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Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories
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Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories
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Overview
Each week millions of Christians around the world use hymns composed by believers from every era and branch of Christianity to join voices in praise—singing psalms and hymns and making melody in their hearts to praise the Lord.
Pastor Robert Morgan’s goal is to keep these traditional hymns vital and meaningful to all generations. Then Sings My Soul will help readers reacquaint themselves with 150 beloved hymns of the faithful. These devotional-style stories show the emotion and drama behind the hymns of faith that have changed many lives throughout history—from the people whose faith led them to write these wonderful hymns to the people whose faith was affected by reading, hearing, and singing them.
As we sing a new song to the Lord, let’s not forget the old ones. It’s the sturdy old hymns of the faith that strengthen and steady us when we are weary and worn. They’re the ones we sing when rising troubled in the night.
Then Sings My Soul contains:
- Words and music to 150 traditional hymns
- Short, devotional-style stories providing context on each hymn
- Hymn index for easy reference
- Perfect for use as a daily devotional, teaching illustration, or for song leaders and music ministers
An instant classic with more than 1.3 million copies sold, Then Sings My Soul is designed to be personally reflective. These lyrics and stories behind them will speak to your soul, strengthen your faith, and deepen your understanding of God as you worship Him through song.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780785249399 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Nelson, Thomas, Inc. |
Publication date: | 02/03/2003 |
Pages: | 320 |
Sales rank: | 45,321 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
THEN SINGS MY SOUL
150 of the World's Greatest Hymn StoriesBy Robert J. Morgan
Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2003 Robert J. MorganAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7852-4939-9
Chapter One
The Lord Bless You and Keep YouFOURTEENTH CENTURY B.C.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
The Dead Sea Scrolls were, until recently, our oldest copies of biblical text. But in 1979, Villanova professor, Judith Hadley, was assisting archaeologist, Gabriel Barkay, in excavating a site in Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley. In a burial cave, she saw something resembling the metal cap of a pencil. It was a sensational find, a tiny silver scroll of great antiquity. Another was found nearby. These tiny amulets, dating to the Hebrew monarchy seven centuries before Christ, were so small and fragile they took several years to painstakingly clean and open.
When scientists finally unrolled them, they found the world's oldest extant copy of a biblical text, the words of Numbers 6:24-26: The Lord bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
While the amulets date from the seventh century B.C., the original words are far older, coming 1,400 years before Christ. As theIsraelites wandered in the wilderness, the Lord commanded the priests to bless the people with this three-fold blessing.
These ancient lyrics have been set to music many times, but never more beautifully than by Peter Christian Lutkin in his classic tune BENEDICTION. During the Fanny Crosby/Ira Sankey era of gospel music, when so much was written for easy congregational singing, Lutkin wrote more elaborate melodies with a classical flare.
Lutkin was born in Wisconsin in 1888, and devoted his life to church music, studying the masters in Europe, excelling on the organ, and founding the School of Music at Northwestern Illinois. He helped start the American Guild of Organists. He died in 1931 and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.
In his Notes from My Bible, D. L. Moody said about the priestly blessing of Numbers 6: "Here is a benediction that can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it, every letter may conclude with it, every day may begin with it, every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing-keeping-shining-the uplifting upon our poor life of all heaven's glad morning. It is the Lord Himself who (gives us) this bar of music from heaven's infinite anthem."
The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Be Thou My Vision EIGHTH CENTURY
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
Only one missionary is honored with a global holiday, and only one is known by his own distinct color of green-St. Patrick, of course, missionary to Ireland.
Patrick was born in A.D. 373, along the banks of the River Clyde in what is now called Scotland. His father was a deacon, and his grandfather a priest. When Patrick was about 16, raiders descended on his little town and torched his home. When one of the pirates spotted him in the bushes, he was seized, hauled aboard ship, and taken to Ireland as a slave. There he gave his life to the Lord Jesus.
"The Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief," he later wrote, "in order that I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God."
Patrick eventually escaped and returned home. His overjoyed family begged him to never leave again. But one night, in a dream reminiscent of Paul's vision of the Macedonian Man in Acts 16, Patrick saw an Irishman pleading with him to come evangelize Ireland.
It wasn't an easy decision, but Patrick, about 30, returned to his former captors with only one book, the Latin Bible, in his hand. As he evangelized the countryside, multitudes came to listen. The superstitious Druids opposed him and sought his death. But his preaching was powerful, and Patrick became one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time, planting about 200 churches and baptizing 100,000 converts.
His work endured, and several centuries later, the Irish church was still producing hymns, prayers, sermons, and songs of worship. In the eighth century, an unknown poet wrote a prayer asking God to be his Vision, his Wisdom, and his Best Thought by day or night.
In 1905, Mary Elizabeth Byrne, a scholar in Dublin, Ireland, translated this ancient Irish poem into English. Another scholar, Eleanor Hull of Manchester, England, took Byrne's translation and crafted it into verses with rhyme and meter. Shortly thereafter it was set to a traditional Irish folk song, "Slane," named for an area in Ireland where Patrick reportedly challenged local Druids with the gospel.
It is one of our oldest and most moving hymns:
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, Naught be all else to me save that Thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
All Glory, Laud, and Honor
A.D. 820
Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9
The mighty Charlemagne (742-814), King of the Franks, united most of western Europe under his crown. He was a visionary who advanced education and reformed the laws, economy, and culture of Europe.
When Charlemagne died, his son, Louis I, assumed the throne. At first, all went well. But in 817, he began dividing the empire among his nephew and his four sons, causing no end of problems. Twice he was deposed by his sons, and, though he regained his throne both times, he was never again able to rest securely.
Caught in the middle of this epic family conflict was Theodulph, Bishop of Orleans, a city south of Paris. Theodulph, born in Spain about 750, had gone to France as a church leader at Charlemagne's request. He was a brilliant man who worked hard to reform the clergy. He established schools and advanced education. He advocated high morals, built churches, and composed hymns of praise to God.
But during the political intrigues of Louis' reign, Theodulph was accused (falsely, it seems) of conspiring with King Bernard of Italy; and on Easter Sunday, 818, he was imprisoned in the monastery of Angers, a city southwest of Paris.
There, as he meditated on our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem prior to His Crucifixion and Resurrection, Theodulph wrote the great Palm Sunday hymn, "All Glory, Laud, and Honor."
According to a tradition that can be neither confirmed nor denied, when King Louis later visited Angers, he momentarily halted by the monastery where Theodulph was held, and the bishop appeared at the window, singing "All Glory, Laud and Honor." The king was reportedly so moved that he ordered the bishop's release.
For whatever reason, we know Theodulph was released in 821, but he died on his way back to Orleans, or shortly after his return there.
Originally there were 78 verses (39 couplets) to this hymn! Theodulph had lots of time in his prison-monastery. The first several are the ones we commonly sing today. One stanza that has fallen by the wayside is this quaint verse:
Be Thou, O Lord, the Rider, And we the little ass, That to God's holy city Together we may pass.
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
TWELFTH CENTURY
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33
When Bernard (c. 1090-1153), a sickly youth in Dijon, France, was unable to fulfill military service, he became a monk. So successful was he that he eventually founded the famous monastery in nearby Clairvaux; in time almost 170 other monasteries sprang from Bernard's leadership. He became the most powerful preacher of his era, and is remembered as a pious man, a deeply contemplative mystic, the "honey-tongued doctor." Martin Luther called Bernard "the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together."
He wasn't a perfect man, as seen in his support for the Second Crusade to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim control. But for 800 years, his words have been read and sung, and his good work has continued.
If you've never read Bernard, here are some excerpts from his writings and sermons:
* How do we know that Christ has really overcome death? Precisely in that he, who did not deserve it, underwent it .... But what kind of justice is this, you may say, that the innocent should die for the guilty? It is not justice, but mercy. * I was made a sinner by deriving my being from Adam; I am made righteous be being washed in the blood of Christ. * You will never have real mercy for the failings of another until you know and realize that you have the same failings in your soul. * Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your kindness in uniting us to the church you so dearly love, not merely that we may be endowed with the gift of faith, but that, like brides, we may be one with you ..., beholding with unveiled faces that glory which is yours in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. * You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God Himself is the reason He is to be loved.
Several well-known hymns are attributed to St. Bernard: "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," and a lesser-known hymn entitled "Open Wide are Thine Hands," the second verse of which says:
Lord, I am sad and poor, but boundless is Thy grace; Give me the soul transforming joy for which I seek Thy face.
All Creatures of Our God and King
1225
I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:40
So many stories have arisen around St. Francis of Assisi that it's difficult to separate truth from fiction. We know he was born in 1182 in central Italy, son of a rich merchant. After a scanty education, Francis joined the army and was captured in war. He came to Christ shortly after his release, renounced his wealth, and began traveling about the countryside, preaching the gospel, living simply, seeking to make Christ real to everyone he met.
Francis loved nature, and many stories spotlight his interaction with animals. Once as he hiked through Italy's Spoleto Valley, he came upon a flock of birds. When they didn't fly away, he decided to preach them a little sermon: "My brother and sister birds," he reportedly said, "you should praise your Creator and always love Him. He gave you feathers for clothes, wings to fly, and all other things you need. It is God who made your home in thin, pure air. Without sowing or reaping, you receive God's guidance and protection."
The flock, it is said, then flew off rejoicing.
That perspective is reflected in a hymn Francis composed just before his death in 1225, called, "Cantico di fratre sole"-"Song of Brother Sun." It exhorts all creation to worship God. The sun and moon. All the birds. All the clouds. Wind and fire. All men of tender heart. All creatures of our God and King.
Though written in 1225, an English version didn't appear until 1919, when Rev. William H. Draper decided to use it for a children's worship festival in Leeds, England.
But is it sound theology to exhort birds and billowing clouds to lift their voices in praise? Yes! "All Creatures of our God and King" simply restates an older hymn-Psalm 148-which says:
Praise Him, sun and moon; / Praise Him, all you stars of light .... / You great sea creatures and all the depths; / Fire and hail, snow and clouds; / Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; / Mountains and all hills; / Fruitful trees and all cedars; / Beasts and all cattle; / Creeping things and flying fowl ... / Let them praise the name of the Lord, / For His name alone is exalted ... / Praise the Lord!
The God of Abraham Praise
1404/1770
I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham ... Exodus 3:6
The God of Abraham Praise" is perhaps the most Jewish of all Christian hymns, and its writing covers many centuries. Its roots go back to the medieval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), who wrote a confession of faith containing thirteen creeds.
Centuries later, in 1404, another Jewish scholar, Daniel ben Judah, a judge and liturgical poet in Rome, deeply impressed with Maimonides' creed, composed the Yigdal, a doxology of thirteen stanzas widely sung in Jewish synagogues to this day.
Centuries later, in 1770, an opera vocalist named Meyer Lyon sang the Yigdal in London's Great Synagogue, Duke's Place. In the audience that night was Thomas Olivers.
Thomas (1725-1799) had been born in Tregynon, Wales, and orphaned about age four. He studied the craft of shoemaking, but he learned the art of sinning better, "the worst boy known in Tregynon for thirty years."
When he was eighteen, Thomas was thrown out of town, and he wandered down to Bristol, England, where evangelist George Whitefield happened to be preaching from Zechariah 3:2: "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"
"When that sermon began," Thomas recalled, "I was one of the most abandoned and profligate young men living; before it ended I was a new creature. The world had changed for Tom Olivers." He became a traveling evangelist and passionate Christian worker.
On that Sabbath evening in 1770, when Thomas heard Meyer Lyon sing the Yigdal, he was so moved that he later approached Lyon, acquired the music, and adapted the Jewish Doxology into a Christian hymn of thirteen stanzas, beginning, "The God of Abraham Praise."
"Look at this," he told a friend, "I have rendered it from the Hebrew, giving it, as far as I could, a Christian character." Thomas annotated his hymn with footnotes, citing Scripture references for almost every line, the first being Exodus 3:6: "I am the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham." It appeared in 1785 in John Wesley's Pocket Hymnbook.
Modern congregations don't have the patience to sing all thirteen stanzas, so here is one of the lesser-known verses for you to ponder:
The God Who reigns on high the great archangels sing, And "Holy, holy, holy!" cry, "Almighty King!" Who was, and is, the same, and evermore shall be: Jehovah, Lord, the great I AM, we worship Thee!
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
1529
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
We think of Martin Luther as a great reformer, Bible translator, political leader, fiery preacher, and theologian. But he was also a musician, having been born in an area of Germany known for its music. There in his little Thuringian village, young Martin grew up listening to his mother sing. He joined a boys' choir that sang at weddings and funerals. He became proficient with the flute (recorder), and his volcanic emotions often erupted in song.
When the Protestant Reformation began, Luther determined to restore worship to the German Church. He worked with skilled musicians to create new music for Christians, to be sung in the vernacular. He helped revive congregational singing and wrote a number of hymns.
Often he "borrowed" popular secular melodies for his hymns, though occasionally a tune brought criticism and he was "compelled to let the devil have it back again" because it was too closely associated with bars and taverns.
In the forward of a book, Luther once wrote: "Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits .... A person who ... does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God ... does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs."
Luther's most famous hymn is "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott,"-"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Based on Psalm 46, it reflects Luther's awareness of our intense struggle with Satan. In difficulty and danger, Luther would often resort to this song, saying to his associate, "Come, Philipp, let us sing the 46th Psalm."
This is a difficult hymn to translate because the original German is so vivid. At least 80 English versions are available. The most popular in America was done by Frederic Henry Hodge. But an older version appeared in the Pennsylvania Lutheran Church Book of 1868:
A mighty fortress is our God, / A trusty Shield and Weapon; / He helps us free from every need, / That hath us now o'ertaken.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from THEN SINGS MY SOUL by Robert J. Morgan Copyright © 2003 by Robert J. Morgan. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
The Cure for Shot Nerves....................xThe Lord Bless You and Keep You....................2
Be Thou My Vision....................4
All Glory, Laud, and Honor....................6
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee....................8
All Creatures of Our God and King....................10
The God of Abraham Praise....................12
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God....................14
Now Thank We All Our God....................16
The Lord's My Shepherd....................18
Doxology....................20
Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow....................20
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above....................22
Fairest Lord Jesus....................24
Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty....................26
Behold the Savior of Mankind....................28
Behold the Glories of the Lamb....................30
Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed....................32
I Sing the Mighty Power of God....................34
Jesus Shall Reign....................36
O God, Our Help in Ages Past....................38
God Is the Refuge of His Saints....................40
Am I a Soldier of the Cross?....................42
And Can It Be That I Should Gain?....................44
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing....................46
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing....................48
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today....................50
Jesus, Lover of My Soul....................52
Hallelujah Chorus (from The Messiah)....................54
Messiah (Handel)....................54
O Come, All Ye Faithful....................56
When Morning Gilds the Skies....................58
Guide Me, OThou Great Jehovah....................60
O Happy Day, That Fixed My Choice....................62
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing....................64
Father, Whate'er of Earthly Bliss....................66
There Is a Fountain....................68
O for a Closer Walk with God....................70
God Moves in a Mysterious Way....................72
Rock of Ages....................74
All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name....................76
Amazing Grace....................78
Though Troubles Assail Us....................80
How Firm a Foundation....................82
There Is a Balm in Gilead....................84
Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him!....................86
The Star-Spangled Banner....................88
Angels from the Realms of Glory....................90
Silent Night....................92
Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken....................94
In the Cross of Christ I Glory....................96
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty....................98
My Faith Looks Up to Thee....................100
O For a Faith that Will Not Shrink....................102
My Country, 'Tis of Thee....................104
Lead, Kindly Light....................106
O Worship the King....................108
The Solid Rock....................110
Just As I Am....................112
Nearer, My God, to Thee....................114
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say....................116
Abide with Me....................118
It Came upon the Midnight Clear....................120
In Heavenly Love Abiding....................122
Crown Him with Many Crowns....................124
Good King Wenceslas....................126
Still, Still with Thee....................128
What a Friend We Have in Jesus....................130
More Love to Thee, O Christ....................132
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus....................134
Eternal Father, Strong to Save....................136
Jesus Loves Me....................138
I Gave My Life for Thee....................140
Battle Hymn of the Republic....................142
He Leadeth Me....................144
Revive Us Again....................146
For the Beauty of the Earth....................148
My Jesus, I Love Thee....................150
Shall We Gather at the River?....................152
Day by Day....................154
Jesus Paid It All....................156
Now the Day Is Over....................158
Onward Christian Soldiers....................160
Rejoice Ye Pure in Heart....................162
Safe in the Arms of Jesus....................164
O Little Town of Bethlehem....................166
The King of Love My Shepherd Is....................168
The Ninety and Nine....................170
Sweet By and By....................172
Rescue the Perishing....................174
Jesus Loves Even Me....................176
I Need Thee Every Hour....................178
Lord, Speak to Me....................180
Blessed Assurance....................182
It Is Well with My Soul....................184
Another Year Is Dawning....................186
Bringing in the Sheaves....................188
Take My Life and Let It Be....................190
I Will Sing of My Redeemer....................192
All the Way My Savior Leads Me....................194
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus....................196
Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting....................198
Like a River Glorious....................200
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee....................202
God Be with You....................204
O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go....................206
Take Time to Be Holy....................208
'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus....................210
How Great Thou Art....................212
Standing on the Promises....................214
When They Ring the Golden Bells....................216
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms....................218
Trust and Obey....................220
Sunshine in My Soul....................222
Yesterday, Today, Forever....................224
My Faith Has Found a Resting Place....................226
America the Beautiful....................228
When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder....................230
I Must Tell Jesus....................232
At Calvary....................234
Jesus Loves the Little Children....................236
I Surrender All....................238
Under His Wings....................240
Count Your Blessings....................242
Face to Face....................244
When We All Get to Heaven....................246
There Is Power in the Blood....................248
O That Will Be Glory....................250
Does Jesus Care?....................252
This Is My Father's World....................254
Near to the Heart of God....................256
God Will Take Care of You....................258
His Eye Is on the Sparrow....................260
Have Thine Own Way, Lord....................262
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee....................264
He Keeps Me Singing....................266
Our Great Savior....................268
In the Garden....................270
Brighten the Corner Where You Are....................272
The Old Rugged Cross....................274
The Love of God....................276
Wonderful Grace of Jesus....................278
I'd Rather Have Jesus....................280
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus....................282
Great Is Thy Faithfulness....................284
Little Is Much When God Is in It....................286
Precious Lord, Take My Hand....................288
He Lives....................290
Beyond the Sunset....................292
Search Me, O God....................294
It Is No Secret....................296
His Name Is Wonderful....................298
The All Sufficient King....................300
Alphabetical by Title....................303
Author/Songwriter....................305
First Line of Hymn....................307