To those who have sought thee, thou never said, "No!"

Hymn: “Whiter than Snow” – James Nicholson (1828-1876)
Tune: FISCHER

Most of us have an inbred fear of rejection. I have a drawer full of rejection letters for things I’ve sent to publishers over the years – many of which would have undoubtedly been best-sellers.

We have failed to take risks and accept challenges for fear of receiving a negative reaction… a rejection… a “no!”

Admittedly, I am rarely in a service where this old gospel song is sung; but when I am, THIS is the line that grabs me and brings that wry smile to my lips as I realize how very true this hymnline is. The tenor aria “If with all your hearts you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me” from ELIJAH rushes into my mind, and a blessed assurance overtakes me.

Today, remember that we serve the God of the Yes – the positive presence – the One who does not bar the door, but stands with gates wide open for all who want to enter.

"But we make his love too narrow by false limits of our own."

Hymn: “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” – Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863)

Typical Tunes:  IN BABILONE, COVERDALE, WELLESLEY

I think I would have enjoyed getting to know Fredrick Faber. First of all, he was British, so I’m sure he was fascinating… had probably visited Downton Abbey. He was a deep-thinking theologian, and his thoughtfulness is obvious in a couple of his other hymns: “Faith of Our Fathers” and “My God, How Wonderful Thou Art” for instance. I would love to have had tea with him and been able to discuss theology!

This hymn overflows with pithy one-liners; it is packed full of thought-out truths, versified for singing. The first stanza is worth the price of ticket:

            “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.

            There’s a kindness in his justice which is more than liberty.”

Woah! As I often say, “I wish I had written that!”

But today’s hymnline is so on-target and speaks such a loud message to the church today… a century and a half later. The limiting of God’s love is of our own doing; the boundless love which Scripture teaches has been pulled back and boxed in by humankind, and exclusion has replaced inclusion. This troubles me a lot… a whole lot! Where in Holy Writ do we find a teaching of Jesus that tells us to draw a line outside which the love of God is not available? I don’t find it.

This hymnline is followed by an even more cautionary thought: “And we magnify his strictness with a zeal he will not own.” Read that again and ponder for a moment those times when we as individuals and congregations and denominations have made way too much of the vengeful, angry, strict… even bullying… God, and forgotten to magnify his loving, forgiving, grace-filled nature. We’ve done it (according to Faber) with a fervor that God himself will not allow.

I know I’ve “gone to preaching” here, but this is one of my tallest soapboxes! And this grand old long-dead English poet-theologian verbalizes it so very, very well. If I had the opportunity to sit down to tea with him, I think his spirit would agree with my spirit, and I’d have to say, “You go, Fred!” He’d laugh, I’d blush – then we’d talk more about the nature of God in Christ Jesus.

“Father, forgive us for magnifying your strictness when we KNOW you are a merciful, kind, open-armed Deity. Teach us a lesson from this hymnline. Amen.”

Sung by Young Men’s Choir from England

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gTNmAHXeHeU

"Lift the smallness of our vision."

Hymn: “God, Whose Purpose Is to Kindle” – Elton Trueblood (1900-1994)
Common Tunes: HYMN TO JOY, EBENEZER, RUSTINGTON, HOLY MANNA

Today's Hymn Line: “Lift the smallness of our vision.”

Elton Trueblood was a Quaker theologian, advisor to American Presidents, author, and hymn-writer. This hymn has appeared in many hymnals since its writing in 1966. Because it is in the standard 8.7.8.7.D meter, it has been set to many tunes over the years.

Like Trueblood’s powerful voice among American theologians of the 20th Century, this single line jumps out from the hymn text which is itself a powerful prayer for the church to sing corporately.

It might be said that we are people of great faith but small vision. We verbalize how much we rely on God’s leadership and direction, but often we shy away from casting our vision beyond the commonly-held parameters of the world-wide church, our own denomination, our local congregation, or our small circle of Christian friends. No doubt some of the greatest sacred ideas – visions, if you will – have gone by the wayside because the person to whom they were revealed was reluctant to carry them through… to lay them out before others as a viable option for furthering the kingdom. Perhaps they were shared with a few, disparaged (pooh-poohed), and set aside.

I would like to not be considered a person of small faith OR small vision. I’d like to trust the Father’s wise bestowment of kingdom plans, and (because they are truly from the Father) run after them with greater vigor. After all, “Where there is no vision, the people (of God) perish.”  (Proverbs 29:18). And likely, some of us are withering due to our self-imposed limited vision of what God wants to accomplish in our personal lives and in the greater kingdom.

Lord Christ, please lift the smallness of my vision. Amen.

[I could not find an online example of this hymn.]

"In music, Lord, I worship you."

Hymn: “My Singing Is a Prayer” – Novella D. Preston Jordan (1901-1991)
Tune: VERMONT

This hymnline has probably been the theme of my entire existence… at least back as far as I can remember. I’ve always found God in music – especially sung music… music with words. I find him most commonly and most profoundly in hymn-singing. That should come as no surprise to those of you who know me well.

I’ve written several hymn and/or sacred anthem texts over the years with a modicum of success in having them published. At times, I’ve tried my hand at writing poems that were not sacred in nature – that did not express anything about my faith: love songs, patriotic songs, country songs – even an opera libretto. I couldn’t ever seem to make that work because my music – my words – seem to be set aside for worship.

A couple of years ago when the USA men's team had a tiny shot at winning the World Cup in soccer, the frenzy flooded the airwaves and the print media. One thing I noticed was the incorporation of a rhythmic, highly-repetitive chant: “I be-lieve that we will win! I be-lieve that we w, ill win!” Every sports bar in the country seemed to have taken up this “hymn” to the sport of futbol. [American women's soccer is a whole different story, but I won't go there for this hymnline!]

Historically, when a group shares a common belief, they take up a song to support it. That’s why countries have national anthems and patriotic songs – causes have a common song (e.g. “We Shall Overcome”) – and religions… all religions… incorporate some form of corporate musical expression into their gatherings.

As you might imagine, I was not caught up in the soccer eddy, but I am totally committed to expressing my Christian beliefs in song – chiefly the hymns of my faith. That’s why I do this blog; that’s why I created the Old Fashioned Singing Project; that’s why most every Sunday morning with book in hand, I’ll be somewhere singing… because “in music, Lord, I find you... and you seem to find me!”


I can’t find this one online for you to hear. It’s a great text and tune, but it’s under copyright with Broadman Press, so I can’t publish it here. You can read it at http://modernpuritan.com/2012/07/16/singing-is-a-prayer/

"All the reach of heavenly art, all the pow'r of music bring."

Hymn: “Praise the Lord Who Reigns Above” – Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Common Tune: AMSTERDAM

Leave it to Charles Wesley to write a hymnline like this one… nestled within other great statements about who God is, what God does, and what God deserves. THIS line deals with the latter.

I’m teaching an Introduction to the Fine Arts class at Dallas Baptist University, and I absolutely love where my semi-retirement has taken me: into a college-level classroom on a Christian campus to talk about one of my great passions – art! One of the things I emphasize with these students is that all art forms CAN be used to honor God. This hymnline supports that argument – that all the farthest reaches of heaven-given artfulness (or talent) can be called upon to praise the Lord who reigns above and keeps his court below.

My students think I’m just way too passionate about the arts. At every chapter, they hear me say, “Now this may be my favorite art form!” I AM passionate about the arts because they are lasting examples of creativity – God’s creative energy passing through the hearts, minds, feet, hands and mouths of his created ones.

Music is a powerful art. It is common to every race and every culture. Wesley encourages us to apply that innate power of music to the unbridled praise of God.

Today’s hymnline ends with the modifying phrase, “… the music of the heart.” In order for music or any art form to be acceptable worship, it must come from the innermost depth of who we are. It must be a sincere, humble offertory. It must not be a self-aggrandizing display of one’s talent.

Many of us enjoy and appreciate the arts. Humanity's creative expression through the arts is one of the ways we are made in the image of God. It behooves us then to offer them back to God as an act of honor. I think God enjoys it when we do.

“All the reach of heavenly art, all the pow’r of music bring.” And I say, “Bring it on!”

Jakarta Oratorio Children’s Choir Sings a Setting of This Text


The AMSTERDAM Tune Sung by a Frequently-Breathing Soloist

"His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood."

Hymn - "The Solid Rock" ("My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less") - Edward Mote (17971874)
Tune: SOLID ROCK

"Everybody needs a support system." How many times have you heard this? Inside and outside the family of faith, we are reminded from lectern and pulpit, white-board and online media that we cannot go it alone -- that we need a support system.

The beginning line of stanza three of this gospel song gives us a pretty basic overview of how we find that much-needed underpinning from the "hope that is built on nothing less than Jesus." He has promised [given us his oath] to be there for us until the end of time ("Lo, I am with you always."), we have covenanted with him to follow his commandments and to make him Lord. And last in this threesome, he and only was the blood sacrifice on our behalf at Calvary's altar, acting as the Lamb of God.

In the whelming eddies of life - churning, spinning, swirling about us - we may find ourselves singing this short hymnline to bring us a calming assurance that at least our spiritual life will not collapse because we have this sacred support system. "When all around my soul gives way", Jesus stays put.

We all need our friends, our family members, our church family... even near-strangers... to serve as a support system. But for those of us who believe, these pale in comparison to that Solid Rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVE-xXFDOwg

"Be joyful in the Lord, my heart! Both soul and body bear your part."

"You can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm stayin' alive!"

"Be joyful in the Lord, my heart! Both soul and body bear your part."

Hymn: "Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above" - 
                     Johan J. Schutz (1640-1690); translated by Frances E. Cox (1812-1897)
Common Tune: MIT FREUDEN ZART

I love this hymn. Period. Text and tune. I used it a lot in worship in my churches in my forty-plus years of worship-planning and music-leading. It's one that organists love to "crank it up" on and hit the "Tutti" toe-stud on the last three measures.

I was talking to my mother-in-law this afternoon at the retirement center, and she brought up a long-time friend of hers who has always been shall we say "dour." "I don't think he'll ever be happy," she said. "Well, not happy so anybody would know it." I know the person in question, and I think she had him pegged pretty well. Down deep, he may have found joy, but you'd never know it!

This last line translated from the German text helps us with our personal understanding of this. Calling upon us to be joyful in the Lord at the depths of our being - our heart.beyond that, we are reminded to let that joy demonstrate itself in our behavior and our very body language.

We don't use the word "bearing" much any more - there are lots of good words we have set aside! But bearing referred to the way one carried one's self, especially when one entered a room. You either entered positively, timidly, with confidence, negatively... dour-ly... or with joy! We all know people who seem to light up the room when they come in; we know others who suck out all the oxygen. It goes back to their bearing.

Let this hymnline remind us that our body bears its part. The soul brings light to our face as the joy of the Lord burns in our heart; but our bearing is affected and noticed. Be joyful in the Lord... and let us carry ourselves accordingly.


This hymn from Coral Ridge Presbyterian  - Samuel Metzger, organist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL0fIgaVZfY