Hymn Lyrics

[Clete]

I don't know about you but I listen to a lot of hymns. We used to sing them at church when I was kid and the further modern churches have gotten from singing them, the more they lost me as even an attendee, never mind an active member. I particularly enjoy watching the Bill Gaither videos. The ones put out before 2015 are the best ones but some of the newer ones are pretty good as well, but regardless of when they were produced, the reason I like to listen to them is because of the hymns and, more specifically, the lyrics to those hymns. The biggest problem, in my view, with the Gaither productions is that they pretty much never sing all of the verses.

I recently started looking more closely at the lyrics of many of the most popular hymns because it struck me how almost universal they all are. Churches will fight over the most mundane details of various doctrines and practices but there seems to be a near unanimous love for these hymns. When I started looking more critically at the lyrics, I noticed how many of the hymns have phrases that can be taken to mean more than one thing and how easy it would be to read Calvinism into them or to not do that. Of course many of them have overtly Calvinist doctrine that anyone would have a hard time overlooking, but even then, it usually isn't so intrusive that virtually everyone could sing the song and not be overly put off by it.

At any rate, I thought it might be interesting to have a thread where we could discuss the lyrics to some of our favorite hymns.

To that end, I feel like you pretty much have to start such a discussion with what has to be the most popular hymn in all of Christianity, Amazing Grace....

1 Amazing grace (how sweet the sound)​

that saved a wretch like me!​

I once was lost, but now am found,​

was blind, but now I see.​

​

2 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,​

and grace my fears relieved;​

how precious did that grace appear​

the hour I first believed!​

​

3 Through many dangers, toils and snares​

I have already come:​

'tis grace has brought me safe thus far,​

and grace will lead me home.​

​

4 The Lord has promised good to me,​

his word my hope secures;​

he will my shield and portion be​

as long as life endures.​

​

5 Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,​

and mortal life shall cease:​

I shall possess, within the veil,​

a life of joy and peace.​

​

6 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,​

the sun forbear to shine;​

but God, who called me here below,​

will be forever mine.​

​

7 When we've been there ten thousand years,​

Bright shining as the sun,​

We've no less days to sing God's praise​

Than when we first begun.​

Verse 7 is printed in blue because it is not part of John Newton's original song. It was added later, likely by an anonymous author. The stanza first appeared in print in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, where it was included in a version of the song sung by the character Uncle Tom.

Verse 1 of this hymn is a terrific example of what I was talking about above, where you can either read Calvinism into the verse or not. Verses 2 is a bit more overtly Calvinistic but not so much so that it makes anyone avoid singing the song and the rest of the hymn seems to communicate truths that are untouched, at least directly, by most any of the doctrines that Christians fight over.

 

[Clete]

The Unclouded Day​

Author: J. K. Alwood (1885)

1 O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,
O they tell me of a home far away;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise;
O they tell me of an uncloudy day.

Refrain:
O the land of cloudless day,
O the land of an uncloudy day.
O they tell me of a home where no storm-clouds rise,
O they tell me of an uncloudy day.

2 O they tell me of a home where my friends have gone,
O they tell me of that land far away,
Where the tree of life in eternal bloom
Sheds its fragrance thro' the uncloudy day. [Refrain]

3 O they tell me of a King in His beauty there,
And they tell me that mine eyes shall behold
Where He sits on the throne that is whiter than snow,
In the city that is made of gold. [Refrain]

4 O they tell me that He smiles on His children there,
And His smile drives their sorrows all away;
And they tell me that no tears ever come again,
In that lovely land of uncloudy day. [Refrain]

What a terrific hymn! I can't find a single word to disagree with! Love it - especially when sung well with good accompaniment and arrangement.

 

[Clete]

At Calvary​

Author: William R. Newell (1895)

1 Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary.

Refrain:
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
Pardon there was multiplied to me,
There my burdened soul found liberty–
At Calvary.

2 By God's Word at last my sin I learned–
Then I trembled at the Law I'd spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary. [Refrain]

3 Now I've giv'n to Jesus ev'rything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary. [Refrain]

4 O the love that drew salvation's plan!
O the grace that brought it down to man!
O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. [Refrain]


The words for his hymn came to William Newell on his way to teach a class at the Moody Bible Institute. He slipped into an empty classroom and wrote them quickly on the back of an envelope.

I love how totally devoid of Calvinist doctrine this hymn is. It wasn't by "regeneration" but "By God's Word at last my sin I learned" and even more than that, I completely love that last verse. It amazes me how some people are able to turn a phrase in such a profound way. Three short sentences say so much more than the words themselves can account for.

 

[Derf]

We have some hymnals from a Calvinist church we used to attend. Some of the hymns have different words to make them fit Calvinist doctrine better, but most are the same. I'll go look up one I'm thinking of.

 

[Derf]

We have some hymnals from a Calvinist church we used to attend. Some of the hymns have different words to make them fit Calvinist doctrine better, but most are the same. I'll go look up one I'm thinking of.

I remember. It's "To God Be the Glory". There's a line that says, "Who opened the lifegate that all may go in." Thay changed it to read, "Who opened the lifegate that we may go in."

 

[Clete]

I remember. It's "To God Be the Glory". There's a line that says, "Who opened the lifegate that all may go in." Thay changed it to read, "Who opened the lifegate that we may go in."

Wow! How flagrant is that! It's not even the right number of syllables which tears up the meter of the rhyme. Goofy Calvinists!

 

[Derf]

Wow! How flagrant is that! It's not even the right number of syllables which tears up the meter of the rhyme. Goofy Calvinists!

Well, the word "all" being replaced by "we" wouldn't change any rhyme or meter. And the wording is not untrue. Just flagrant in its denial of a universally available salvation, when comparing the two versions.

 

[Right Divider]

Well, the word "all" being replaced by "we" wouldn't change any rhyme or meter. And the wording is not untrue. Just flagrant in its denial of a universally available salvation.

That seems to be quite a contradiction.

 

[Derf]

That seems to be quite a contradiction.

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. So I'll edit the other post to make it clear.

 

[Derf]

A lot of the older hymns seem much richer than modern Christian music, but I wonder if some of that is because time has filtered out the poorer ones from the past. I.e., they don't make it into our hymnals today. I enjoy the richness of both words and melodies in a lot of the Getty hymns (Keith and Kyrstin Getty collaborating with Stuart Townend). "In Christ Alone" is one of their best known, but it isn't their best work, imo.

Some favorites of mine:
Come Though Fount. This one has a lot packed into just 3 verses. The author went through a lot of what he wrote about even after he wrote it. "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love." There's a story about the hymn, that a lady was reading the words on a coach (before cars) and expressing delight in the meat of them to the other passengers. She asked if the others had heard it before. The author, who was backslidden in his faith at the time, happened to be in the coach with her, and told her that yes, he had heard it, and was the author. And he was convicted by his own hymn and returned to God that day.

Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted: rich, deep words set to a mournful tune in a minor key that captures the essence of Christ's suffering. The last verse explains the victory we have in Christ, and the mournful tune doesn't quite fit it, so we sing that verse in the complementary major key and a more uplifting tune I wrote when we sing it here at home.

On Jordan's Stormy Banks. Fairly simple, easy to harmonize. It's one I sang with my kids when they were young to help them understand harmonies.

Morning Has Broken. I just like it. It was written for children, glorifying God in His creation. Cat Stevens made it famous on one of his albums, but too often people try to modify it to remove reference to God in it.

 

[Clete]

Well, the word "all" being replaced by "we" wouldn't change any rhyme or meter. And the wording is not untrue. Just flagrant in its denial of a universally available salvation, when comparing the two versions.

I initially read it as replacing the two words "all may" with the single word "we", which makes no sense. Sorry.

 

[Clete]

A lot of the older hymns seem much richer than modern Christian music, but I wonder if some of that is because time has filtered out the poorer ones from the past. I.e., they don't make it into our hymnals today. I enjoy the richness of both words and melodies in a lot of the Getty hymns (Keith and Kyrstin Getty collaborating with Stuart Townend). "In Christ Alone" is one of their best known, but it isn't their best work, imo.

Some favorites of mine:
Come Though Fount. This one has a lot packed into just 3 verses. The author went through a lot of what he wrote about even after he wrote it. "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love." There's a story about the hymn, that a lady was reading the words on a coach (before cars) and expressing delight in the meat of them to the other passengers. She asked if the others had heard it before. The author, who was backslidden in his faith at the time, happened to be in the coach with her, and told her that yes, he had heard it, and was the author. And he was convicted by his own hymn and returned to God that day.

Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted: rich, deep words set to a mournful tune in a minor key that captures the essence of Christ's suffering. The last verse explains the victory we have in Christ, and the mournful tune doesn't quite fit it, so we sing that verse in the complementary major key and a more uplifting tune I wrote when we sing it here at home.

On Jordan's Stormy Banks. Fairly simple, easy to harmonize. It's one I sang with my kids when they were young to help them understand harmonies.

Morning Has Broken. I just like it. It was written for children, glorifying God in His creation. Cat Stevens made it famous on one of his albums, but too often people try to modify it to remove reference to God in it.

Awesome!

I can't say that I'm familiar with those last three. Maybe it's just been a while and I don't recall them off the top of my head. I'll have to check them out.

Come Thou Fount is one of my very favorite hymns! It is one you could read a bunch of Calvinist doctrine into - or not.
I love that anecdote about the author. Do you have a citation for that? I'd like to read more about it and about the song in general.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing​

Author: Robert Robinson (1758)

1 Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!

2 Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3 O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.