GUIDE ME!

The story behind a hymn of the faith.

Years ago in Wales a youth grew up in a family that chose a worship style different from the established church. That resulted in persecution so severe that his family and like-minded other families had to meet in a cave for worship during twilight, to avoid being “caught,” arrested, scattered or imprisoned by the king's soldiers. His father thought this brilliant son would become a doctor; instead, he became a preacher and writer of hymns including one we still sing: “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.”

That's the quick backstory of Welsh evangelist Rev. William Williams (1717-1791) --and yes, his first and last names almost matched. His aspiration to become a doctor was changed one Sunday morning he traveled home from college. By one account, he was drawn to a service held in a local farmhouse. By another account, one day while passing through a little Welsh village, he heard church bells and slipped into the little “official” church, sitting through its very formal service. Afterwards, he noticed many reassembled in the cemetery outside the church where a man started preaching. Not flat, cold formal preaching, but fiery, convicting preaching like that of John the Baptist.

Whichever account is true, Williams' focus turned away from medical training to enter the Anglican ministry. But he never felt “at home” in the ritualistic church. Deciding instead to make all Wales his “parish,” over the next half century, on foot and by horse, covering 3,000 miles a year, he presented the Gospel of Christ in his home country. One source estimated he traveled more than 95,000 miles, drawing crowds of 10,000 or more. Of such large crowds in those pre-microphone days, Williams wrote in his journal: “God strengthened me to speak so loud that most could hear.” One mob nearly beat him to death. But he pursued God's will on his life until dying at age 74.

He was a hymn-writer as well as a preacher, leaving behind a reported 800 Welsh-language hymns, the best-known of which is “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” That text was inspired by the Bible's account of the Exodus from Egypt and as a symbol of a believer's spiritual pilgrimage. One writer remarked, “He sang Wales into piety.” Soon, all of Wales was singing, from the coal mines to the soccer field.

By the way, in Welsh this 1745 hymn's title is “Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch.” Learning Welsh was part of tasks facing then-19-year-old Prince Charles (now King) when his mother Queen Elizabeth II designated him “Prince of Wales.” For that, he was taken out of Cambridge University and enrolled at Aberystwyth University (at a seaside city in West Wales) for intensive language study. Years later, the hymn was sung at the 2007 funeral of Charles' former wife, Princess Diana.

Notably, a century-plus earlier, it was sung at the deathbed of U.S. President James Garfield, an inoperable (in those days) assassin's bullet lodged deep in his body. One day while hearing Mrs. Garfield singing this hymn, the dying President, aware of his own “soon exodus” to Heaven, remarked, “Glorious, isn't it?”

A Welsh choir and congregation sing the hymn in this You-Tube: 'Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah'.

(The site ends with the Welsh words.)

NOTE-WORTHY

A "trinity" of music notes--a gift
I keep on my piano

Often when I come to my “quiet time” place, an old hymn starts running through my mind: “Jesus, what a friend of sinners, Jesus lover of my soul.” Faith in a loving, omnipotent God—who loves me despite my flaws—helps me personalize those lyrics woven long ago into my faith-walk. I'd noticed in hymnals that the tune carried the name “Hyfrydol,” whatever that meant. Little did I realize what a big impact that gentle tune, now more than a hundred years old, has made on Christian music.

The name (from Welsh) means “lovely, cheerful or melodious,” and the tune came from the heart of Rowland Hugh Prichard (1811-1887), when the Welsh textile worker and amateur musician was only about twenty years old. Who would have thought that a “tender's assistant” in a Welsh flannel manufacturing factory would have such a second faith-influenced avocation? But the reason may trace to the 1859 Welsh revival, when some 110,000 conversions changed the nation's spiritual culture. He also published a children's song book called “Singer's Friend.”

But a tune needs words to become a song or hymn. Those matched to “Hyfrydol” have included these:

1866: Scottish businessman William Chatterton Dix (he sold marine insurance) was also a prolific hymn-verse writer, attaching the tune to “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus.”

1875: The “Hyfrydol” tune was applied to Methodist Charles Wesley's classic 1744 Advent poem “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” It was also later matched to his 1747 “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”

1876: Philip Bliss, prolific Gospel musician associated with evangelist D.L. Moody, used the tune for his “I Will Sing of My Redeemer.”

1886: Baptist minister Francis Rowley penned “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story,” which has two music matches in hymnals, one tune by Peter Billhorn and the other Hyfrydol.

1910: John Wilbur Chapman, a Presbyterian evangelist who traveled with a gospel singer and also preached with the legendary Dwight Moody, penned “Our Great Savior” (also known as “Jesus, What a Friend of Sinners”).

“Hyfrydol” is certainly not the only versatile hymn tune out there. But learning who has adopted it to meaningful lyrics has only deepened my appreciation for how God uses musicians and lyricists—in tandem or perhaps separated by years—to bring glory to Himself. Those partnerships transcended their times, and even come to my corner of the universe when I sit down to focus on our amazing Creator-God and Savior.

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Enjoy a men's choir in Wales sing a “Hyfrydol” hymn in the Welsh language:

PendyrusChoir - Hyfrydol - YouTube

GUIDE ME!

Wales--the western side of Great Britain
and birthplace of this great hymn.

A monthly feature on a hymn of the faith. This one is reminiscent of Isaiah 54:3: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.”

Some countries go crazy for soccer or football. Wales adds another passion: singing. Its big event in mid-July, which draws 4,000 participants and 50,000 visitors to Llangollen, usual population about 4,000, features singing and music! The Welsh have historically been a singing people, from the early years of coal mining when workers sang their way into the mines. They’ve had music festivals going back to the 12th century. Into this culture in the early 1700s rose a young man, Willliam Williams, son of a wealthy farmer, who graduated from the university as a physician. At this time in England, the Wesleys and Whitfield were evangelizing thousands in open-air meetings. But in the southwest corner of Britain, Wales, Howell Harris was the electrifying evangelist. One day Williams heard Harris preach from atop a gravestone in a church yard. That day he was converted, and his life focus changed from medicine to soul care.

After that, Williams pursued ordination in the established Church of England, but soon left that and in 1744 devoted himself to the Methodist teachings of the Wesleys. Soon after that he wrote the Welsh text to a hymn built on the Exodus accounts, which we know as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.” Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, Williams devoted more than forty years of his life to itinerant evangelism. He endured snow, rain, heat, beatings by mobs and more as he traveled by foot and by horseback, covering more than 95,000 miles as he preached and sang.  He sometimes drew huge crowds—10,000, and once an estimated 80,0000, noting in his journal that God helped him speak loud enough for all to hear.

One writer remarked, “He sang Wales into piety.” He was considered the poet laureate of the Welsh revival.  He wrote 800 hymns, most of them unknown because they were never translated from Welsh.  This one was. 

When it came over the Atlantic to the United States, it was among hymns learned by the wife of President James Garfield. As he lay dying of an assassin’s bullet, the President’s wife began singing this song. Garfield began to cry and turning to his doctor remarked, “Glorious, isn’t it?”

Its popularity continues in Wales, where it’s often sung at soccer matches. It also was chosen for more dignified British occasions, including the 1991 funeral of Princess Diana and the 2011 wedding of her son Prince William to Catherine Middleton. With its universal message of God’s help in struggle—the big lesson of the Exodus—it affirms that God is our provider and “Bread of Heaven” in our own barren lands.

Join a full church in singing this hymn! The final lyrics are in the Welsh language https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=%22guide+me+o+thou+great+jehovah%22%2byoutube&docid=607999375793913958&mid=E70189B64274AC8EA5ECE70189B64274AC8EA5EC&view=detail&FORM=