Category: Hymns

And Can It Be

On By BrianIn Hymns

On the day of Charles Wesley’s conversion, he penned the hymn Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin which we looked at in a past post.  Soon after, he penned a much more familiar hymn with much the same message – And Can It Be.  Like his first hymn, he expresses his amazement that God would save him – notice expecially his use of the phrase “for me” in the first verse.   Notice his excitement at his forgiveness, the quenching of God’s wrath, and the reality that in Christ he will face no condemnation.   By the way, also notice that he wrote more than the four verses in our typical hymnals.  I particularly like the fifth verse.  The entire hymn is one of my favorites, and I especially like verse four.  I confess though that I have a doctrinal difference with one line in verse three.  “Emptied himself of all but love” I suspect attempts to address Philippians 2, but I would disagree that the Son gave up his other attributes to become a man.  If you want the music, you can link here for an organ version of the first verse or try a beautiful rendition of the four most common verses in the music video at the beginning of this post. 

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?

On By BrianIn Hymns1 Comment

Today, we begin my plan (which I mentioned a few posts ago) to regularly feature a great hymn of the faith.  We begin with what was probably Charles Wesley’s first hymn.  It was written on the same day of his conversion – May 21, 1738.  I personally don’t remember ever singing it, but as we are going to look at several Charles Wesley hymns in the next few weeks, it seems a good place to start.  Wesley’s journal for that day reads:

At nine, I be­gan an hymn up­on my con­ver­sion, but I was per­suad­ed to break off for fear of pride. Mr. Bray, com­ing en­cour­aged me to pro­ceed in spite of Sa­tan. I prayed Christ to stand by me, and fin­ished the hymn. Upon my af­ter­wards show­ing it to Mr. Bray, the de­vil threw in a fiery dart, sug­gest­ing that it was wrong, and I had dis­pleased God. My heart sunk with­in me; when, cast­ing my eye up­on a Pray­er-book, I met with an an­swer for him. “Why boast­est thou thy­self, thou ty­rant, that thou canst do mis­chief?”  Up­on this, I clear­ly dis­cerned it was a de­vice of the en­e­my to keep back glo­ry from God.

As you read the hymn, notice in the third and fourth verses how he seems to wrestle with Satan on whether he should continue with the hymn.  Notice also how he begins with amazement that God should save him, and ends with a plea for sinners of every kind to come and find this great salvation that he has just experienced.  Oh that we too would be amazed at God’s salvation and desire to tell others!  If you want the music, you can link here for an organ version of the first verse.

Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeemed from death and sin,
A brand plucked from eternal fire,
How shall I equal triumphs raise,
Or sing my great Deliverer’s praise?

O how shall I the goodness tell,
Father, which Thou to me hast showed?
That I, a child of wrath and hell,
I should be called a child of God,
Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
Blessed with this antepast of Heaven!

And shall I slight my Father’s love?
Or basely fear His gifts to own?
Unmindful of His favors prove?
Shall I, the hallowed cross to shun,
Refuse His righteousness to impart,
By hiding it within my heart?

No! though the ancient dragon rage,
And call forth all his host to war,
Though earth’s self-righteous sons engage
Them and their god alike I dare;
Jesus, the sinner’s friend, proclaim;
Jesus, to sinners still the same.

Outcasts of men, to you I call,
Harlots, and publicans, and thieves!
He spreads His arms to embrace you all;
Sinners alone His grace receives;
No need of Him the righteous have;
He came the lost to seek and save.

Come, O my guilty brethren, come,
Groaning beneath your load of sin,
His bleeding heart shall make you room,
His open side shall take you in;
He calls you now, invites you home;
Come, O my guilty brethren, come!

For you the purple current flowed
In pardons from His wounded side,
Languished for you the eternal God,
For you the Prince of glory died:
Believe, and all your sin’s forgiven;
Only believe, and yours is Heaven!

What Ever Happened To The Hymns?

On By BrianIn Hymns3 Comments

I have been teaching a class on the Great Awakening for some teens from Christian families in our area.  This last week, we looked at Charles Wesley.  I gave them a list of some of his hymns and asked how many they were familiar with.  Even after exploring some of the titles, the most any of them recognized was four.  Four!  Here are some of the titles from the list:

A Charge to Keep I Have
And Can It Be that I Should Gain
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Depth of Mercy
Hail The Day That Sees Him Rise
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Jesus, Lover of My Soul
Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
O For a Heart to Praise My God
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Rejoice, the Lord Is King

Most were not familiar with And Can It Be or For A Thousand Tongues To Sing.  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.  I know many churches no longer sing hymns.  And yet, I found their ignorance of even the most well-known hymns incredibly depressing.  We are losing our Christian heritage.  The church I grew up in really never taught about the history of the church, but at least I had the great hymns.  Many of the next generation don’t even have that anymore.

I’m not here to knock new choruses and hymns.  There are some great new songs worth learning and singing for the rest of our lives. But there is a place for the old hymns too, for at least the following reasons:

1. The hymns connect us to our heritage, reminding us that we are part of something bigger than just today.  The church didn’t start in my generation; it has been here for 2000 years, and the hymns help us connect with the wisdom of those who have gone before us.

2. Many hymns have incredible theological depth.  In an age of theological shallowness and downright ignorance in the church, we  need all the help we can get to teach the doctrines of the faith.

3. Many of the hymns have incredible experiental depth.  They are not passionless theological treatises, but passionate responses to who God is, what he has done, and what he has yet to do.  Many of the hymn writers had an experiential walk with God that puts ours to shame.  We need to be reminded that our lukewarm state is not normal.

4. Over time, the best hymns have been passed on, while most of the chaff has fallen away.  Wesley wrote 9000 hymns, yet we only sing a fraction of what he wrote. (I’ve read some of the hymns that rightly didn’t make the cut!)  Perhaps there are some jems that over time were overlooked and lost.  Undoubtedly there are some inferior songs that have somehow been passed on.  But overall the old hymns in our hymnals today are the best of the best.  Undoubtedly there are some new songs that will likewise stand the test of time and be sung down through the ages, but many will fall away like chaff.

5. We need to sing the same songs year after year so that we might memorize them.  As we learn them, they can over time form us.  Even more they can encourage us in times of trouble.  And should our memories start to go in old age, those hymns we learned as children and sang all of our lives have incredible staying power.  I distinctly remember my grandpa advanced with Alzheimer’s disease unable to remember much of anything but yet able to sing many of the old hymns from memory.  And many have told me of similar experiences in older folks that they have known.  What about the next generation that never sang a song more than two months before the moving on to the next great hit?

With all of the above in mind, I want to do my part to encourage the continued use of the old hymns.  That means, among other things, that I am starting a new feature on this blog.  I want to regularly feature a great hymn of the faith.  Each feature will include the words, a link to the music, some commentary, and when possible some history behind the hymn.  Stay tuned!