Hymns in Human ExperienceHart, William J. (William John)
Religion
Hymns in Human Experience
Hart, William J. (William John)
Hymns -- History and criticism
A minister’s wife with whom I am well acquainted has told of the time
when her only sister lay on a bed of pain in a hospital in one of the
suburbs of Chicago. Her father and mother, being sent for, reached the
bedside at nightfall. A brief interview was permitted. The father,
bending low above his girl, heard her faintly say, “Oh, Dad, I’ve lost
my grip.” Great anxiety, therefore, was on his mind as he left the room.
Fearing the answer he might receive, yet hungering for news, the father
telephoned as early the next morning as he dared. “How is the girl
today?” was his agonized question.
“Holding her own. In fact, she has made slight progress through the
night,” was the glad and astonishing answer. Father and mother,
therefore, soon hastened to the hospital. There they learned that the
daughter’s recovery was now a possibility.
Later the parents learned the cause of the happy change. A window had
been opened by a nurse, and there came through it to the accompaniment
of a piano a clear baritone voice singing: “What a Friend we have in
Jesus!”
“Why, that’s for me,” whispered the sufferer, as she heard the words:
“Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.”
Restful assurance was expressed in the closing lines:
“In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.”
Making the words her prayer, by asking Christ to take and shield her,
she turned her face to the wall and the first natural sleep for weeks
followed. From that hour her recovery began.
Harriet Beecher Stowe awoke one morning to find herself famous as the
author of _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_. The excellent reception given this book
was gratifying, but more than anything else was
The Satisfying Consciousness of God’s Presence
She wrote her husband at this time, from the home of her brother, Henry
Ward Beecher, that she felt a wonderful consciousness of God’s presence,
which above all else quieted and comforted and satisfied her soul. Then
she wrote out this experience in the beautiful hymn, “Still, still with
Thee,” which first appeared in the Plymouth Hymnal. Set to Mendelssohn’s
music, it is one of the richest recent additions to hymnology. This
hymn-prayer was the response of her soul and voiced a deep experience of
the peace that passeth all understanding. It tells most impressively
what are some of the benefits of prayer:
“Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
. . . . . . . . .
Still, still with Thee! As to each newborn morning
A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,
So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,
Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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