Handbook to the Mennonite Hymnary

Based on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The hymn first appeared in The Christian Mirror, Portland, Me., 1838, in seven stanzas. One of the omitted stanzas reads:

The author, William Cutter, was an editor and publisher, born at Yarmouth, Me., a graduate of Bowdoin College, and member of the Congregational Church. He was in business in Portland, Me., for several years and then in Brooklyn, N. Y. He has been described as “a deserving writer who has hitherto missed his due meed of acknowledgement.”

MUSIC. BURFORD, a very good tune in triple time, written in the minor mode, is of uncertain authorship, though it is credited in some books to Henry Purcell, c. 1658-95, one of England’s great composers and organists. It is set to Psalm 42 in A Book of Psalmody, 1718, by John Chetham, and appears in a large number of other 18th century psalmodies, invariably without composer’s name.

229. O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother

A hymn of brotherly love and service, taken from a poem of 15 stanzas, entitled, “Worship,” to which was affixed the scriptural reference, James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” A concern for the well being of his fellow man was to Whittier a vital part of the Christian faith, as witness his championship of the cause of the slaves.

For comments on John Greenleaf Whittier see Hymn 173.

MUSIC. COMFORT. The tune appears anonymously in the “Supplement” to Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.

230. Rise up, O men of God

A hymn challenging the men of the church to loyal service to Christ. It is widely used in America and has found a place in English and Canadian hymnals. Concerning the origin of the hymn, Dr. Merrill says, in a letter to the writer, dated, April 18, 1947:

I was asked back in 1911 to write a hymn to be used in the “Brotherhood Movement,” then going strong. I had come upon an article by Gerald Stanley Lee, entitled, “The Church of the Strong Men”; and that gave me a start. I can give no interesting details as to how I wrote it; I just did it.

Highchurchmen have objected to the hymn, because they have said that only God can make the church great. To that I have answered that if anyone can show me a single instance in history where God has made the church great without using MEN OF GOD to do it, I should be interested. No answer has ever come. I heard that hymn sung in Europe, in India, China, and Japan.

For comments on the author, William P. Merrill, see Hymn 183.

MUSIC. LEIGHTON was composed by Henry Wellington Greatorex, 1811-58, an Englishman by birth. Coming to the United States in 1839, he served as organist at Central Congregational Church, Hartford, Conn., in St. Paul’s and Calvary Churches, New York City, and finally in an Episcopal Church at Charleston, S. C. He edited the Greatorex Collection of 1856 and did much to improve the standards of music used in the worship service. He composed a widely used setting for the “Gloria Patri” (606). Dr. Merrill’s hymn has been set to various tunes, the one generally used and preferred by the author being “Festal Song,” by William H. Walter.

231. Go, labor on; spend and be spent

A hymn to encourage Christian workers. It was published in Songs for the Wilderness, 1843, under the title, “Labour for Christ.” In Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1867, it was entitled, “The Useful Life.”

Regarding the origin of the hymn, Rev. H. N. Bonar, son of the author wrote:

It was probably in the year 1836 that my father first wrote a hymn not primarily intended for the young. To encourage his faithful fellow workers in his mission district, he wrote, to the tune of the “Old Hundredth,” the now-familiar hymn, “Go, labour on.”

For comments on Horatius Bonar see Hymn 129.

MUSIC. ERNAN was written for Cantica Laudis, 1850, one of the books which Mason published with the assistance of Geo. J. Webb. For comments on the composer, Lowell Mason, see Hymn 12.

THE INNER LIFE

232. O have you not heard of that beautiful stream

Based on Rev. 22:1, 17: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

It is reminiscent also of Ezek. 47:1-12, the vision of the healing stream of water flowing from the house of God to the Dead Sea, causing new life to flourish. “Everything shall live whither the river cometh.” (v. 9).

An omitted stanza reads:

The poem, with the present music, appeared in Asa Hull’s, The Casket, published in Philadelphia, 1865, where it is credited to R. Torrey, Jr. To date, no information has come to light concerning the author. He lived a generation earlier than the well known preacher and teacher, R. A. Torrey. In 1868, the hymn was published, anonymously, in Spiritual Harp, Boston, a book of songs for congregational use dedicated by the authors to “the Spiritualists and Reformers of the world, love of truth and progress.” Two years later, in 1870, the words and music appeared in England, in the Sunday School Hymnary, published by the National Sunday School Union in London.

The German version is a free translation made by Ernst Heinrich Gebhardt, 1832-99, a Methodist minister and evangelist, known in Germany, the place of his birth, as the father of German revivalistic and holiness songs. It is superior, in poetic quality and evangelistic appeal, to the English original.

Gebhardt was born in Ludwigsburg, Württemberg, July 12, 1832. He prepared to be an apothecary but later decided to go to Chile, South America, to live with relatives. After spending five years on a farm in Chile, he returned to Germany to visit his mother. A shipwreck on the return voyage resulted in a deep spiritual awakening. Arriving in Ludwigsburg, he accompanied his mother to the Sylvester service on New Year’s night, 1859, in the Methodist Church, where he dedicated his life to Christian work. Having decided to become an evangelist, he attended the school for ministers in the Methodist Church at Bremen where his zeal and musical gifts were quickly recognized. He was appointed Reiseprediger and in this capacity served in Ludwigsburg (1860-62), Heilbronn (1862-66), Pforzheim (1866-68), Bremen (1868-71), Ludwigsburg (1871-74), Zurich (1874-77), Strassburg i. E. (1877-81), Biel, Kt. Bern (1880-84), Zwickau (1884-88) and finally in Karlsruhe (1888-99). Gebhardt was married and had a family of nine children.

His activities included a trip to the United States, 1881-83, during which he travelled through 30 States. In Brighton, England, he took part in holiness meetings held there, and later travelled with R. Pearsall Smith, of Philadelphia, through Germany and Switzerland, serving as song leader in the evangelistic meetings conducted by Smith.

Gebhardt is the author of many original hymns and made over 50 translations from the English, most of them from the Moody and Sankey songs. He compiled numerous song books where his works appeared. “Ich weiss einen Strom” was published in his Frohe Botschaft, 1875, a popular book of gospel songs drawn mostly from English sources, both words and music. The third stanza, omitted here, reads:

MUSIC. ICH WEISS EINEN STROM, originally entitled, “Beautiful Stream,” and written in 6/8 time, first appeared in Casket of Sunday School Melodies, 1865, published by the composer, Asa Hull, in Philadelphia. The tune is wedded inseparably to Torrey’s words. It is very popular among General Conference of Mennonites churches where it is usually sung in the slow tempo and dignity of a chorale. Neither the words nor the music, with its refrain, have the characteristics of a chorale. It is a useful song, especially for evangelistic services.

Asa Hull was born January 18, 1828, in Keene, N. Y. He studied harmony and composition with B. F. Baker and Geo. J. Webb in Boston, and at the age of 20 became organist and choirmaster at Watertown, Mass. He composed many church tunes. Hull, a pioneer publisher of Sunday school and gospel song books, was also known as a shrewd business man. His publications numbered 30 books and about 100 pamphlets. Gem of Gems, published in 1881, sold over 300,000 copies. On the fly leaf of his Casket of Sunday School Melodies is found this advertisement:

Asa Hull, Philadelphia agent for the Hallett and Cumston Piano Fortes, will keep a variety of styles and exhibits at his store, which he will sell at lower prices for cash than any other first class instrument can be bought in the city. 240 S. Eleventh Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

233. O holy Savior, Friend unseen

A hymn which is best understood by those who have had experience in suffering and sorrow. Entitled, “Clinging to Christ,” it was written in 1834, shortly after the death of the author’s father and published in the 1834 edition of her Invalid’s Hymn Book.

Charlotte Elliott, a member of the Church of England, was born and reared amid refined, cultured, Christian surroundings. Her grandfather, Rev. Henry Venn, was an “eminent Church of England divine of apostolic character and labors,” and the author of The Whole Duty of Man. Charlotte was a woman of keen intellect and was gifted in music and art. Unfortunately, she became an invalid at 32 and remained so till the end of her long life, oftentimes enduring great suffering. This may account for the note of tenderness found in all her hymns. In spite of her invalidism, she did a large amount of literary work, publishing four or five volumes of poetry. She was a modest woman, publishing all her books anonymously. A large number of her 150 hymns are still in use, the most popular being “Just as I am, without one plea” (458).

MUSIC. INTEGER VITAE (FLEMMING). For comments on this tune see Hymn 59.

234. Thou true Vine, that heals the nations

Based on John 15:1-5: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now are ye clean through the work which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

The hymn was composed for Songs of Praise, 1933, London. The author is not identified except by the initials T.S.N.

MUSIC. PLEADING SAVIOUR, a folk-song type of tune, is from the Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes, New York, 1855, which Henry Ward Beecher compiled for use in the Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, of which he was pastor. The musical editors were John Zundel (178) and the Rev. Charles Beecher.

235. God of my heart

A hymn celebrating the believer’s life in God. It was taken from St. Basil’s Hymnal compiled by the Basilian Fathers, published in 1918. The musical editors were Healey Willan and Jules Brazil. The authorship of the hymn is anonymous.

MUSIC. CARMEN NATURAE is an arrangement from a melody in Donizetti’s opera, Carmen.

Gaetano Donizetti, 1797-1848, son of an Italian weaver, studied music in Naples. He composed 66 operas, 6 masses, 12 string quartets, a requiem, songs, and other compositions.

236. Since Jesus is my Friend

A hymn of consolation and joy to give strength and courage to troubled hearts. It is based on Romans 8:31: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The original has 15 stanzas. The lines translated here are as follows:

For comments on the author, Paul Gerhardt, see Hymn 134.

The translation by Miss Winkworth appeared in her Lyra Germanica, first series, 1855.

Catherine Winkworth, an English poet, was the foremost translator of German chorales. She made a special study of the German hymns and hymn writers and is the author of Lyra Germanica, 1st. ser., 1855; 2d. ser., 1858; The Chorale Book for England, 1863; and Christian Singers of Germany, 1869. Twenty-five of her works are found in the Hymnary. She was a member of the Church of England.

MUSIC. GREENWOOD was composed for the hymn beginning, “We lift our hearts to Thee,” in a Collection of Church Music, 1849, by Root and Sweetser.

The composer, Joseph Emerson Sweetser, 1825-73, was an English organist and composer of vocal music. A part of his life was spent in New York City as organist at the Church of the Puritans.

237. O heart of God!

A hymn of confidence and trust resulting from the mystical repose in the heart of God.

The words and tune are found in St. Basil’s Hymnal, compiled by the Basilican Fathers, and published in Chicago, 1918.

The author, Francis Stanfield, a Roman Catholic priest, was born in London, November 5, 1836, the son of Clarkson Stanfield, an artist. He was educated at St. Edmund’s College, near Ware. After ordination, he spent most of his time conducting missions and retreats, though he was stationed for brief periods in several parishes. He is the author of numerous hymns which were collected and published by the Benedictine Fathers, at Ramsgate, England. The present hymn is an adaptation, made by the editors of the Hymnary, of his “O Sacred Heart, our home lies deep in Thee.” The original is too Catholic for Protestant use.

No information is at hand concerning the composer of the tune.

238. Life of all that lives below

This hymn, a prayer for a fuller life nurtured by Christ, the living Bread, is of composite authorship, but no information is at hand concerning the part which Wesley and Longfellow, respectively, had in it. It is not listed in Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology.

For comments on Charles Wesley see Hymn 6.

For comments on Longfellow see Hymn 28.

MUSIC. PLEYEL is taken from the Andante movement of the composer’s Fourth String Quartet, Op. 7. It appeared as a long-meter tune in Arnold and Callcott’s Psalms, 1791, set to Addison’s hymn, “The spacious firmament on high.”

Ignace Josef Pleyel, 1757-1831, 24th child of an Austrian schoolmaster, was a favorite pupil of Haydn and gained fame as a composer and conductor. Mozart spoke highly of his quartets. Later in life he engaged in business, publishing and selling music, and manufacturing pianos of high quality. The manufacturing house of Pleyel and Company is still well and favorably known in Europe.

239. There is a place of quiet rest

The heart of the message of this popular devotional hymn, according to a statement made by the author to the present writer, is in the second stanza, “There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God.” Cleland B. McAfee was a distinguished preacher, author, and teacher in the Presbyterian Church. He was accustomed to write an original hymn for the communion service in his church. It was in 1901, during his pastorate in Chicago, that a great sorrow came into his life occasioned by the death of his nephew. The communion was to be held the following Sunday and the members of the congregation came to the church tense with speculation about the service and the kind of hymn their pastor had composed for the day. These simple words and tune were offered them and seemed to fit the occasion perfectly. Since then the hymn has been translated into many languages and gone all over the world. It was not included in the new Presbyterian Hymnal, 1933, because the words and music were considered to be more of the nature of a gospel song than a hymn.

Cleland M. McAfee received his education at Park College and Union Theological Seminary, New York. From 1888 to 1901, he was pastor and professor at Park College; pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Chicago, 1901-04; and of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, 1904-12. He later was connected with McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, first as Professor of Systematic Theology and then as president of the institution. He is the author of several books on religious subjects, and also wrote extensively on foreign missions, a subject in which he had a keen interest.

COURAGE AND COMFORT

240. Come unto Me, ye weary

Based on some of the precious promises of Christ, especially Matt. 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” It may be compared with Bonar’s hymn, “I heard the voice of Jesus say” (142) on the same text.

The author gives the story of the hymn as follows:

I was ill and depressed at the time, and it was almost to idle away the hours that I wrote the hymn. I had been ill for many weeks, and felt weary and faint, and the hymn really expresses the languidness of body from which I was suffering at the time. Soon after its composition I recovered, and I always look back to that hymn as the turning point in my illness.

For comments on the author, William Chatterdon Dix, see Hymn 78.

MUSIC. ICH WEISS AN WEN ICH GLAUBE is taken from the Gesangbuch mit Noten (206) where it is used with a hymn by Ernst Moritz Arndt, beginning with these words.

241. When in the madd’ning maze of things

Preëminently an experienced person’s meditation on trust in God. The hymn is taken from a poem of 22 stanzas entitled, “The Eternal Goodness,” written apparently without any thought of their being sung. In the first line the editors substituted the initial word “when” for the original “yet.”

For comments on John Greenleaf Whittier see Hymn 173.

MUSIC. ES IST EIN BORN. For comments on this tune see Hymn 99.

242. Thy way is in the deep, O Lord

Based on Psalm 77:19: “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters.”

James Martineau, English Unitarian, was a man of letters, a philosopher, a theologian, and the most eloquent and distinguished preacher of his church in his time. He served churches in Liverpool and London and was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Manchester New College. He edited Hymns for the Christian Church and Home, 1840, a book widely used among Unitarians in England.

MUSIC. GRÄFENBERG, sung somewhat slowly, is a tune of fine stateliness and dignity. It is from the 5th edition of Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica, Berlin, 1653. It is also known as “Nun Danket All.”

Johann Crüger, 1598-1662, one of the most distinguished musicians of his time, was born near Brandenburg. He received a thorough musical training under Paulus Homberger in Regensburg and in 1622 he was appointed cantor of the St. Nicholas Lutheran Church, in Berlin, and one of the masters of the Greyfriars Gymnasium. He founded the noted choir of St. Nicholas Church. Crüger was a tune-writer of the first rank and composed some of the most famous and favorite chorales. He published various collections of hymns, among them the celebrated Praxis Pietas Melica, 1644, which passed through more than fifty editions. He died in Berlin, February 23, 1662.

243. Come, ye disconsolate

A hymn of consolation by an author whose life was far from exemplary. It may be the hymn should on this account have been omitted; but something in his heart enabled the author, through his lyrics, to touch the heart of humanity, and his songs have been widely used and admired in spite of the strange chapters and romantic incidents in his life.

Thomas Moore, Irish poet, was born in Dublin, studied at Trinity College, and then moved to London and began the study of law. He held a government position in Bermuda for some time and during his life published many volumes of prose and poetry. He will always be remembered by his songs, “Believe me if all those endearing young charms,” “The last rose of summer,” and “Oft in the stilly night.”

The third stanza is by Thomas Hastings, coeditor with Lowell Mason of Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, in which the hymn first appeared. Moore’s third stanza, omitted in all hymn books, reads:

It is a good stanza, but, then, good hymns do not argue.

For comments on Thomas Hastings see Hymn 120.

MUSIC. CONSOLATOR, also known as “Consolation,” “Webbe,” “Alma” or “Alma Redemptor,” is an adaptation of a tune by Samuel Webbe.

For comments on Samuel Webbe see Hymn 22.

244. I look to Thee in every need

A hymn, much-needed, to express the effect of religious faith and trust upon mental and bodily health. The idea, so essential to the Gospel, has been too largely neglected in most Protestant Churches. The hymn is representative of the fine literary and devotional quality of the author’s poetry. Though an American hymn, it was introduced into the church’s worship in England before it was used in this country.

For comments on Samuel Longfellow see Hymn 28.

MUSIC. O JESU appeared in J. B. Reimanns Org. v. Hirschb. alter und neuer Melodien Evangel. Lieder, etc., 1747, where it was set to the hymn, “O Jesu, warum legst du mir.” In the original, the first and last notes of each line were half-notes. It is a tune “of a simple, familiar pattern but with a certain quiet dignity.”

The composer, Johann Balthaser Reimann, 1702-47, was a German cantor and organist in churches in Neustadt, Breslau, and Hirschberg, Schleswig.

245. My God and Father, while I stray

A hymn written by one who had disciplined herself to accept with patience and resignation the bitter cross of ill health which was laid upon her.

She writes of her experience:

Oh, many struggles and apparently fruitless ones it has cost me to become resigned to the appointments of my Heavenly Father. But the struggle is now over. He knows, and he alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness, languor, and exhaustion; to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression, and instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my motto: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

The hymn is based on Matt. 26:42: “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” It is a hymn of humble resignation. Another hymn, setting forth the will of God as demanding active co-operation, is found at No. 342. Some fine stanzas have been omitted here:

For comments on Charlotte Elliott see Hymn 233.

MUSIC. HANFORD was written for “Jesus, my Saviour, look on me,” another of Miss Elliott’s hymns. The composer, who often stayed in the home of Mrs. Gertrude Clay-Ker-Seymer at Hanford, in Dorsetshire, wrote the tune there, hence its name.

For comments on the composer, Arthur Sullivan, see Hymn 113.

246. Give to the winds thy fears

A hymn of comfort to the afflicted and courage to the dying. It is a part of Paul Gerhardt’s poem, “Befiehl du deine Wege” (558). These are stanzas 9, 10, 12, 13, unaltered, of Wesley’s translation, which contains 16 four-line stanzas. Gerhardt passed through the agonies of the Thirty Years’ War, and suffered, in addition, the loss of his wife and four children. He gives expression in this hymn to his own deep feelings of trust and assurance. His words have helped many anxious souls maintain faith in God who “sitteth on the throne, and ruleth all things well.”

For comments on Paul Gerhardt see Hymn 134.

For comments on John Wesley, who translated the hymn, see No. 170.

MUSIC. STATE STREET is a popular tune, scarcely any hymn book missing it, but it is not wedded to any single hymn. The composer, J. C. Woodman, 1813-94, born at Newbury, Mass., became one of Lowell Mason’s assistants in introducing music into the public schools of Boston. He was one of the first soloists of the Boston Academy of Music and served for a time as organist of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. In 1858, Woodman compiled The Musical Casket, which contained many of his songs, sacred and secular. “State Street” is the last tune in the book, set to Watts’ lyric, “Blessed are the sons of peace.”

247. Day by day the manna fell

A hymn of confidence that God will supply daily strength for daily needs, based on Exodus 16:12-21 and the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

The hymn suggests a Jewish story quoted by W. F. Tillett in The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church:

The pupils of Rabbi Ben Jochai once asked him with regard to the manna sent to the Israelite host in the wilderness: “Why did not the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year all at one time?” “I will answer you with a parable,” responded the teacher. “Once there was a king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the entire sum on a fixed day. It soon happened that the day on which the allowance was due was the only day in the year when the father ever saw the son. So the king changed his plan and gave his son day by day that which sufficed for the day. And now the son visited his father every morning. Thus God dealt with Israel.”

The author, Josiah Conder, born in London, was an editor and publisher. His friends included a large number of eminent literary and church men of the early 19th century. He was a member of the Congregationalist Church. A devout and earnest believer who knew what it was to struggle for daily bread, he had the occasion to practice the gospel of daily trust. He wrote many hymns, published more than a dozen scholarly books, and edited The Congregational Hymn Book in 1836, a work which attained wide popularity in England.

MUSIC. SEYMOUR. For comments on this tune see Hymn No. 36.

248. One thought I have, my ample creed

Several of Hosmer’s hymns express his “thought of God,” this being one of the finest. It relates all of life and its needs to the thought of God.

For comments on Frederick L. Hosmer see Hymn 72.

MUSIC. PRAETORIUS is from Harmoniae Hymnorum Scholae Gorlicensis, Görlitz, 1599. It is supposed to have been written by M. Praetorius, for it appeared in his Musae Sionae, Pt. VI, 1609, and hence its name.

Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621, was born in Kreuzburg, Thuringia. He was educated at the University of Frankfurt-an-der-Oder and became Kapellmeister at Lüneburg. Praetorius was a prolific composer, but his fame rests chiefly on a four-volume work on musical theory entitled, Syntagma musicum.

249. Father, to Thee we look in all our sorrow

A hymn of comfort written in 1881 on the death of a member of the author’s congregation. The hymn was published in Hosmer’s Thought of God, 1st series, 1885. The last lines are particularly striking:

MUSIC. STRENGTH AND STAY. For comments on J. B. Dykes, the composer of this tune, see Hymn 1.

250. My Jesus, as Thou wilt

Based on Mark 14:36: “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” The hymn was originally published in eleven stanzas in his Heilige Flammen, 1704. We give here five stanzas of the original, our hymn being the usual selection of 1, 3, and 5.

Schmolck was known all over Germany for his many hymns and spiritual songs. A number of them have been translated into English. This one reflects his fervent love for Christ and bears a message of trust and comfort which grew out of his own exhausting labors and physical suffering.

For further comments on Benjamin Schmolck see Hymn 505.

The translation is by Jane Borthwick in her Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1854. For comments on Jane Borthwick see Hymn 54.

MUSIC. JEWETT is from a melody in Weber’s opera Der Freischütz. The present arrangement was made by Joseph Holbrook, in 1862. The tune has become associated almost exclusively with this hymn in America.

Joseph Holbrook, 1822-88, born near Boston, was a tune writer of the school of Mason, Hastings, and Bradbury. He compiled several hymn books and was musical editor of Songs of the Sanctuary, a popular Methodist book under the editorship of the eminent hymnologist, Charles S. Robinson.

251. Father, whate’er of earthly bliss

Based on I Tim. 6:6-8: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.”

Anne Steele was the first woman writer of English hymns. Her father was a timber merchant who for 30 years was deacon and occasional preacher in the Baptist Church in Hampshire, England, and then for 30 years more he was pastor, without salary, of the same church. On the day before Miss Steele was to be married, at the age of 21, her fiance met accidental death through drowning. Out of this bitter experience in her early life and a succession of other trials, came this lyric of resignation and hope. The original has 10 stanzas, the last three of which have been edited by Augustus Toplady to make this her best hymn. Miss Steele is the foremost of Baptist hymn writers.

MUSIC. NAOMI, a tune brought to America by Lowell Mason, was set to this hymn in his Modern Psalmist, 1839. It at once gained popularity and was included in many hymn books.

For comments on the composer, Hans Nägeli, see Hymn 41.

252. Thy way, not mine, O Lord

An admirable hymn of submission, faith, and love, based on Matt. 26:39: “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

It was published in 7 stanzas in the author’s Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st series, 1857 under the title, “Thy way, not Mine.”

The omitted stanza (No. 6) reads:

For comments on Horatius Bonar see Hymn 129.

MUSIC. O LEIDE, LEIDE GERN is from the Gesangbuch mit Noten, where it appears anonymously set to the words, “O leide, leide, gern! Es ist der Will’ des Herrn.”

253. Lord, it belongs not to my care