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Awake My Heart With Gladness

In Catholic circles, this coming Sunday is referred to as Passion Sunday. It precedes Palm Sunday by one week, signaling the coming end of Lent and helping to focus the church on the work of the Cross. You might ask, “I’m not Catholic so why are we talking about what the Catholics do?” Well, I’m not Catholic either. But I do believe that as we approach Holy Week, it is good to prepare our hearts for this very special church season and focused time of remembrance. This hymn, written by German clergyman Paul Gerhardt in the mid-1600s gives us language to do just that.  “The cross is the suffering love of God bearing the guilt of man’s sin, which alone is able to melt the sinner’s heart and bring him to repentance for salvation.” Billy Graham.  As we prepare for worship on Sunday morning, let us apply the work of the Cross to our hearts, and awaken "with gladness"! Awake, my heart, with gladness– see what today is done! Now, after gloo

10,000 Reasons

Released in 2012, this song by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin came together quickly, beginning with the chorus. Myrin played some of what would become the chorus melodies and Redman became inspired, connecting it to Psalm 103. The song was written and completed in an hour according to Redman. Reflecting on the song, Redman says, “If you wake up one morning and you cannot think of a reason to bring God some kind of offering of thanks or praise, then you can be sure there’s something wrong at your end of the pipeline, and not his. We live beneath an unceasing flow of goodness, kindness, greatness, and holiness, and every day, we’re given reason after reason why Jesus is so completely and utterly worthy of our highest and best devotion.” Take time to read Psalm 103 now, and then reflect on the lyrics of the song. Chorus 1 Bless the Lord O my soul O my soul Worship His holy name Sing like never before O my soul I’ll worship Your holy name Verse 1 The sun comes up it’s a new day dawning It’s t

Jesus I My Cross Have Taken

Henry Francis Lyte’s father abandoned his family after sending Henry and his brother off to boarding school. Henry’s mother moved to London where she and his youngest sibling died. The headmaster at the school recognized Henry’s talent for writing poetry and took him in as well as paid his tuition. From there he would go on to Trinity University in Dublin, initially with an interest in medicine that he would quickly release for the pursuit of theology. The sudden passing of a clergyman friend of his a few years after university would further shape Lyte’s pathway through life. Becoming more concerned with the hearts of the people, he became more evangelistic in ministry. Lyte’s extensive literary knowledge, expertise in music, and his personal library, considered by some to be, at the time, one of the most extensive and valuable in West England, would not keep him from identifying and relating to the fishermen and their families that he ministered to in great numbers. This hymn was publ

There Is A Fountain

While living under the spiritual care of Rev. John Newton, William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) wrote “There Is A Fountain.” It was first published in 1772 and has since found its way into more than 2,440 hymnals, surpassing John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” by over 1,000 hymnal publishings in a similar time frame. Born to John and Ann Cowper, he descended from the British aristocracy. His father John was chaplain to King George II and nephew of the first Earl Cowper, and his mother Ann’s blood line can be traced back to King Henry III. Sadly, his mother passed when he was just 6 years old, and he was sent off to boarding school soon after. This tragedy would become the catalyst for a life-long battle with deep, destructive depression. Despite a very promising legal and political career path, roughly 26 years after his mother’s passing, his mental illness drove him to a failed suicide attempt that would then land him in an asylum for 18 months. That time would set about a spiritual renewal i

Near The Cross

“Near The Cross” was written by none other than hymn writing royal, “Fanny Crosby.” Published in 1869, it is one of over 8,000 gospel songs she would write in her lifetime. Crosby is known for her unique hymn-writing ability, painting vivid word pictures despite being blind since she was 6 weeks old. This ability is supported by her incredible capacity for memory. By age 10, she was memorizing five chapters of the Bible each week. Five years later, she had committed to memory the Pentateuch, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, many of the Psalms, and all four Gospels. At which time she enrolled in the New York Institute for the Blind, where she studied for 8 years. Following that, she became a teacher of English grammar, rhetoric, and history. Since Braille had just been developed, Crosby never used the system. Instead, she would dictate to various transcribers. One of them, an assistant teacher at the time, would later become known as President Grover Cleveland. This, however, wasn’t her first

All People That On Earth Do Dwell

“For it is good to sing praises to our God,” the Psalmist writes in Psalm 147:1. (ESV) “All People That On Earth Do Dwell” is one of the oldest hymns still sung today. It dates back all the way to the Scottish Psalter in 1561. With the settlers landing in Jamestown in 1607, they likely had a Psalter and would’ve possibly been singing this hymn in their worship services as they laid the foundations of our great nation. And it was likely included in the first book ever published in the colonies, The Bay Psalm Book (1640). The 1500s were an exciting time to be alive. Calvin and Luther were reforming the Protestant church, while Queen Mary simply settled all her church disputes with fire and blood. And you thought the past few years were bad! According to the Hymnology Archive, the English borrowed the tune “Geneva 134” from the French Psalter, originally used for Psalm 134, and began to refer to it as “Psalm 100.” In 1696, the name “Old 100th” would catch on as composers continued to wri

Jesus Paid It All

If you do a Google search for the story behind this hymn, you’ll come across some 30 million results. You might be surprised to learn that I read all of them. No. “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” Some hymns, like “Fairest Lord Jesus” come from an unknown author making the true history hard to trace. This hymn is young enough, at just shy of 160 years old, that there is strong historical evidence of its inspiration. That story is well told and repeated across a vast array of authors and historians. Author Elvina Hall was inspired in the choir loft of Monument Street Methodist Church, in 1865, during either a sermon on the crucifixion or a long-winded prayer following said sermon. She wrote the 4 stanzas quickly and fluidly. Excited she showed them to her pastor, George Shrick, who remembered the organist, John Grape, had brought a song with no lyrics to his attention the week before. In God’s providence, the lyrics and music matched with only a refrain needed, that Hall wrote to comple