote God of Grace and God of Glory to be sung at the opening service of Riverside church. The picture shows the interior of Riverside Church.

Source: Lectionary.org