Based on Gal. 5:25: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
George Croly was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. After ministering in Ireland for a number of years, he went to London to engage in literary pursuits. He had varied talents and became well known for his poetry, fiction, plays, and contributed articles to magazines. In 1835, he entered parish work in London, where he was greatly admired and loved. His outspoken utterances attracted large congregations of all ranks to his church. He prepared, at the request of his people, a collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship, of which only one edition was printed. Dr. Croly dropped dead while walking one day on Holborn Street. A man of scholarship and culture, and author of many volumes, he is remembered chiefly through this hymn.
MUSIC. MORECAMBE, originally called “Hellespont,” was written to be sung with “Abide with me,” for use in the church at Mannington, England, where its composer was serving as organist.
Frederick Cook Atkinson, 1841-97, was an English organist and choirmaster, having received his musical education at Cambridge.
A hymn of entreaty for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The original is as follows:
O Du allersüsste Freude,
O Du allerschönstes Licht,
Der Du uns in Lieb und Leide
Unbesuchet lässest nicht;
Geist des Höchsten, höchster Fürst
Der Du hältst und halten wirst
Ohn’ Aufhören alle Dinge
Höre, höre, was ich singe.
Du bist ja die beste Gabe
Die ein Mensch nur nennen kann;
Wenn ich Dich erwünsch’ und habe,
Geb’ ich alles Wünschen d’ran.
Ach, ergib Dich, komm zu mir,
In mein Herze, das Du Dir,
Eh ich in die Welt geboren
Selbst zum Tempel auserkoren.
Sei mein Retter, führ’ mich eben;
Wenn ich sink’, mein Stab sei Du;
Wenn ich sterbe, sei mein Leben;
Wenn ich lieg’, sei meine Ruh;
Wenn ich wieder aufersteh’,
O so hilf mir, dass ich geh
Hin, da Du in ew’gen Freuden
Wirst die Auserwählten weiden.
The first translation was made by John Christian Jacobi, 1670-1750, for his Psalmodia Germanica. His rendering began
“O Thou sweetest source of gladness”
which Augustus Montague Toplady recast into the familiar
“Holy Ghost, dispel our sadness.”
For comments on Toplady see Hymn 148.
Paul Gerhardt, next to Martin Luther, is the most noteworthy hymn writer of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Even the hymns of Luther are not as widely used today in the English speaking world as those of Gerhardt. He was born March 12, 1607, in Gräfenhynichen, a village near the celebrated Wittenberg. At 21 he began the study of theology in Wittenberg, but he received no church position until 45, when he was ordained and appointed provost at Mittenwalde, a small village. During his six years there, his hymns were published and he became widely known. In 1657, he was appointed third assistant pastor of the famous Church of St. Nicholas in Berlin. From this position he was deposed because he refused to sign a document promising that all clergymen would abstain from any references in their sermons to doctrinal differences between the Lutherans and Calvinists. Though he felt the blow keenly, he met it with Christian patience and fortitude. “This,” he said, “is only a small Berlin affliction; but I am also willing and ready to seal with my blood the evangelical truth, and, like my namesake, St. Paul, to offer my neck to the sword.” Additional sorrows came into his life with the death of his wife and four of his children. He was left with a single child, a boy of six, when he was called to the church at Lübden, where he labored faithfully and successfully until his death on June 7, 1676. Most of his life being spent in the distractions and disasters of the Thirty Years War, which left Germany in misery and ruins, Gerhardt knew the depths of human sorrow. Out of the depths came his hymns of comfort and hope which have been a source of strength to a multitude of believers.
MUSIC. INVOCATION was composed by Uzziah C. Burnap, 1834-1900, organist at the Church of the Heights, Brooklyn, and co-editor with John K. Paine, Professor of Music at Harvard, of Hymns and Songs of Praise.
An earnest prayer for an inbreathing of the Holy Spirit and a greater consecration of life. The hymn was first published in a privately printed leaflet called, Between Doubt and Prayer, 1878. It is based on John 20:22: “He breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”
Edwin Hatch, Church of England clergyman and University Reader of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, was a scholar of world reputation. His Bampton Lectures, The Organization of the Early Christian Church, 1881, were translated into German by Prof. Adolph Harnack, who wrote of Hatch: “In his learning that of England’s great old theologians, Ussher and Pearson, lived to me again. He was a glorious man, whose loss I shall never cease to mourn.” Though a man of profound learning, his faith was as simple and unaffected as that of a child.
MUSIC. TRENTHAM is a tune of great beauty, well fitted for these words of devotion. The tenor part is especially melodious.
Robert Jackson, 1840-1914, English composer of many anthems, hymn tunes, songs and part songs, succeeded his father as organist and choirmaster at St. Peter’s church, Oldham, the father and son together having a record of continuous service at the same church for 92 years. His whole life was devoted to music. He was a member of Sir Charles Halle’s orchestra and conductor of the Oldham Musical Society.
Entitled a “Prayer for Inspiration,” this superb hymn of the Holy Spirit appeared in Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, edited by Samuel Johnson and the author. Stanzas 5 and 6 are omitted.
For comments on Samuel Longfellow see Hymn 28.
MUSIC. MERCY is an arrangement of a piano composition called, “The Last Hope,” by Louis Gottschalk, 1829-69, American composer, conductor, and popular concert pianist. Among Gottschalk’s works are two operas, two symphonies, and some piano pieces and songs—most of which are forgotten today. The arrangement of the tune is the work of Dr. Edwin P. Parker, 1836-1925, hymnologist and distinguished Congregationalist minister at Hartford, Conn.
The hymn and tune were written by Marcus M. Wells, a farmer and maker of farm implements who lived all his life in New York State. Born at Otsego, N. Y., he was converted in a mission at Buffalo. Regarding the origin of the hymn and tune he wrote:
On a Saturday afternoon, Oct. 1858, while at work in my cornfield, the sentiment of the hymn came to me. The next day, Sunday, being a very stormy day, I finished the hymn and wrote a tune for it and sent it to Prof. I. B. Woodbury.
The hymn sets forth God as a Presence, near the Christian’s side, friendly and helpful and true, guiding him through the storms and floods and desert wastes of his pilgrimage from earth to his heavenly home. It was first published in the New York Musical Pioneer, edited by Isaac B. Woodbury.
One of the finest of our hymns on the Holy Spirit. It was written for Whitsunday and published in the author’s The Spirit of the Psalms, 1829, in seven stanzas, the second and third being omitted here. The hymn appears in most modern hymnals and has been translated into several languages.
Harriet Auber, whose grandfather went from Normandy to England in 1685 as a Huguenot refugee, was born in London. She was a woman of refinement and culture who spent most of her life in the quiet villages of Broxbourne and Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. She wrote numerous poems and hymns, but her name survives as the author of this exquisite lyric.
MUSIC. ST. CUTHBERT was composed for these words by J. B. Dykes for the original edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.
For comments on Dykes see Hymn 1.
This is a revision by Samuel Longfellow of a hymn written by Andrew Reed, an English Congregational minister. Reed, a philanthropist and great organizer, and founder of six asylums and orphanages, wrote 21 hymns and published several hymn books. He was an ardent supporter of missionary work at home and abroad. Writing to his son who suggested that the father should write his autobiography, Dr. Reed summed up his own life in these words:
I was born yesterday, I shall die tomorrow, and I must not spend today in telling what I have done, but in doing what I may for HIM who has done all for me. I sprang from the people, I have lived for the people—the most for the most unhappy; and the people when they know it will not suffer me to die out of loving remembrance.
MUSIC. BRECON. The origin of this tune has not been traced. It is a useful tune as a choir response after the prayer.
A hymn of consecration which has had far-reaching influence especially over young people. It is based on Matt. 4:18, 19: “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” There is also a reference to the incident by the lake recorded in John 21:15: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?”
The hymn appeared first in Hymns, 1852, published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. In the Episcopal Church in the United States and Canada, it has been adopted as the hymn of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
Mrs. Alexander is known principally as a writer of children’s hymns (410 and 412), but she also contributed excellent church songs for adults.
For comments on Mrs. Alexander see Hymn 104.
MUSIC. GALILEE was written for this hymn by William H. Jude, 1852-1922, English organist, composer, and lecturer on musical subjects. The tune becomes waltz-like when sung in quick tempo. Recognizing this danger, some hymn books are using other tunes with this hymn.
A lyric revealing in a remarkable manner the tenderness and love of Christ. It is based on Rev. 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Bishop How’s hymn, “O Jesus Thou art standing” (144), with which this may be compared, is based on the same passage.
Joseph Grigg, an English Presbyterian minister, began writing hymns when only ten years old. After a brief pastorate, he retired from the active ministry to devote himself to literary work. He published about 40 volumes, including several collections of hymns. Only two of his 43 hymns are found in modern hymnals, this one and “Jesus, and shall it ever be” (192), the latter written when he was only ten years of age.
MUSIC. BERA, a very useful tune, was composed by John Edgar Gould, 1822-75, an American musical editor, dealer in musical instruments, choral conductor, and publisher of music books. He was born in Maine, but spent most of his adult life in New York City and Philadelphia.
Based on John 1:16: “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace,” and originally published with the title, “The Voice from Galilee.”
The hymn is constructed on three sayings of Jesus: (1) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Mt. 11:28; (2) “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give shall never thirst,” John 4:14; (3) “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. In the hymn, these three sayings, blended into a perfect unity, have sounded down the ages by the “Voice from Galilee.”
The hymn, as C. S. Robinson reminds us, employs the personal pronoun to emphasize the intimate relationship between Christ and the individual. “Christ says, ‘Come to me,’ and the Christian says, ‘I come.’ Christ says, ‘I give the living water’; and the listener answers, ‘My thirst was quenched’; Christ says, ‘I am the light’; and the child of God replies, ‘I found in him my Star, my Sun.’”
For comments on Horatius Bonar see Hymn 129.
MUSIC. VOX DELECTI was composed by J. B. Dykes for this hymn in Hymns Ancient and Modern, Appendix, 1868. The musical difficulties of the tune are more apparent than real. They can be overcome and its possibilities appreciated by careful study and practice. The first half is written in the minor key to carry the quiet, invitational words of Jesus. The second part, the glad acceptance of the invitation, is written in the strongly contrasting major key.
For comments on J. B. Dykes see Hymn 1.
A restful, appealing lyric on the theme, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matt. 11:28.
It is one of the few dialog hymns. [Others are “Watchman, tell us of the night” (66), and “Who is He in yonder stall?” (96)]. It may be sung antiphonally, the choir singing the questions and the congregation the answers.
Neale published this hymn in his Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1862, as a translation of a Greek hymn by Stephen the Sabaite. It is a paraphrase, however, rather than a translation.
For comments on John Neale see Hymn 67.
Hymnody in the Eastern Church reached its height in the 8th century. Stephen was a nephew of John of Damascus. At the age of 10 he was placed by his uncle in the monastery of Saint Sabas, located on a lofty cliff overhanging the ravine of the Kidron, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Here he lived for more than half a century, known as Stephen the Sabaite. The monastery, many of the cells cut out of solid rock, still stands. The monks have been subjected to persecution, at various times, at the hands of Persians, Moslems, and Bedouin Arabs, and the monastery looks much like a fortress.
MUSIC. STEPHANOS was composed for this hymn by Henry W. Baker, and was first published in the appendix of the original edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1868. The tune was harmonized by W. H. Monk (See 40).
Henry Williams Baker, 1821-77, was educated at Cambridge, ordained in 1844, and served as vicar of Monkland, Herefordshire, from 1851 till his death in 1877. He was editor-in-chief of the epoch-making book, Hymns Ancient and Modern, to which he contributed several of his own hymns and tunes. As a High Churchman, he held to the doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy and was never married.
Based on Rev. 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” It was composed after the author had been reading the beautiful poem by Jean Ingelow, entitled “Brothers and a Sermon,” describing two brothers listening to an old parson in a fishing-village church. A part of the poem is as follows:
The parson knew that he had lost the eyes
And ears of those before him for he made
A pause ...
... then with a sigh
Fronted the folk, lifted his grand gray head,
And said, as one that pondered now the words
He had been preaching on with new surprise,
And found fresh marvel in their sound, “Behold!
Behold!” saith He, “I stand at the door and knock.”
Open the door with shame, if ye have sinned;
If ye be sorry, open it with sighs.
Albeit the place be bare for poverty,
And comfortless for lack of plenishing,
Be not abashed for that, but open it,
And take Him in that comes to sup with thee;
“Behold!” He saith, “I stand at the door and knock!”
Speak, then, O rich and strong:
Open, O happy young, ere yet the hand
Of Him that knocks, wearied at last, forbear;
The patient foot its thankless quest refrain.
The wounded heart forevermore withdraw.
Holman Hunt’s picture, “The Light of the World,” is an exquisite illustration of the spirit of this hymn.
William Walsham How was born at Shrewsbury, England, educated at Oxford, and ordained to the ministry in 1846. He served various churches as pastor and declined offers of positions of more distinction. He refused the bishopric of Durham, one of the most distinguished posts in the Anglican Church, with an income more than double what he then had. He was a man of broad sympathies and apostolical zeal, and was a master of the pastoral art. He collaborated with Thos. Baker Morrell in editing Psalms and Hymns, 1854, and in 1871 was joint editor of Church Hymns, published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, the latter becoming the greatest rival of Hymns Ancient and Modern which that book had had to date. His poems are marked by simplicity and beauty of diction and constitute some of the richest treasures of modern hymnody.
MUSIC. ST. HILDA, also known as “St. Edith,” is an arrangement by Rev. Edward Husband of a tune published by Justin H. Knecht in Vollständige Sammlung, Stuttgart, 1799.
For comments on Knecht see Hymn 511.
Edward Husband, 1843-1908, was an English clergyman with a great deal of musical talent and interest and was a well-known lecturer on the subject of church music.
A hymn of penitence which has had a wide use. It was published in the Christian Observer, 1815, as a Lenten “Litany.” The last line of each stanza (five in the original) read, “Hear our solemn litany,” here changed to “Hear thy people when they cry.” Stanzas 2 and 4 have been much altered by an unknown hand. Grant’s original hymn of five stanzas reads as follows:
Savior, when in dust to Thee
Low we bow the adoring knee,
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our weeping eyes,
Oh, by all Thy pains and woe
Suffered once for man below,
Bending from Thy throne on high,
Hear our solemn litany!
By Thy helpless infant years,
By Thy life of want and tears,
By Thy days of sore distress
In the savage wilderness,
By the dread, mysterious hour
Of the insulting Tempter’s power,
Turn, O turn, a favoring eye,
Hear our solemn litany!
By the sacred griefs that wept
O’er the grave where Lazarus slept;
By the boding tears that flowed
Over Salem’s loved abode;
By the anguished sigh that told
Treachery lurked within Thy fold;
From Thy seat above the sky
Hear our solemn litany!
By Thine hour of dire despair,
By Thine agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
Piercing spear, and torturing scorn,
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O’er the dreadful sacrifice,
Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!
By Thy deep expiring groan,
By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God,
Oh, from earth to heaven restored,
Mighty, reascended Lord,
Listen, listen, to the cry
Of our solemn litany!
For comments on Robert Grant see Hymn 7.
MUSIC. SPANISH HYMN, also called “Spanish Chant,” is from an old 17th century melody of unknown origin.
A version, from the Scottish Presbyterian Church, of Hosea 6:1-4:
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.
Our hymn is one of the 67 “Translations and Paraphrases, in Verse, of Several Passages of Sacred Scriptures,” together with five hymns, that are appended to the Scottish Psalter for use in public worship in the Scotch Presbyterian Church.
John Morison was a Scotch scholar, teacher, and minister. He wrote a number of paraphrases of scriptural passages, seven of which were accepted into the authorized collection of Scottish Paraphrases, 1781.
MUSIC. BALLERMA. For comments on this tune see Hymn 57.
A hymn of penitence which was contributed to The Children’s Hymn Book, 1881, published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, London.
The author, Mary Ann Sidebotham, was an accomplished musician and a lifelong friend of Henry Smart, the eminent organist and composer. She spent much of her life in her brother’s vicarage, St. Thomas-on-the-Bourne, Surrey, England, where she served as organist. She composed numerous songs for children and was the music editor of the above-mentioned Children’s Hymn Book.
MUSIC. RINGE RECHT. For comments on this tune see Hymn 563.
Few hymns are more generally familiar or more treasured in the affections of all ranks of people than this. It appeared first in the Gospel Magazine, edited by Toplady, March, 1776, at the end of an article entitled, “A remarkable calculation Introduced here for the sake of the Spiritual Improvements subjoined. Questions and answers relating to the National Debt.” The article points out that the national debt is so large that the government will never be able to pay it off. The author then proceeds to calculate the number of sins each human being commits. Figuring the rate to be one per second, he arrives at this:
Our dreadful account stands as follows: At ten years old each of us is chargeable with 315 millions and 360,000 sins. At twenty, with 630 millions and 720,000. At thirty with 946 millions and 80,000.... At eighty, with 2,522 millions and 880,000.
The conclusion is that the debt can only be paid by the blood of Christ. The hymn follows his “calculation,” under the heading, “A living and dying Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World.”
For 45 years after its publication, the hymn had little acceptance in England. Its merits then became recognized, and it became very popular. In the last century and a quarter it has had world-wide use, in a form altered somewhat from the original. The hymn has been criticized for its mixed metaphors (“cleft rock,” “riven side,” “to thy cross I cling,” “to the fountain fly”), for its false rhymes, and its over-emphasis upon sin obsession; but it has certain heart-piercing qualities which override all its faults. Like other hymns of the first rank (e.g., “Jesus Lover of my soul,” “Lead kindly light,” and “Nearer my God to Thee”) it voices the universal need of divine help. Professor Saintsbury, a literary critic, says of this hymn: “Every word, every syllable, in this really great poem has its place and meaning.”
The central imagery of the hymn is found in the following Scripture passages: Ex. 33:22: “While my glory passeth by, I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by”; Isa. 26:4: “Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is the rock of ages” (margin); I Cor. 10:4: “and that Rock was Christ.”
A picturesque story, which originated about 1850, had it that Toplady composed the hymn while he was sheltering from a thunder storm in a great cleft of a limestone rock, some twelve years before the publication of the hymn. The story is without foundation. Toplady was fascinated by the thought of Christ as a rock and in a sermon on Isa. 42:11: “Let the inhabitants of the rock sing,” he said: “Chiefly may they sing who inhabit Christ the spiritual Rock of Ages. He is a Rock in three ways: as a Foundation to support, a Shelter to screen, and a Fortress to protect.”
The hymn has had a wide use among German speaking people in a translation made by Ernst Gebhardt, 1832-99.
Fels des Heils, geöffnet mir,
Birg’ mich, ew’ger Hort in dir!
Lass das Wasser und das Blut,
Deiner Seite heil’ge Flut,
Mir das Heil sein, das frei macht
Von der Sünden Schuld und Macht!
Dem, was dein Gesetze spricht,
Kann mein Werk genügen nicht.
Mag ich ringen wie ich will,
Fliessen auch der Tränen viel,
Tilgt das doch nicht meine Schuld,
Herr, mir hilft nur deine Huld.
Da ich denn nichts bringen kann,
Schmieg’ ich an dein Kreuz mich an
Nackt und bloss—o kleid’ mich doch.
Hülflos—ach erbarm’ dich noch.
Unrein, Herr, flieh’ ich zu dir.
Wasche mich, sonst sterb’ ich hier.
Jetzt, da ich noch leb’ im Licht,
Wenn mein Aug’ im Tode bricht,
Wenn durch’s finst’re Tal ich geh’,
Wenn ich vor dem Richter steh’,
Fels des Heils, geöffnet mir,
Birg’ mich, ew’ger Hort in dir!
Augustus M. Toplady, born at Farnham, England, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. His conversion occurred at the age of 16 while on a visit in Ireland. The service was held in a barn and the text was Eph. 2:13: “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” The preacher was an illiterate but warm-hearted layman named Morris. Concerning his conversion Toplady wrote:
Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought nigh unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of God’s people met together in a barn, and under the ministry of one who could hardly spell his name. Surely this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous.
Toplady was ordained to the ministry of the Church of England in 1762 and in 1768 became vicar of Broadhembury. The last years of his life were passed in London preaching in a chapel of French Calvinists. He was a powerful preacher, and large congregations came to hear him. A strong Calvinist, and bitterly opposed to what he considered the reproach of Arminianism, he became involved in unfortunate controversies with John Wesley, during which neither disputant showed himself at his best. He died of consumption at the early age of 38.
MUSIC. TOPLADY was composed for this hymn by Thomas Hastings, 1784-1872. It is a popular easily sung tune, and universally used in America with this hymn. Hastings was not a great musician and this tune, with its “sentimentality and rocking-chair rhythm,” can hardly be considered great music. But it has been a blessing to millions of people and will doubtless continue to be sung for years to come. In England the hymn is invariably set to other tunes and some American hymn books have introduced alternative tunes. The tune “Petra” (109) is used with this hymn, as is also Grosser Gott wir loben Dich (519).
For comments on Thomas Hastings see Hymn 120.
From the prologue of Tennyson’s great poem, “In Memoriam,” 1850, containing eleven stanzas; these are 1, 4, 5, and 7, unaltered.
The story of “In Memoriam” is familiar. At Cambridge University, Tennyson and Arthur Hallam became intimate friends. Hallam became engaged to Tennyson’s sister, and, after graduating from the University, took a trip to the Continent. At Vienna, he became sick and died, which prompted Tennyson to write the following brief but beautiful words:
“In Vienna’s fatal walls,
God’s finger touched him, and he slept.”
In 1850, seventeen years after Hallam’s death, Tennyson published “In Memoriam,” a memorial to Hallam, but also to himself as well. Among the individual verses of the poem which have become immortal are the familiar lines beginning, “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky.” (See 379).
Alfred Tennyson was the son of Rev. George C. Tennyson. He was educated at Cambridge and wrote poetry while an undergraduate. Upon the death of Wordsworth in 1850, Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate. He is regarded as one of England’s greatest poets. He was not a hymn writer, yet several of his poems are used as hymns. Tennyson died October 6, 1892, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
MUSIC. ST. CRISPIN was composed for the hymn “Just as I am, without one plea.” The tune was used at the funeral of the composer.
For comments on the composer, George Elvey, see Hymn 118.
This hymn was written when the author had just left Yale at the age of 21 and was looking forward to his lifework in the Congregational ministry. The origin of the hymn is given in Duffield’s English Hymns, as follows:
The hymn was written in 1830, but not published (as a hymn) until 1882. The author was in New York City, “Between his college and theological studies,” and was in poor health, and a teacher in a ladies’ school. Dr. Palmer says: “I gave form to what I felt by writing, with little effort, the stanzas. I recollect I wrote them with very tender emotion, and ended the last lines with tears.” The manuscript was then placed in a pocket-book, where it remained for some time. Its true discoverer was Lowell Mason, the musician, who asked young Palmer if he had not some hymn or hymns to contribute to his new book. The pocket-book was produced and the little hymn, then between two and three years old, and never previously utilized, though it had been in print as a poem, was brought to light. Dr. Mason was attracted by it, and desired a copy. They stepped together into a store (it was in Boston), and the copy was made and taken away without further comment. On carefully reading the hymn at home, Dr. Mason was so interested that he wrote for it the tune “Olivet,” to which it is usually sung. Two or three days later, he again met the author in the street, and scarcely waiting to salute him, he said, “Mr. Palmer, you may live many years, and do many good things, but I think you will be best known to posterity as the author of ‘My Faith looks up to Thee.’”
The hymn appeared first in Spiritual Songs for Social Worship, 1831, by Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason. It has been translated into many languages on the mission fields.
MUSIC. OLIVET. For comments on the composer, Lowell Mason, see Hymn 12.
A great song of faith, calling to mind such scripture passages as Heb. 13:5: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”; Isa. 43:1, 2: “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee: I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
The authorship is uncertain. The hymn appeared in A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, 1787, edited by John Rippon, 1751-1836, pastor of the Baptist Church in Carter’s Lane, London, where it was signed “K.” Who “K” was remains uncertain. The best guess seems to be that it refers to Robert Keene, precentor in Dr. Rippon’s church. It is one more example of a writer sending forth an immortal song to bless and strengthen the faith of millions, and then hiding himself completely from public notice.
MUSIC. ADESTE FIDELIS. For comments on this tune see Hymn 80.
Based on the story of the incredulity of Thomas in John 20:25-29: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe ... blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Henry Alford was educated at Cambridge for the Anglican ministry. After serving various churches, he finally, in 1857, became Dean of Canterbury, the highest post in the church. He was a renowned scholar and the author of numerous volumes. His Greek Testament was his greatest work and remained the standard critical commentary of the latter 19th century. He was a member of the New Testament Revision Company, whose work resulted in the revised version in 1881. Greatly interested in hymnology, he himself wrote and translated many hymns, and published several collections of hymns. Dean Alford was a strenuous worker, never idle, always broad-minded and throughout his life maintained cordial relations with non-conformists. A lifelong desire to visit the Holy Land remained unfilled; which fact suggested the beautiful inscription on his tombstone: “Deversorium viatoris proficiscentis Hierosolymam”—“the inn of a pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem.”
MUSIC. ARLINGTON is a tune from Thos. A. Arne’s opera Artaxerxes, arranged by Rev. Ralph Harrison, 1748-1810, an English Presbyterian minister who published it in his Sacred Harmony, 1784.
Thos. A. Arne, 1710-1778, was educated for the legal profession. He turned away from law to become the foremost English composer of the 18th century. He received his degree of Doctor of Music from Oxford in 1759. Arne wrote the patriotic air, “Rule Britannia,” besides many other popular songs. His sister, a famous contralto, was chosen by Handel as one of the soloists for the first performance of The Messiah in Dublin, April 13, 1742.
An excellent hymn on “The Power of Faith,” based on I John 5:4: “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” It appeared in the author’s Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, 1831.
William Hiley Bathurst graduated from Oxford in 1818. During 33 years of ministry at Barwick-in-Elmet, he endeared himself to his people by his “eminent piety, his great simplicity of character, his tender love, and his abundant generosity.” He was a shy and reserved man “and had the peculiarity of becoming utterly silent if one asked the most trivial question.” His father was Charles Bragge, a member of Parliament for Bristol. The son assumed the name of Bathurst on succeeding to the estate of his uncle, Earl Bathurst, at Lydney Park, Gloucester.
MUSIC. EVAN was originally a setting by Wm. H. Havergal for a poem by Burns, “O Thou dread power who reign’st above.” Lowell Mason took a part of the melody and arranged it, as here, for a psalm tune, publishing it in New Carmina Sacra, 1850, under the name “Eva.” It might be added that Havergal disapproved of the arrangement as a “sad estrangement.” In spite of this, Mason’s arrangement has remained popular.
Rev. W. H. Havergal, 1793-1870, graduated from Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England. He became the rector of a church, but due to a carriage accident which resulted in concussion of the brain and injury to his eyesight, he resigned his church and devoted himself to the study of church music. In this field, he made a significant contribution by his compositions and his efforts at purifying and elevating the music used in the church. His daughter, Frances Ridley Havergal (see 126), wrote many hymns, six of which are found in the Hymnary.