FAIR MESSAGE

 

Our local county fair—like many—has one building dedicated to the community's agricultural life. We can always count on seeing at least one gargantuan pumpkin, plates of prime vegetables, and brilliantly-hued cut flowers. In past years, there were also displays by local Granges (associations of farmers), showing off their particular area's products and achievements. This year, there were just a handful of displays—perhaps victims of rural attrition and the clampdown of public events from Covid-19. But I had to take a picture of these Grange-sponsored folks who didn't need my reminder to smile. Their sign read, “Pride in the Past.” A smaller one to the side said, “Hope in the future.”

Because of my studies of hymn stories, the signs brought to mind this title: “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” Sometimes, the historical circumstances behind classic hymns get quite complicated. This one, written by Isaac Watts in 1714, came at a time in English history when people were uneasy about the nation's political future. (Sound familiar?) Watts, a child genius who would write more than 600 hymns (some say as many as 700), had been born himself into a time of political turmoil. His father was imprisoned under the previous regime because of his political views, and his mother would nurse him on the prison steps so his father could could see his baby boy.

Now, another royal was in charge: Queen Anne. But she'd endured poor health all her life. She'd had twelve stillborn children, and five live births. But four of those died before age two and one died at eleven. She would die at 49 with no heirs. By a 1701 rule, she was succeeded by her second cousin, George I. Nobody knew if he'd be as strict and intolerant as previous kings.

In the midst of those politically trying times, Watts turned to Psalm 90 for inspiration: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (v. 1). His quill began scratching the lyrics: “O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come; Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home!”

Maybe not “pride” in the past, but faith based on God's faithfulness and trustworthiness. And yes, because He is God, hope in the future. Four hundred years since Watts' hymn, that message hasn't changed. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God (90:2).

When the fair was over, these smiling stuffed folks were either disassembled or taken to somebody's porch for autumn décor. But for whatever smiles they provided the fair's visitors, they offered this message for me. Without God, we're no better than stuffed clothes in a display. With Him, there's truly hope in the future He has planned.

From the fair, go to historic Westminster Abbey in London, for congregational singing of this hymn:

Westminster Abbey - Oh God Our Help in Ages Past (glitch free) - Bing video

FOUNDATIONAL

 A monthly feature on a great hymn of Christianity.

November is the month of considering spiritual reformers--thanks, largely, to the day (Oct. 31, 1517) a monk named Martin Luther defied the traditional church by nailing a list of 95 “theses” or objections to church doctrine on the door of Germany's Wittenberg Castle church. With the pounding his hammer, the Reformation began. And from Luther's pen also came the rally hymn of the reformation: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

But three centuries later, another church-splitting theological dispute would birth yet another classic and beloved hymn, “The Church's One Foundation.” It happened across the North Sea, in England, where theological differences rumbled in the established Anglican Church. Some of its leaders had embraced ideas from liberal German theologians that challenged the divine inspiration of the Bible. That included a bishop in South Africa who questioned whether Moses really wrote the first five books of the Bible. They also disputed Paul's stance in the letter to the Romans about eternal punishment.

Enter a 27-year-old minister Samuel Stone, who served a London parish with many poor and underprivileged members. It was said of him that “he created a beautiful place of worship for the humble folk, and made it a 'center of light in the dark places.'” Though humble toward his parishioners, he stood up with courage and grit against the philosophies that were eroding the historic Anglican church.

Stone also wrote poetry and music, and into this time of theological controversy he brought a  number of hymns, including a twelve-hymn set based on the twelve articles of the Apostles' Creed. The lyrics opposed the liberal teachings he felt might divide and destroy the church. One of the hymns, based on the Creed's ninth section about the church as the body of Christ, was the hymn “The Church's One Foundation.”

That hymn quickly became popular throughout Great Britain. Two years later, when all the Anglican bishops gathered known as the Lambeth Conference—an all-Anglican-church-leaders theological conference still held every ten years in Britain—Stone's hymn was chosen for the processional and theme of the historic meeting.

The hymn's tune is connected with another famous name: Samuel Wesley. He was the son of Methodism's hymnodist Charles Wesley and nephew of Methodism founder John Wesley. Samuel received his doctorate in music from Oxford when only twenty-nine years old and went on to compose many church service and hymn tunes. Some still sung today include “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” “O For a Thousand Tongues,” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

As you sing along, think of a solemn procession of robed church leaders coming up a historic church's center aisle as they sang. Pay attention to the words and hear the passion of a humble pastor who wanted his church to remain true to historical Biblical teachings.

The church's one foundation - YouTube

The Church's one Foundation - The Choir of King's College Cambridge - YouTube

BANNER

 My husband likes to glean fruit (to have and to share) after workers have gone through an orchard. He always calls the owner or field man ahead for permission. And that's what happened one early fall day when he told me, “The apples are calling my name.” As a shortie, I'm not much of an apple picker, so I rode along for the outing (a break that we all need in these Covid times) planning to wait in the truck. As I looked out the truck's window down the row of trees, these words came to mind:

His banner over me is love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

Backstory: The king (presumably Solomon) had found a beautiful commoner whom he wanted to marry. Let's say the hormones bubbled! Don't worry, I won't get into all the veiled (and R-rated) “love” metaphors in this book about human love. But because it's also an analogy of God's extravagant love for me (us), it has phrases worth thinking about it. This is one.

Commentators have a lot of ideas of how to explain the symbolism of this book. Here's what I've decided. Brought to the palace, she felt out of place among all the beauty and finery there. But he tried to assure her that this was to be her rightful place. As he took her to the banquet hall (where all the extravagant celebrations were held), she felt unworthy. But quickly she realized that her connection to him—that he had chosen her—gave her the right to be there. “The banner” could have been the canopy over his throne or as the accepting gesture of his arm over her shoulders. It has a double meaning of the canopy commonly held over a bride and groom in a Jewish wedding.

But Solomon's “song” doesn't stand alone. Jesus said His bride would be the church. He covers us with His amazing love. He pulls out the chair for us to sit at His banquet table. Who'd scoot the chair away from the Master's table and run for the nearest exit? Yet people do.

Back to the apple orchard. As late afternoon came, darkening the shade of the tree canopy, it was harder to see to the end of the row. But the banner of limbs and leaves did not obscure the destination. Along that path there was still work to do—at least for my husband who spotted and plucked the left-behind apples.

Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37). We don't have to go to a foreign mission field to locate a harvest. It's all around us, even in places where it seems the harvest for souls is done. It's not. Wounded, broken people abound, still needing to experience His banner of love.

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Perhaps in reading this you're remembering a children's Sunday school song that uses hand motions. Children may not understand the depth of the words they sing, but in time their faith can mature--like those apples on the tree. Here's one based on the Song of Solomon passage:

his banner over me is love - Bing

FOLLOW

 A classic old toy—a pull-along plastic dog with moving parts—still often gets dragged around the house by my three grandsons, ages 4 to 8. Usually they pull so fast that its “leash” gets caught in the moving limbs and it's soon bumping along on its head or side. That's when Nana has to remind them that puppy can't move all its legs that fast. Quickly they lose interest and find another toy.

The phrase “where He leads me” came to mind as I watched this little toy scuttle behind my grandsons. That phrase, highlighted in an old hymn, reminds us that God created us for a purpose. Not to be flailed about in life's play, but to focus on His plan for our life's journey.

The hymn begins “I can hear my Savior calling” (repeated thrice), ending, “Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.” The quote is from Matthew 16, when Jesus had just explained to His disciples that His suffering, death and resurrection were just ahead. Peter—typically abrupt--rebuked Jesus for that statement. Jesus replied with His own rebuke: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NIV).

The hymn was believed to be written about 1889 after Ernest W. Blandy (also spelled Blandly) immigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom. He had affiliated with the Salvation Army and could have taken a comfortable post with an established church. Instead, he chose the inner city. The toughest inner city. A place in New York called “Hell's Kitchen” for its poverty and crime. Many living there were Irish Americans. Perhaps his roots in the United Kingdom helped him connect with these people. Little is known about his hidden years of ministry. He died in 1915, about age 65.

The hymn's simple tune, which has the feel of an African American spiritual, was either composed or arranged by a Methodist pastor in Canada, John Norris. It would appear in 719 hymnals.

The hymn's first verse repeats, “I can hear my Savior calling” and concludes “Take thy cross and follow, follow me.” The second simple verse repeats, “I'll go with Him through the garden.” Finally, “He will give me grace and glory....and go with me, with me, all the way.”

It's so easy to get knotted up with various spiritual imperatives: Read this book. Witness this way. Worship only this way. Follow this spiritual leader. Use this Bible reading program. We're apt to flail about like a little doggy toy pulled too fast. Jesus offers the steady pull, just right for us, as He guides us on our life's journey.

The end of this website has the music score and lyrics:

Where He Leads Me | Hymnary.org

Sing along:

Where He Leads Me (I Can Hear My Saviour Calling) - Bing video