Vol. 588: "Sinners Jesus Will Receive"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Sinners Jesus will receive: Sound this word of grace to all Who the heav'nly pathway leave, All who linger, all who fall! [Refrain]
2. "Come: and He will give you rest; Trust Him: for His word is plain; He will take the sinfullest: Christ receiveth sinful men. [Refrain]
3. "Now my heart condemns me not, Pure before the law I stand; He Who cleansed me from all spot, Satisfied its last demand. [Refrain]
4. "Christ receiveth sinful men, Even me with all my sin; Purged from ev'ry spot and stain, Heav'n with Him I enter in."

Refrain-- "Sing it o'er and o'er again: Christ receiveth sinful men; Make the message clear and plain: Christ receiveth sinful men!"

(Original Words by Erdmann Neumeister; Translated to English by Emma F. Bevan; Music by James McGranahan)

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a psalm of praise to God giving high praise for His character and His work as well as a hymn teaching about His willingness to bless.

This song, in its modern form, took 165 years to come together.  It was initially written in 1718 by Herr Erdmann Neumeister (originally in German), based on a sermon he gave which began "Jesus nimmt die Sünder an!  Saget döch dies Trostwort allen" (which translates in English, according to my iTranslate app, "Jesus takes the sinner! Tell ye all these words of consolation.").  Originally it consisted of eight verses, six lines in each, all closing with the phrase "Jesus nimmt die Sünder an."

It was translated into English by Mrs Emma F. Bevan for Songs of Eternal Life, a hymn book she wrote and published in London, England, in 1858.  Interestingly enough, she produced two versions of the translation.  The first one translated all eight verses and remained somewhat true to Herr Neumeister's original work (although some have criticized her translation for using some English hyperbole that would not have originated in German; some of this can be read in the article "'Sinners Jesus Will Receive' - the British Reception of Neumeister's Hymn" by John S. Andrews in The Evangelical Quarterly, 4th Quarter, 1983 [pp 223-230] along with a comparison of the original in German and both of Bevan's translations).  The second version she produced is the one we typically sing today, condensed to four verses, four lines for each, and an additional refrain.

The tune as we know it today was written in 1883 by James McGranahan for The Gospel Male Choir song book, published by the John Church Company, Cincinatti, OH.

So now that we are better acquainted with the history behind this song, let's see if it maintains Scriptural integrity:

The first verse (and the refrain, for that matter) basically give a command: "Sound this word of grace to all Who the heavenly pathway leave, All who linger, all who fall."  The refrain continues by entreating us, "Sing it o'er and o'er again:" and "Make the message clear and plain:"  What is this word of grace we are to sound?  What are we singing over and over?  What is the message we are to clarify?  "Sinners Jesus will receive" according to the first verse, and "Christ receiveth sinful men" according to the refrain.  So while there's nothing wrong in and of itself with making a clarion call per se, at least we know the message is sound as we see plenty of examples where Jesus did in fact receive sinners (Matthew 10:9-13; Mark 2:17; Luke 15:2-7).

In the second verse, it says, "Come and He will give you rest."  Jesus even told us so in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  The verse continues, "Trust Him for His word is plain."  A good definition of "plain" would be "clear to the mind; evident; manifest or obvious" (from dictionary.com) and there are many points in God's Word where it's made obvious how evident (plain) His Word is (John 16:25; Romans 1:19; 1 Corinthians 15:27).  Continuing, "He will take the sinfullest."  If we take the Apostle Paul at his word, then we know that the Lord will in fact "take the sinfullest" since He did take one who referred to himself as "the foremost" of sinners (some versions even say "chief")(1 Timothy 1:15).

If I may throw a slight editorial content here, I'm certain there are many who can read what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15 and say that the things they have done would make them the foremost of sinners.  But think about what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7 when it's difficult for one to remove a splinter from somebody else's eye when there's a huge two-by-four plank in your own eye. Personally, I have always wondered how much hyperbole this is; after all, many have made the case that all sin is sin in God's sight, so what if both people in the parable each have simply a splinter in one of their eyes?  Why would one see it as a beam in his own eye?

If we were in an actual lecture hall setting this could be easy to demonstrate, but try to follow me on this one: picture if you will me standing in front of all of you in the lecture hall setting and I ask all of you to hold up your pens.  As I hold up my own, we can all generally agree that our writing tools are very similar in size to each other.  Now I instruct you to hold your pen up to your eye (in a safe manner, of course); now the question is which pen looks bigger? Yours or mine?  The point is the pens are virtually the same size.  It's a matter of perspective in this instance (regardless, before either one of us tries to get the splinter out of the other's eye, we better get the stuff out of our own first).

The third verse begins, "Now my heart condemns me not."  And why should our hearts condemn us, when "[t]here is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)."  "Pure before the law I stand.  He Who cleansed me from all spot satisfied its last demand."It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from sin (1 John 1:7).  And since forgiveness of sins can only be achieved by shedding blood (Hebrews 9:22), it is Jesus Who, when He shed His blood for us on the cross, satisfied the final demand of the law (Hebrews 9:11-14)!

The final verse becomes a possible testimony one could give along the lines of this song: "Christ receiveth sinful men, Even me with all my sin;" again this seems to parallel Paul's statement of being the foremost of sinners.  As the verse concludes, "Purged from every spot and stain, Heaven with Him I enter in."  As we know that Christ's blood cleanses us from sin (1John 1:7), it is through Christ that we obtain eternal life (1John 5:11-15)!

Such is a message to "sing...o'er and o'er again, to "make...clear and plain"!  Let us be certain to "sound this word of grace to all!"

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 053: "Years I Spent in Vanity (At Calvary)"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died On Calvary. [Refrain]
2. "By God's grace at last my sin I learned, Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned To Calvary. [Refrain]
3. "Now I've giv'n to Jesus ev'rything; Now I gladly own Him as my King; Now my raptured soul can only sing Of Calvary. [Refrain]
4. "O the love that drew salvation's plan! O the grace that brought it down to man! O the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary."

Refrain-- "Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary."

(Words by William R. Newell; Music by Daniel B. Towner)

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", this seems to be a song of testimony ["Years I spent in vanity and pride..."], so it is making known that deposition (speaking) through the song.  We can see also that this is a psalm of praise to God giving high praise for His work as well as a hymn teaching about His willingness to bless.

The words of the song were written by William R. Newell in 1895.  They came to him on his way to teach a class at the Moody's Bible Institute in Chicago, IL.  When he arrived, he slipped into a vacant class room and quickly penned them on the back of an envelope.  The music was written by Daniel B. Towner who studied music at the feet of some renowned teachers and musicians including John Howard and James Webb.  He was music director for many organizations including Moody's Bible Institute where he likely got to see the lyrical work from this song.

I wish to try something a little different with THIS commentary and hope it will be less confusing.  Before, I would ramble on about each verse and each line of each verse in many paragraphs; THIS time I want to attempt doing this in more of an outline form in the hopes of being more succinct and clear with the lyrics on which I'm commenting.

<Also, this is the first commentary I am doing by request. Somebody told me they had been approached that this song was unscriptural. She didn't remember what specific part of the song made it that way, but hopefully by analyzing this song thoroughly we can ascertain what would make the song unsound OR be able to allay those fears and be better able to sing the song "with the spirit" as well as "with the understanding" (1 Corinthians 14:15).>

• "Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified,
•  Again, this is testimony, rather subjective; since it says nothing that is out-rightly unscriptural [e.g.-- The Lord sent the Spirit upon me and I spoke in tongues], I find nothing against it.
• "Knowing not it was for me He died On Calvary.
• Since vanity and pride are marks of ungodliness, one can say that the one giving the testimony was ungodly.  Fortunately for him (as for all of us), "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6)."
• As is written in Luke 23:33, "[W]hen they came to the place that is called The Skull [referred to as "Calvary" in many translations], there they crucified him...."
• "By God's grace at last my sin I learned, Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned,
• We can see examples of this being played out many times, where people learn of their sinful state, are thus in fear, and want to know what to do to avoid condemnation for spurning the Law of God (Acts 2:37; 16:29-30).
• The only part of this I find potentially questionable about this hymn is where the song writer says that he learned of his sin by the grace of God.  One could view that as sounding a little Calvinist.  And if we take the phrase literally, it may sound like "Unconditional Election" and "Limited Atonement", that the writer would only have learned of his error by God's grace.  However, as I will point out in my comments on the refrain, God's desire is for no one to perish but that all would come to repentance.
• On the other hand, it is by His grace that any of us learn of our (once) sinful conditions.  He gives us whatever chance we can get, whether it be providing Peter on the Day of Pentecost (or sending him to see Cornelius)(Acts 2 & 10 respectively), whether it be sending Philip to Gaza to meet the treasury official from Ethiopia (Acts 8), whether it be stopping Saul (later to be known as Paul) on the way to Damascus and sending Ananias to teach him (Acts 9), or even using Paul to prevent Elymus Bar-Jesus from speaking lies to proconsul Sergius Paulus so that he would hear the Word and eventually believe (Acts 13:4-12).  But it is still up to us to either send or be sent to make sure the Word is preached that they may believe (Roman 10:14-15).
• "Till my guilty soul imploring turned To Calvary." 
•  I'd like to think it obvious that this is poetic license since turning to a "place of the Skull" for salvation would be pointless.  It is what Jesus did on Calvary that saves us.  No, He did not simply go there and get killed; besides the fact that He fulfilled a LOT of prophecy while being taken to and while hanging on the cross (John 19:28), He allowed Himself to be taken, giving Himself freely, so as to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins (John 10:14-17), thus demonstrating such a love for us that can not be paralleled or surpassed (John 15:13)!
•  "Now I've giv'n to Jesus ev'rything; Now I gladly own Him as my King; Now my raptured soul can only sing Of Calvary."
•  This does not ascribe to the Rapture (the removal of the faithful from the world), but refers to a religious ecstasy resulting from one's faith (see definition of "raptured").  With that clarification, the rest of the verse can be considered testimonial and poetic license on the writer's part.
• "O the love that drew salvation's plan!"
•  As was mentioned before, there is no greater love that one can demonstrate than that One gives His life for His friends (John 15:13) (and we are His friends if we do what He commands, John 15:14)
• "O the grace that brought it down to man!"
•  Also as I mentioned before, it is by His grace that we learn of our sinful conditions, not in the Calvinistic sense, but that He wants us all to be saved and will provide a way that we may hear His word and come to repentance (as mentioned in the second verse and the refrain).
• "O the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary."
•  Considering that we were enemies of God as sinners before He imparted His grace to us, it was a considerable gulf (even metaphorically speaking) that God traversed when He did make the way of reconciliation to Him possible (Romans 5:7-11)

• Refrain

• "Mercy there was great, and grace was free;"
•  Paul talks a great deal about mercy and grace in his letters, but he has a good focus on both in Ephesians 2:1-10.  As he points out,
  we "were dead in the trespasses and sins in which [we] once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us" [remember how Jesus was quoted by the disciple whom He loved: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16)], "even when we were dead in our trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" [again, it is good to remember Romans 5:8 where we are reminded that "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."], "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
• As I've dealt with Calvinism in some previous commentaries (and even in this one already), it seems good I should revisit it now.  I want to ensure how clear it is that I do believe we are saved by the grace of God and not because of works we might attempt.  That being said, if I am to be saved there is something I must do to receive this grace; after all, as Paul says here, we have been saved by grace through faith.  That does not mean that a simple mental assertion of His existence will bring Him to impart His grace to me; even demons believe that God exists, and that strikes them with fear (James 2:19).  If I truly believe in God, if I have true faith, I will act accordingly.  It is impossible to demonstrate faith without action of some sort (James 2:18).  But those actions must be in accordance to what He commands us to do (John 14:15).  Those actions in and of themselves will not save us, thus the grace is the gift of God and not the result of works (Ephesians 2:9).  God would have it that every soul was saved from perishing, but we must reach repentance first (2 Peter 3:9) and one is rather unlikely to repent if one does not believe, worse yet one can not believe if they have not heard; after all, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
• "Pardon there was multiplied to me;"
•  One can see through the prophet's writings that wicked people must forsake their wicked ways and unrighteous people must forsake their unrighteous thoughts in order to return to the Lord (so that He may have compassion on them) and to our God ("for He will abundantly pardon", Isaiah 55:6-7).
• "There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary."
•  Paul tells us to "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1, NKJV)."

I hope this allays any fears about the song being unsound and demonstrates its scriptural integrity.  As always, though, I welcome your thoughts.

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 526: "Pass Me Not"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
2. "Trusting only in Thy merit, Would I seek Thy face; Heal my wounded, broken spirit, Save me by Thy grace.
3. "Thou, the Spring of all my comfort, More than life to me, Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in Heav'n but Thee?

Chorus-- "Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by."

(Words by Fanny J. Crosby; Music by William H. Doane)

Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a psalm of praise to God giving high praise for His work as well as a hymn demonstrating praise and supplication as well as teaching (or reminding us of) our dependence on God.

This song was written by Fanny J. Crosby and is one of at least 2,000 that she wrote in her lifetime (some biographies credit her with writing as many as 8,000!). Due to an error on the part of the doctor attending to her, she lost her sight at the age of six weeks (!), but she seemed to feel it was all part of Divine Providence, since she is quoted as saying:

• It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me (from http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/c/r/o/crosby_fj.htm).

When one considers not only the sheer quantity of hymns she produced, but also the fact that she is still one of the most well known women in these United States, it's no wonder that the vast majority of American hymn books contain a portion of her work.

There are a lot of Biblical allusions in this song, thus indicating Miss Crosby was fairly well versed in the Scriptures. But, then again, so were Saul and Apollos, and both started in bad positions for Christ. Fortunately both were corrected (Saul in Acts 9 and Apollos in Acts 18:24ff). Is there a need for correction in this song?

As the first verse and the chorus share many lyrics in common (and may be the sticking point for me), I will proceed in reverse order for this song and begin with the last verse. "Thou, the Spring of all my comfort," it begins; this seems to allude to Isaiah 61 where it starts,"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted...."  And as Isaiah lists the many good things that the Anointed One was going to do, in verse two of that chapter he lists, "to comfort all who mourn" (incidentally, this is the same passage the Anointed One reads in the Nazareth synagogue in Luke 4 to the fulfillment in the ears of the people who were there!).  One could also make the case for quoting Jesus in some of His final words to His disciples, before He goes to the cross, in John 14:27 when He says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.... Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."  The final verse of the song ends by saying, "More than life to me, Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heav'n but Thee?"  This is very similar to what Asaph the psalmist writes in Pslam 73:25: "Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You."  Similar sentiments were made by King David, the man after God's heart, in 2 Samuel 7:22 and 1 Chronicles 17:20 (his prayer of gratitude that, although the Lord refused to allow him the honor, his progeny would build the temple in his stead), and Peter in John 6:68-69 when Jesus asks the remaining disciples if they want to leave Him as well.

The second verse of the song says, "Trusting only in Thy merit, Would I seek Thy face."  One can find many examples in the New Testament of people who sought to see or meet with Jesus based on His merits (the fact that He healed so many). We see ten lepers in Luke 17:13ff; Zacchaeus in Luke 19; and the blind beggar (Bartimaeus) in Matthew 20:30ff, Mark 10:46ff, and Luke 18:35ff.  The verse continues, "Heal my wounded, broken spirit," similar to what King David writes in Psalm 34:18: "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."  And this second verse of the song ends, "Save me by Thy grace." Paul (formerly Saul before his earlier mentioned correction) makes the point many times of how we are saved by the grace of God through faith (Rom 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).  And although we work to demonstrate our faith (James 2:14-26, emphasis on verses 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, and 26), it is not the work that saves us.  Were it not for the grace of God, none of us would be saved!

There is another verse that was originally written for this song as the second verse (thus, de facto, we have just covered the fourth and third verses [?]).  Although it is not included in the Praise for the Lord hymn book we are covering, I still want to make mention of it as it reads, "Let me at Thy throne of mercy Find a sweet relief."  This seems to concur with what the inspired writer says in Hebrews 4:14-16: "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  The song verse continues, "Kneeling there in deep contrition" (as we see in Proverbs 22:4, the Lord rewards those who demonstrate humility and fear), "Help my unbelief" (this echoes the feelings demonstrated by the father of the young man with the unclean spirit in Mark 9:23-24).

This brings us to the final matter, the first verse and chorus, the only difference of which is their respective openings.  "Pass me not, o gentle Savior (the chorus substitutes "Savior, Savior,"), Hear my humble cry."  Of course, we know from King David's statement in Psalm 34:15 that "[t]he eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry."  But the verse and chorus continue, "While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by."  Granted, this closing statement is reminiscent of what Abraham tells three men who were standing before his tent in the oaks of Mamre in Genesis 18:3, "'O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.'"

However, it bears to be noted what the prophet foretells about how people would be called by God in the last days in Joel 2:32-- "it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls."  Peter mentions this passage in the first Gospel sermon given on that Pentecost in Acts 2 and it points out a doctrinal error that many espouse in Calvinism: it is those who call upon the name of the Lord (calling upon His authority) who are saved.  Those "who escape", those "among the survivors" (two variant ways of mentioning people who have been saved) are the ones "whom the LORD calls."  Unlike the error of "Unconditional Election" (the "U" in Calvinism's "TULIP", with God allegedly choosing whom He calls according to His own intention without any consideration of an individual's merit), we see that the Lord calls upon those who call upon Him, further punctuating what the inspired writer tells us in Hebrews 11:6, that "He rewards those who seek Him."  Therefore, the Lord is NOT going to pass somebody by if they are calling upon Him.  This makes the song smack of Calvinism and should either be revised or not sung at all.  It has a catchy tune and all, just like "Jesus is Coming Soon", which draws us in to want to sing it, but this is why we should check the scriptural integrity of the songs we propose to sing either to God in praise or to each other in encouragement and thus avoid spreading false doctrine.

[Calling upon the name of the Lord and being called by God have some overlapping thoughts with another topic I wanted to expand upon, drawing near to God, from Volume 436's commentary on "Nearer, Still Nearer". As before, once I have completed this separate piece, I hope to provide a link to it from here.]

Although I end every commentary with this, as always, I do welcome your thoughts…

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 436: "Nearer, Still Nearer"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart, Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art; Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast, Shelter me safe in that haven of rest, Shelter me safe in that haven of rest.
2. "Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring, Naught as an off'ring to Jesus my King, Only my sinful, now contrite heart; Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart, Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.
3. "Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine; Sin, with its follies, I gladly resign, All of it pleasures, pomp and its pride; Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified, Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified."
4. "Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last, Till safe in glory my anchor is cast, Thro' endless ages, ever to be Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee, Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee."

(Words and Music by Lelia N. Morris)

First of all, as we go by our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is 1) a hymn as a song of praise and supplication that teaches/reminds (admonishes) us of our Lord' willingness to bless, and 2) a spiritual song that it is intended to cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion.

This is one of perhaps a thousand or so hymns and songs that Mrs. Lelia Morris (1862-1929) wrote in her lifetime.  Encouragement for her to write hymns came from Henry Gilmour who penned the words to the song "The Haven of Rest".  Even when her sight had grown dim almost to the point of blindness, she was still composing more songs, aided by a 28-foot blackboard (complete with musical staffs) that her family had crafted for her to continue her work.

Every verse begins with the supplication which is also the title of the song.  In many places in God's Word, the concept of drawing near to God is not simply a good idea: it is the ideal!  Asaph the psalmist says, "But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works" (Ps 73:28).   James even commands that we "[d]raw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8).  Paul in his letter to the Ephesians even mentions how Jesus drew us near to Him: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (Eph 2:13).  King David even gives a good hint about how one may draw near to the Lord: "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth" (Ps 145:18).  It should also be noted, as has been mentioned in earlier commentaries, it is possible, once one has drawn near to God, to unfortunately draw away from Him.  But hope is not lost, because return is possible, as the prophet says, "Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 1:3)."

[Given the nature of drawing near to God, such a topic demands focus in its own commentary outside of hymn topics; once this work is complete, I shall provide a link to it.]

In the first verse, it begins, "Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart, Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art; Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast."  It may seem odd to note that if one holds somebody "close to [one's] breast" that they would be "close to [that person's] heart".  And yet, being close to one's breast was considered a place of honor in Bible times.  The disciple whom Jesus loved was in this position at table at His last supper (John 13:23).  It was where Lazarus was found (in Abraham's bosom) after the angels took his spirit after death (Luke 16:19ff) in stark contrast both to the position he held in life as well as the position of the rich man who entered torment upon death.  It is also interesting to note the end of the first verse of the song: "Shelter me safe in that haven of rest".  In the original versions of this song, "haven of rest" was in quotes as a reference to what was then a popular hymn, "The Haven of Rest", written by Henry Gilmour. 

The second verse reads,"Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring, Naught as an off'ring to Jesus my King, Only my sinful, now contrite heart; Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart...."  This is in reference to King David's writing in the 51st Psalm: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Ps 51:17)."  As we saw this verse mentioned in "Have Thine Own Way, Lord", it may be time for this author to note any other instances of its use (three instances make a trend line, after all).

The third verse begins by admitting a desire to put away sin.  "Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine; Sin, with its follies, I gladly resign, All of it pleasures, pomp and its pride."  Of course, the pleasures of sin are fleeting (Heb. 11:24-25).  And as I look up the definition of the word "pomp", sin does seem to vainly display it's alleged dignity or importance.  Also, pride seems to be one of the main things that keeps many from giving up sin.  And as James and Peter have both told us, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  Paul even compares our putting away of sin to crucifying the "old self" of sin.  "We know that our old self was crucified with him [Jesus] in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin (Rom 6:6,7)[Verse 7 seems to be a good set up for the final verse of this song, as well!]."  The final line of this verse seems to allude to an Isaac Stern hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross".  "Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified" is reminiscent of the second verse of Stern's hymn, "Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast Save in the death of Christ my Lord."  This of course alludes to Paul's statement to the Galatians:"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal 6:14)."

The final verse looks forward to the day when one's proximity to the Lord is at it's peak ("Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last...").  Many times we hear people say, "At least I'm walking on top of the grass, sure beats the alternative!"  Paul the apostle obviously disagreed with this notion as he told the church in Philippi: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phlp 1:21)."  Besides this, as the psalmist tells us, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Ps 116:15)." It is also interesting to note how the next line in this verse is phrased: "Till safe in glory my anchor is cast."  This seems to allude to Mr. Gilmour's song again because the first line of the chorus says, "I've anchored my soul in the Haven of Rest...."  And of course, the last half of this verse speaks of the joy that awaits on the other side while "Thro' endless ages" we are "ever to be Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee...," thus looking forward to the gain we have upon death, if we've been faithful, as we mentioned Paul's thoughts on this earlier.

As always, I welcome your thoughts…

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 293: "I'll Live for Him"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "My life, my love, I give to Thee, Thou Lamb of God who died for me; O may I ever faithful be, My Savior and my God!
2. "I now believe Thou dost receive, For Thou hast died that I might live; And now henceforth I'll trust in Thee, My Savior and my God!
3. "O Thou who died on Calvary, To save my soul and make me free; I'll consecrate my life to Thee, My Savior and my God!

Chorus-- "I'll live for Him who died for me, How happy then my life shall be! I'll live for Him who died for me, My Savior and my God!"

(Words by Ralph E. Hudson; Music by C. R. Dunbar)

As we begin again with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a psalm of praise extolling Jesus' name and the work He did (particularly on the cross), even teaching about that work.  And it is a spiritual song intended to inspire feelings of spiritual devotion and to bring the spirit of man under control of the Spirit of God.  

Ralph Hudson (1843-1901) served in the Union Army during the American Civil War as a male nurse in a Union hospital.  After his discharge from military service he taught music at the Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, becoming a professor there, even establishing his own music publishing company.  He was a strong prohibitionist and published The Temperance Songster in 1886.

This song seems to be more of a confession of faith as well as a promise of devotion to consecrate one's life to the Lamb of God.  And although it is not filled entirely with Biblical references, many of them repeated, there are some items in this song that are noteworthy.

It begins with the promise of devotion, "My life, my love, I give to Thee, Thou Lamb of God who died for me; O may I ever faithful be, My Savior and my God!"  Jesus certainly is the Lamb of God (John 1:29) Who died for all people (2 Corinthians 5:15).  Much of this is repeated in the second verse: "I now believe Thou dost receive, For Thou hast died that I might live; And now henceforth I'll trust in Thee, My Savior and my God!"  Would that we could all be faithful and trusting to such a One Who gave so much for us!

The third verse says, "O Thou who died on Calvary, To save my soul and make me free; I'll consecrate my life to Thee, My Savior and my God!"  Although the writer is correct that Christ's death on Calvary saves our souls and frees us from sin, we are made slaves to God as Paul tells us in Romans 6:22.  But the rewards of such service to such a Master pales in comparison when you consider that the fruit we get "leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life."  By consecrating our lives to Him, we see what Paul again tells us, this time in Titus 2:11-12, that "the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."

As the chorus says, "I'll live for Him who died for me, How happy then my life shall be! I'll live for Him who died for me, My Savior and my God!"  Again, would that we could all live for Him as we should.  As Paul again tells us in Romans 14:8, "[I]f we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s."

Again, I welcome your thoughts…

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 348: "Jesus is All the World to Me"

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Jesus is all the world to me, My life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day-- Without Him I would fall.  When I am sad to Him I go; No other one can cheer me so; When I am sad, He makes me glad: He's my Friend.
2. "Jesus is all the world to me, My friend in trials sore; I go to Him for blessings and He gives them o'er and o'er.  He sends the sunshine and the rain; He sends the harvest's golden grain; Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain: He's my Friend.
3. "Jesus is all the world to me, And true to Him I'll be; O how could I this friend deny, When He's so good to me?  Following Him I know I'm right, He watches o'er me day and night; Following Him, by day and night: He's my Friend.
4. "Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend; I trust Him now, I'll trust Him when Life's fleeting days shall end.  Beautiful life with such a Friend, Beautiful life that has no end; Eternal life, eternal joy: He's my Friend."

(Words by Will L. Thompson)

Beginning with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a psalm of praise extolling God's power and work and a hymn that teaches our dependence on Him and His willingness to bless.  

Will L. Thompson (1847-1909) earned a degree in business from Alliance College in Alliance, Ohio (no doubt influenced by his father who was a successful merchant), but had shown an interest in music from an early age, having written several songs before graduating high school.  He furthered his musical education, graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music as well as studying music in Leipzig, Germany.

As a young man, Thompson sent a package of four songs to a publisher, requesting payment of $100 for the entire package.  When the publisher responded with a counter-offer of $25, Thompson declined.  Since he couldn't get what he considered to be a fair price for his music, he decided to go into business for himself and started a music store in East Liverpool in association with his father's business.  He also went into the mail order business, selling sheet music and music books.  He became successful with this, so much so that he became known as the millionaire "Bard of Ohio."

While attending an evangelistic meeting, he decided to devote himself to writing, selling, and promoting Christian music.  In 1880, he wrote "Softly and Tenderly", which became popular rather quickly as a hymn of invitation.  "Jesus is All the World to Me" achieved similar popularity soon after it's writing in 1904.

This song does seem to make some rather lofty claims, so we should see how well they match with Scripture.

Every verse begins with "Jesus is all the world to me," and the first verse continues with "my life, my joy, my all."  I believe we can assign this as artistic license, demonstrating how important the Lord is (or at least should be) in one's life.  The verse continues, "He is my strength from day to day, Without Him I would fall."  First of all, it is safe to say that Jesus is God (John 17:11; Philippians 2:5-6) and as we learned from the song "Let Him Have His Way with Thee", we learn from Jude 24 and 2 Peter 1:5-10 (emphasis on verse 10) that He is able to keep us from falling.  The verse goes on to say, "When I am sad, to Him I go; no other One can cheer me so; When I am sad, He makes me glad!"  As we also discussed in "Follow Me," Jesus does still speak to us through the Bible (John 16:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16), so we can "go to Him" through His Word to receive encouragement (cheer).

The second verse describes the Lord as, "My friend in trials sore," and goes on to say, "I go to Him for blessings and He gives them o'er and o'er.  He sends the sunshine and the rain; He sends the harvest's golden grain; Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain."  As was mentioned earlier, since Jesus is God, He also sends sunshine and rain (Matthew 5:45-46) [I'm not certain if "[going] to Him for blessings" is akin to prayer; as I understand it, we pray to God the Father by the authority of and through Jesus (John 14:6; 15:16); this is part of the problem I have with songs like "Have a Little Talk with Jesus" and "Tell It to Jesus Alone"; if I am mistaken on any of these points, I do ask for clarification, please].

In the third verse, the promise is made that "true to Him I'll be."  However, when the line is sung, "Oh, how could I this friend deny, When He's so good to me?" I hope it is rhetorical; after all, we do have the example of Peter (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27).  But the verse goes further: "Following Him, I know I'm right; He watches o'er me day and night; following Him by day and night."  Again, Jesus is God, so He does not sleep (Psalm 121:4) and He is constantly praying to the Father for us, interceding on our behalf (John 17:9, 20-21). 

The final verse makes an exceptionally good promise: "I want no better friend.  I trust Him now, I'll trust Him when Life's fleeting days shall end."  It also looks forward to a "Beautiful life with such a friend, Beautiful life that has no end; Eternal life, eternal joy."  The promise can be verified by what Jesus told John in Revelation 2:7, 10, 17 and Revelation 21:1-7: eternal joy awaits us if we have been faithful.

This brings me to the final statement which closes every verse of this song, and considering we are singing about Someone who helped create all that there is, it is quite a lofty claim: "He's my friend."  This could seem presumptuous, possibly bordering on arrogance, as anyone can claim to be a friend of somebody else.  But can that claim be reciprocal, particularly in this case?  Can Jesus call us friend?

Fortunately, the Messiah Jesus Himself gives this answer in John 15:14: "You are my friends if you do what I command you."  And as we saw in our analysis of the last stanza, if we do as He commands us and we are faithful to the point of death, we will get to see "eternal life, eternal joy" with Him, our Friend.

As always, I welcome your thoughts…

--updated 8/31/2015

(Back to Introductory Volume)

Vol. 197: ”Have Thine Own Way”

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me After thy will, While I am waiting, Yielded and still.
2. "Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Search me and try me, Master, today! Whiter then snow, Lord, wash me just now, As in Thy presence Humbly I bow.
3. "Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Wounded and weary, Help me, I pray! Power, all power Surely is Thine! Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
4. "Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Hold o'er my being Absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit Till all shall see Christ only, always, living in me.

(Words by Adelaide A. Pollard; Music by George C. stebbins)

Yet another classic hymn that has been sung among the brotherhood for several years.

First of all, as we go by our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we see a unique situation (at least unique for all the commentaries that have been done here so far) where this song fits all three categories! It is a psalm (for extolling God's power [particularly in the 3rd verse] and His work), a hymn (being a song of supplication), and a spiritual song (intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion and bring the spirit of man under control of the Spirit of God).  That seems to be quite a bit to pack into one song!

Adelaide Pollard wrote many hymns during what is referred to as the the Moody-Sankey era (something this author needs to research further) but never desired recognition for them.  No one is certain how many hymns she wrote, because she very seldom signed her name to them.  As Warren Shiver writes in his work "Stories Behind the Hymns":

• Adelaide Pollard was forty-five years old when in 1907 she visited a prayer meeting, where she was inspired to write her most famous hymn. It was a simple phrase from a simple but sincere prayer that impressed her. For in offering her prayer, an elderly woman omitted the usual beseeching of the Lord to shower blessings upon her and the prayer meeting group, but instead she told God that it didn’t matter what he brought into their lives, but “Just have your own way with us”. As Adelaide left the prayer meeting that night the phrase from that prayer, “Have Thine own way”, rang in her mind. On the way home she formed the lyrics in her mind and before going to bed that night, she wrote the words on paper.  Shortly afterwards, George Coles Stebbins set the words to music, and “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” was ready for the Christian world, and all because of a simple phrase in a simple prayer.

Every verse begins with the simple supplication that is also the title of the song: "Have Thine own way, Lord!  Have Thine own way!"  The first verse goes further to state that "Thou art the Potter, I am the clay!"  This is reminiscent of when the prophet was commanded to go to the potter's house where the Lord would speak to him in Jeremiah 18.  While there, he sees a potter working on a vessel that had been spoiled during its crafting and begins to rework it into another vessel "as it seemed good to the potter to do" (Jer 18:4).  God then tells Jeremiah that when He promises destruction or some other judgment on any rebellious people, if they repent and change their hearts and minds, then He too will repent and spare them (unfortunately, the opposite is true for any people promised good tidings if they become rebellious!).  The apostle Paul goes further with this parable illustration when he asks, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?'  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" (Rom 9:20-21).  So it only makes sense when the hymn writer continues by requesting the Lord to "Mold me and make me After Thy will, While I am waiting, Yielded and still."  Would that we could all be molded by Him into vessels of honorable use!

In the second verse, after the title introduction, the song writer makes certain requests of the Lord similar to King David's requests in the 51st and 139th Psalms.  "Search me and try me, Master, today (Psalm 139:23-24-- "Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!")!  Whiter than snow, Lord, Wash me just now (Psalm 51:2, 7-- "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!...  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."), as in Thy presence humbly I bow (Psalm 51:16, 17-- "For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.")."

In the third verse, the writer oscillates between supplication and praise.  Request: "Wounded and weary, Help me, I pray!" (see notes for this in the last line, "Touch me and heal me....")  Praise: "Power, all power Surely is Thine!" (Psalm 62:11; 1Tim 6:15-16)  Request: "Touch me and heal me, Savior divine." (There are many examples of the Lord healing people, and as John says in closing his own book, if every one of them was recorded this world could not contain such a book [John 21:25].  But perhaps the sentiment born out by the writer of this song is best described by then-blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:47 when he cries out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!")

The last verse makes two final requests.  The first one, "Hold o'er (over) my being Absolute sway!" means to have complete rule of me.  Paul even goes so far as to implore that we present ourselves as living sacrifices (our "reasonable service", Romans 12:1).  By sacrificing ourselves, we are giving ourselves completely to God.  The second request is "Fill with Thy Spirit Till all shall see Christ only, always, Living in me."  Although being filled with the Spirit seems to take on a miraculous connotation, one can read in Ephesians 5:17 onward and other supporting verses that such is not the case (and God told us through Paul that miracles[e.g.-- prophecies, tongues, etc.] would end when that which is perfect had come, 1 Corinthians 13:10).  He begins by warning us not to be "foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."  And he continues to caution us "not [to] get drunk with wine,...but be filled with the Spirit."  Paul reminds us that it is written:

• "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"- these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:9-13).

During the first century, the Spirit imparted the will of God directly to the Apostles and anyone else whom He decided to inspire (2 Peter 1:19-21). Now that the Word of God is complete (1 Corinthians 13:10), men are not inspired with new revelation anymore, no longer being filled with the Spirit in that way.  Instead, we have the Word to read and by which to receive revelation, this Word being written by these inspired men (2 Peter 1:19-21) who wrote these things being given dictation, as it were, by the Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Therefore, we receive a filling of the Spirit through the reading of the Word.

And of course, our goal as Christians is for all to see Christ living in us.  When we put on Christ via water immersion (aka- baptism), we are immersed into His death (Rom 6:3), as such we are "crucified with Christ" as Paul reminds us in Galatians 2:20; "nevertheless, [we] live, yet not [we] but Christ lives in [us]"!

Again, I welcome your thoughts…

(Back to Introductory Volume)