- "We saw Thee not when Thou didst come To this poor world of sin and death; Nor yet beheld Thy cottage home, In that despised Nazareth; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God.
- "We saw Thee not when lifted high Amid that wild and savage crew; Nor heard we that imploring cry, "Forgive, they know not what they do!" But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun; But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun.
- "We gazed not in the open tomb Where once Thy mangled body lay; Nor saw Thee in that "upper room," Nor met Thee on the open way; But we believe that angels said, "Why seek the Living with the dead?" But we believe that angels said, "Why seek the Living with the dead?"
- "We walked not with the chosen few Who saw Thee from the earth ascend; Who raised to heaven their wandering view, Then low to earth all prostrate bend; But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies; But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies."
(Words by Anne Richter, Altered by John H. Gurney; Music by Knowles Shaw)
Once again, as we begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list", this definitely seems to be a psalm of praise to God extolling His work, but I think we could also call it a spiritual song that is intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion as every verse is antithetically punctuated with "But we believe...".
This song was originally written by Mrs. Anne Richter in the early 19th century under the title "We Have Not Seen Thy Footsteps Tread." It was altered from its original eight-verse form by John H. Gurney into the current four-verse version that is commonly sung in the United States and the United Kingdom today. The music we typically sing for this song was composed by Knowles Shaw who wrote many other famous hymns including "I Am the Vine" and "Bringing in the Sheaves".
The song goes through some of the accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus from His arrival and His residence in Nazareth to His final ascension before Pentecost. As I wish to reprint the original eight-verse version of this hymn, I will briefly go through some points in the current version:
- "We saw Thee not when Thou didst come To this poor world of sin and death; (Matthew and Luke both go into more detail about Jesus' arrival on this planet)
- "Nor yet beheld Thy cottage home, In that despised Nazareth; But we believe Thy footsteps trod Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God...."(although we have good evidence that Jesus grew up in Nazareth [Matthew 2:19-23] which was "a despised" town [John 1:45-46], we really don't know what kind of house the Lord grew up in. Although Dictionary.com shows some definitions of cottage that seem somewhat less than humble, we can likely agree that the abode of His family likely was humble, which is probably the idea Mrs. Richter and Mr. Gurney were trying to convey.
- "We saw Thee not when lifted high Amid that wild and savage crew; (Jesus indicated that this was going to happen, that He would be lifted up from the earth on a cross [John 3:14-15; 12:27-33], and so He was [Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 19:18]. And to describe them as a "wild and savage crew" may have been too complimentary [Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-39])
- "Nor heard we that imploring cry, 'Forgive, they know not what they do!' [Luke 23:34]
- "But we believe the deed was done, That shook the earth and veiled the sun. [Matt 27:45-54; Mark 15:33-39; Luke 23:44-47]
- "We gazed not in the open tomb Where once Thy mangled body lay; [Luke 24:2-3; John 20:3-9]
- "Nor saw Thee in that 'upper room,' (Luke indicates that Cleopas and his friend went to meet the disciples in Jerusalem [Luke 24:33-35] after their encounter with the resurrected Christ; John further points out that the disciples were in a place where the doors could be locked [John 20:19]; and Luke, in his second account, indicates that the disciples were staying in an upper room [Acts 1:12-13]; it's not certain that this was the exact same place they stayed before, but could be a good assumption.
- "Nor met Thee on the open way; (this is the incident with Cleopas and his friend [Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-27])
- "But we believe that angels said, 'Why seek the Living with the dead?' (although each Gospel account shows communication with the women who were the first to find Jesus' tomb empty, only in the account in Luke 24:5-8 do we see the angels asking this question.)
- "We walked not with the chosen few Who saw Thee from the earth ascend; Who raised to heaven their wandering view, Then low to earth all prostrate bend (Luke's second account does not make any indication of this showing of respect by the disciples as He rose from this earth [Acts 1:6-11]; it sounds nice, and fits the rhyme scheme of the rest of the verse, obviously some artistic license; the rest of the account is accurate, including their witness of Jesus' departure in the next line->); But we believe that human eyes Beheld that journey to the skies."
Now as I promised, here's the original song by Mrs. Richter. Compare and see what you think:
1. We have not seen Thy footsteps tread This wild and sinful earth of ours, Nor heard Thy voice restore the dead Again to life’s reviving powers: But we believe—for all things are The gifts of Thine Almighty care.
2. We have not seen the billowy sea Grow calm and still at Thy command, Nor the dim orbs again to see, Beneath the healing of Thine hand: But we believe the Fount of light Again could give those eyeballs sight.
3. We did not see Thee tread the wave; We did not hear the voice from heaven, Which once with awful warning gave That God’s own Son for us was given. But we believe—oh! strengthen Thou The faith which to Thy name we owe.
4. We did not see the armed throng Steal to the garden’s midnight shade, And watch the palm-tree’s boughs among, Then quail beneath Thy glance afraid: But we believe—Almighty love Alone could such dark moments prove.
5. We did not see the darkness veil With sudden gloom the noon-day skies; Nor the fierce soldier’s cheek grow pale; And priestly mockery veil their eyes; When the proud Roman owned the power Of heaven, ’twas in that awful hour.
6. We did not hear the footsteps fall Within that lonely garden ground, Of the all-wakeful sentinel, Slow tracing there his watchful round; But we believe—the Holy One Bursting that tomb, in glory shone.
7. We were not with the chosen few Who saw Thee through the clouds ascend, Who gazed, and wished to follow too, Then on the earth all prostrate bend; But we believe that mortal eyes Beheld the journey to the skies.
8. Chase every shade of doubt away; Light of the World! in mercy shine; Illume with faith our erring way,We would no worship own but Thine. Bring us to heaven’s peaceful shore, And make us Thine forevermore!
As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments on this....
--bas4d
No comments:
Post a Comment