"Still all my song shall be: Nearer, my God, to thee."

Hymn: “Nearer, My God, to Thee” – Sarah F. Adams (1805-1848)

Tune: BETHANY

It is a real shame that this hymn is mostly remembered as what the band was playing when the Titanic went down and is typically relegated to memorial services and funerals. The haunting, usually-slowly-sung hymn has some wonderful brief phrases worth recounting. It speaks of steps leading into heaven, angels beckoning us homeward, thoughts brightened with praise… and references to the Jacob’s ladder-dream (Genesis 28:12).

My outstanding word in this hymn-line for today is “still.” It’s a great word we use when we mean “after all this time.” I suppose that’s one of the reasons it is associated with funerals or end-of-life events.

Job uses this word many times in his defense against those who encourage him to turn from his God, such as in chapter 13, verse 15: “Though he take away my life, still will I hope in him.” (Some translations use the word ‘yet,’ meaning the same as ‘still.’)

It is that kind of continuing steadfastness to which we all aspire – those of us who seek to be faithful followers of the Lamb. It is our intention to come to the end of our days, still using the word “still”! Of course, you know that I’m going to love this line because it says that my song shall still be, “Let me be nearer, my God, to thee.”

One of my top-ten favorite hymns is “Draw Me Nearer.” Many of you know that one, and it will come up more than once on these blogs! I find myself singing it many mornings while I’m getting ready – out loud if no one else is in the house! It truly is my sincere prayer for every day – to edge a bit closer to my blessed Lord and to the cross where he died.

This coming Sunday when you stand to sing in worship - whatever your musical style - realize that your praises of the crucified, risen Christ are still genuine – after all these years. May ALL our songs still continue to draw us nearer to the One who is now on heaven’s throne at the top of those steps where angels beckon us to come. May our thoughts and attitudes truly still be brightened with his praise.

Try your best to stop thinking of this as a hymn about a mighty ship going down; rather consider a mighty church rising up in praise, still moving nearer to one another and their Leader.

Anne Murray Sings This Hymn

Unaccompanied Setting from the Mennonite Tradition

Haunting Setting for Nine Cellos

“Lord, I confess to thee sadly my sin. All I am tell I thee, all I have been.”

Hymn: “No, Not Despairingly” – Horatius Bonar (1808-1899)
Tune: KEDRON


To borrow a word from this hymnline, “sadly” not many evangelical churches sing this hymn any more. That is sad for me because there may be no other complete hymn in all of church history with more profound one-liners than this one. Those “ruminating” texts are why I am committed to hymns – congregational and devotional.

Two of the most introspective sentences in all hymndom are spoken here. Nothing frivolous or superficial. “Sadly, righteous Christ, I admit there are some darknesses in my life that I cannot express out loud to any human. You know about all this already, of course, but I need to tell you the whole truth of who I am and what I’ve done… who I’ve been. Here goes…” A chill should have come across you as you pondered that. If not, go back and read it again!

In the hymn, Bonar goes on to ask for purging, washing and cleansing; it is a true confession.

For me, the great mercy of this text is that I can lay it all out there – expose myself, so to speak – and my relationship with Christ will not be affected. Do you realize that? Do you really? This ability of the Savior to continue loving me in spite of the sad shape my life may have been in – I am blown away by that. Absolutely blown away.

Like any good friend, in all likelihood the response of Christ is, “I know. I know. It’s okay. We’re still okay.”

Though too often omitted from public worship, confession is still good for the soul… for THIS poor soul at least.

[First published 11/20/2014]

"Who can faint while such a river ever does their thirst asuage?"

"Who can faint while such a river ever does their thirst asuage?"

Hymn: “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” – John Newton (1725-1807)

Typical Tune: AUSTRIAN HYMN

"Doth this cup thy thirst assuage?"

How long has it been since you used the word ‘assuage’? Unless you’ve been doing a bit part on Downton Abbey or some other British drama, it’s probably been a while!

This grand old hymn about Zion, the city of God founded on the Rock of Ages was penned by the same man who wrote what has been dubbed the Christian National Anthem: “Amazing Grace”!

This particular hymn-line follows a couple of statements about how the sons and daughters of God are well-supplied with living water; then the question is asked how could any one of those sons and daughters (you and I) ever fall by the wayside when we have such a rich supply of living water to quench our thirst? I know it is hyperbole and that the question is rhetorical… and all that poetic-device stuff, but seriously, folks: how can we claim to be thirsty when we have been offered a never-thirst-again dose of effervescent refreshment to even our driest moments?

I know that many people pooh-pooh hymn singing because archaic words crop up now and again. (I can’t believe I just typed “pooh-pooh” into one of these postings! My apologies to people with preschoolers.) For sure, the use of assuage is archaic; but without turning to any dictionary or book of synonyms, in this context we all know what it means. It’s not nearly as off-putting as raising one’s Ebenezer!

The next line of the hymn seems to indicate that the assuaging agent is grace… like that amazing grace of one of John Newton’s other hymns – grace that never fails from age to age.

So before you start swooning and crying out in your dehydration, step into that river of grace – that life-giving, life-maintaining, life-sustaining free gift of God. It could easily be the pause that refreshes!

Originally Posted 08/25/2013

Listen to This Hymn

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