Lyrics in Life

Some months ago I picked up a CD from my collection so I could listen to something in the car while driving to San Diego. It was a recording of early American religious hymns in the shapenote style. Only a few are actually shapenote songs. The rest I considered to be meandering odd pieces that were not all terribly melodic. Coming from the 17th and 18th century, they were a bit austere, musically speaking. But since I hadn't heard them for a long time, I put in the CD and started listening. I skipped over the odd sounding songs and the lyrics that I couldn't fully understand in favor of the more familiar tunes and lyrics.
I well remember "Oh Praise the Lord" by Billings. As a teenager, I used to belt out these lines to my brothers in an operatic voice:

Ye dragons with contagious breath,
People the dark abode of death;
Change your vile hissing into heavenly psalms;
And praise your maker with your for-or-or-or-ked tongue.

That really did seem appropriate for a brother somehow.



So I resurrected this CD about four months ago. Now every time I get in the car I immediately put it on and start singing along. These are some of the finest lyrics I have ever heard in terms of embodying the gospel and being songs to cheer the heart. Ever since I have been listening to these, I feel as though I enter into a very different atmosphere and even world.

Here are some of the lyrics:


Methinks I see a Heav'nly Host,Of Angels on the Wing;
Methinks I hear their chearful Notes,So merrily they sing:'
Let all your Fears be banish'd hence,Glad Tidings I proclaim,
For there's a Saviour born to Day,And Jesus is his Name.

Lay down your Crooks, and quit your Flocks,To Bethlehem repair;
And let your wand'ring Steps be squared By yonder shining Star.
Seek not in Courts or Palaces, Nor royal Curtains draw;
But search the Stable, see your God Extended on the Straw.

Then Learn from hence, ye rural Swains, The Meekness of your God,
Who left the boundless Realms of Joy, To ransom you with Blood.
The Master of the Inn refus'd A more commodius Place;
Ungenerous Soul of savage Mould, And destitute of Grace.

Exult ye Oxen, low for Joy, Ye Tenants of the Stall,
Pay your Obeisance; on your Knees Unanimously fall.
The Royal Guest you entertain Is not of common Birth,
But second in the Great I am; The God of Heav'n and Earth.'

Then suddenly a Heav'nly Host Around the Shepherds throng,
Exulting in the threefold God And thus address their Song:
'To God the Father, Christ the Son, And Holy Ghost ador'd;
The First and Last, the Last and First,Eternal Praise afford.
William Billings, 1778 (found here)

As I've listened to these songs scores of times, I've fallen in love with the richness of the lyrics. After all, where else might you sing about "rural swains" and "tenants of the stall?" I always grin broadly when I sing along the words, "Lay down your crooks and quit your flocks, to Bethlehem repair." This King's English languages the shepherds in the most lofty way possible. Just wonderful verbiage.

There are a couple songs on this CD that I doubt I shall ever fully appreciate. One of them begins, "Zadok the Priest gave up the ghost..." My thought usually is, Who cares?!

There is one song that begins as a dirge:
My flesh shall slumber in the ground...
For a long time I just skipped over it and said, "Oh, that thing." But one day I actually listened to it in full. It is now a favorite of mine:

My flesh shall slumber in the ground
Till the last trumpet’s joyful sound;
Then burst the chains in sweet surprise,
And in my Savior’s image rise.
When shall I wake and find me there?

Interestingly enough, the week before Sam's job was eliminated, I began to take notice of a song that is based on Psalm 42. It is one of the most moving Psalms that I can think of, particularly now. It paints a picture of one whose faith is unwavering even with untoward circumstances. The refrain is life and breath for me just now. I love the King James version:

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Few Psalms could possibly comfort me more at this time of financial uncertainty. And how grateful I am that I became more aware of this Psalm only recently--right when I needed to internalize its meaning. It reminds me of my time in Minnesota while I was in graduate school. The only means I had to support myself was my nursing license, and so I went to work for a temp nursing agency. Most of the time I knew the staff and routines of hospitals since I went to a handfull of them repeatedly. I was even on the schedule for over a year for two large county hospitals, and was the charge nurse several times in a small hospital down river from St. Paul. I practiced nursing for 20 years--18 of them in ICU settings. And yet I still felt anxious every single day on the way to my job site. I really never felt terribly competent, even though I probably only made 2-3 medical mistakes in 20 years. It was probably because nursing did not come naturally to me and it was considerable work just to stay at it day after day, night after night. As I'd get in the car, my heart would begin to sink and I'd start to feel overwhelmed and anxious. But I had no alternative, and it did pay well. So this is when I developed the habit of singing a hymn several times on the way to work, just as a reminder that God was in control and I'd be okay. In fact, how I felt was probably irrelevant in the larger, spiritual scheme of things. God had something in store for me and my job was to put one foot in front of the other.

Oh, those were hard days. But out of that time I learned patience, reliance on God, perserverence, and stamina. And once again, I internalized these words:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never, forsake!
("Keen", 1787).

This was the song on my lips once also, after I had applied for a pastoral job in Northern California and learned that someone else had been hired. I was sure that my future was in shambles without getting my foot in the door as a pastor, and I sang this song all the way home some 500 miles South. It was a real comfort to me.

The blessing is in the faith behind the lyrics of these wonderful old hymns. Once, after a painful relationship breakup, and after special prayer that I would survive it all, I awoke every morning for two weeks with a hymn in my mind. The words were always just what I needed for that day. Without this evidence from God that I would be okay, it is doubtful that recovery from this could have occurred as well as it did.

These hymns gave courage and cheer to many of our forebearers. They are still good, and the lyrics still inspire and uplift. I am really thankful.