"Never a trial that he is not there."

"Never a trial that he is not there."

Hymn: “Moment by Moment” –Daniel W. Whittle (1840-1901)

Tune: WHITTLE

These hymn-lines basically speak in a series of ‘never’ statements. It sort of puts us in the territory of never, never… or Never, Never Land!

Who doesn’t love the Peter Pan saga of the Lost Boys who live and fight pirates in the Never Woods on the fictitious island? In the earliest versions of his play, J. M. Barrie called it the Never, Never, Never Land, and it has become a metaphor for the escapism of everlasting childhood. We’ve all seen the movie, the play, the Broadway musical – or read the Wonder books.

But these hymn-lines speak of a very grown-up place in which we Christian people are kept near to the heart of God … year by year, month by month, week by week, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment – as in Tick-Tock the Croc, I guess.

There is nothing fictitious about this region of living where there is

•          never a trial that he is not there
•          never a burden that he doth not bear
•          never a sorrow that he doth not share
•          never a weakness that he doth not feel
•          never a sickness that he cannot heal.

It is merely a list of ‘nevers’ tucked into the second and third stanzas of an old gospel song. There’s not much to add to its straight-forward message… and/or its simple truth.

So move over, Tinkerbell, Wendy Darling, Captain Hook and Peter Pan. The he in our hymn-line takes center stage… and there’s nothing about him that is even close to a fairy tale. Welcome to Never, Never, Never, Never, Never Land!

“Be content, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’" (Hebrews 13:5)

A Simple Singing of This Hymn by a Youth Choir

"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!

Listen to This Hymn

"Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?"

Hymn: “O Worship the King” – Robert Grant (1779-1838)

Tunes: LYONS, HANOVER

In 1985 in the town where I live, The Trip to Bountiful was filmed. Right here on the streets of Waxahachie, Texas, Geraldine Page wandered about as Carrie Watts, in search of her fictional home town: Bountiful. She won a best-actress Academy Award for her portrayal… and Cynthia Clawson was nominated for her singing of “Softly and Tenderly.” [Watch a clip]

I never get to this third stanza without recalling that year when all the movie trucks came to town and disrupted the normal day-to-day pace-- because in 1985, Main Street in Waxahachie looked like Houston looked in the early 1950’s when the action was supposed to have been taking place. Gee, I love living in a quaint little town… I really do. Ah, yes. (Snap out of it, Huff. You have a blog to complete.)

Most of us would like to return to the bountiful care of our childhood… even if our home town is not called Bountiful. Those days of constant watchful protection: who can put it into words? According to this hymn-writer, it can’t be done. The vastness of God’s provision for us is such that it cannot adequately be verbalized. Instead, it is dramatized for us in creation itself:

            It breathes in the air.

            It shines in the light.

            It streams from the hills.

            It descends to the plain.

            It sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

The generous care of the Holy One works quietly in oxygen and in brightness; it gushes down from the hillside, like a flood rushing through a canyon toward the flatlands; it sweetly lands upon parched places in the form of dew and rainfall. And we stand, awaiting its affects because we are frail, feeble children of dust.

Head back to Bountiful today. Sit on the platform outside the local warehouse. Drive out in the country to the tumbled-down homeplace. Recall the days gone by, and believe with all certainty that the bountiful care still abounds!

Listen to a Contemporary Setting of This Hymn

 

"I join in the singing for I can't decline."

Hymn: “It’s So Wonderful” – Words & Music by Ralph H. Good Pasteur (1923-1996)

Tune: COBBS

"Care to Dance?"

  

Some of us (mostly men) will recall the great fear that came along with us when we went to high school dances… okay, “sock hops” for some of us whose parents wouldn’t let us associate with an event that involved the gyrations of social dancing. As long as we were just hopping about in our bobby socks, it seemed more acceptable! Back to that fear thing: The fear was not in ASKING someone to dance with us as much as it was in the possibility – even likelihood – that they would DECLINE.

Along life’s pilgrimage, we have made the choice to decline many offers far beyond a three-and-a-half-minute dance. Most of us have turned down job offers, move-away opportunities – for some, even wedding proposals. Declining is usually a polite refusal, not an act of spiteful spurning.

As someone who loves to sing in church – especially the great hymns – I have always been taken aback by the cross-armed refusal of some (again, mostly men) to participate. Some do this because they’ve been told they don’t sing well, some because it’s not the ‘manly’ thing to do, some because they find the music portion of the service to be a waste of time… for others, it’s just plain old obstinacy! Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God, but children of the heavenly King may – no, “must” - speak their joys abroad as they march upward to Zion.

I remember the first time I ever sang the spirited spiritual “It’s So Wonderful”: it was at Glorieta, New Mexico, in Holcomb Auditorium as William J. Reynolds introduced us to the new Baptist Hymnal 1975. I recall the joy that permeated the room as a predominantly white congregation of over two thousand worshipers was introduced to such a wonderful 20^th Century African-American praise song. Few stood arm-folded! Most swayed, clapped the beat, smiled; not many lifted-hands were spotted because after all, this WAS 1975 and we were Baptists after all!

Imagine (here I go again!) the Lord Christ walking up to you and asking you if you care to sing – if you would like to join in the melodic verbalization of your faith – to participate in praise of the one who invites you. Is there any way on earth you might say, “No thanks. I’d rather just stand here and listen”? I somehow doubt it.

We are made that offer every time we gather as a worshipping community. The next time Jesus approaches you across a crowded room and reaches out his hand and says, “Wanna dance… or sing?” don’t you dare decline! Uncross those arms (even lift them if you are so inclined) and cut loose in vibrant praise. It will make you both feel better.

"An Invitation to Dance" - Mathias Schmid

Hear the Statesman Quartet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NefELUXaf6k

Hear the Congregation of the Church Where the Song Originated

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qHyAHcOOIQ4

"The world rushes on. Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone."

Hymn: “Take Time to Be Holy” – William D. Longstaff (1822-1894)

Typical Tune: HOLINESS

It’s a hackneyed phrase, but “How’s the world treating you?” sounds kind of like a sad pick-up line in some shady drinking establishment – I would never refer to a bar in these hymnlines, you understand!

The world treat me mean. I sometimes identify with that African American sentiment from "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," but generally speaking, life is rushing by so quickly, I hardly notice if indeed I am being mistreated.

I am reminded of a time I got thrown overboard while white-water rafting in Colorado. In the midst of an eddy named “The Widow Maker,” I went flying far downstream in fairly shallow water, and when the rest of my raftees caught up with me and pulled me back into the boat, to my surprise, my knees had been banged up so badly on the rocks underneath me that they were bleeding! I had such a ‘rush’ in the rushing river that I didn’t even notice I was beat up by the experience!

This idea of spending time in secret with Jesus is a precious thought to me. I don’t need to announce it to my Sunday School class or at the office coffee pot; I don’t need to write about it on my blog. When I find sweet communion with Christ as I talk to him and he communicates with me – and it’s just the two of us – it is much too valuable an experience to go off bragging about it to those who might not have had a similar close encounter of the highest kind. Why do we want to gloat over our spiritual status, thinking of ourselves as superior because perhaps we are drawn closer to his side… or that he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own?

That Jesus statement about not casting your pearls before swine? I think it’s all about THIS kind of keeping your spiritual secrets close to the vest. Who wants their precious moments trampled underfoot by those who may doubt that I’ve had them… or who may find themselves jealous or left out because they have not?

I don’t spend nearly enough time in secret places of the Most High God… certainly not much time as indicated by this hymn-line. But when I do… oh my … how rich and full, how measureless and strong! And when they’re past, they are MY precious memories, shared possibly with only a few of my intimates.

Taking time out to be holy is not easy for all of us; jobs, family, commitments, church responsibilities limit our ability to be available to Christ. For sure, the world rushes on. Sometimes, we just have to call a ‘time out,’ move off the court/field and regroup – confer with the Coach in order to win in the game of life… in order to make the most of the life that he already won for us, by the way!

Some things about the faith were meant to be shared; others were meant to be cherished.

Hear This Hymn Sung

(I apologize that the graphics are poorly punctuated!)