Bring me to your pastures

I believe that Spiritual Hymns Upon Solomon’s Song: or, Love in the Right Channel. Wherein that Divine Part of Scripture is Paraphras’d, and the dark Places expounded; and may be vocally Sung in the Ordinary Tunes of the Singing Psalms by John Reeve is currently the most likely candidate for the oldest known Baptist hymn book. It contains hymnic poetry based on the Old Testament Song of Solomon, and which the title clearly advertises for vocal singing. The first printing was in 1684, with a second edition or printing in 1693 (with scans available at Google Books and Baylor Digital Collections).

There is some confusion about the author, John Reeve. Some sources have confused him with a better-known John Reeve (1608–1658), who died 26 years before Spiritual Hymns Upon Solomon’s Song was first published! The best information on the author of Spiritual Hymns upon Solomon’s Song seems to be that he was the John Reeve who was a General Baptist minister at Bessel’s Green, Kent, England. There are also mentions that this particular John Reeve served as joint elder with William Jeffery at Sevenoaks (or Bradburn and Sevenoaks) in the 1650s, and also that he was imprisoned at the Restoration of the Monarchy in England. [Note that Bessel’s Green is now part of Sevenoaks, so these references may be to the same church, or to two churches which were near one another.] A possible lifespan for Reeve is that he was born circa 1619 and died around 1684. However, a second printing of the book in 1693 could suggest he was still living at that time. More work needs to be done on researching his life.

The following hymn, in common meter, is found on pages 18-19 of the hymn book, brought forth from the 7th verse of the first chapter of the Song of Solomon. It speaks of the churches as flocks, for whom the Lord supplies pastures and pastors, and the author as an inquirer into who and what and where that flock is.

CANT. I. 7.

Tell me (O thou whom my soul loveth) where thou feedest, where thou causest thy flocks to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

HYMN 16.

1. O Thou Beloved of my Soul!
Thou hast a People free
From all these mixtures, cleansèd pure
O tell me where they be!

2. Thou hast thy Institutions,
And ordinances pure;
Thou hast thy Churches: Tell me when,
And where I may be sure.

3. Thou hast Enclosures rich and fat,
Peculiar to thy Sheep;
And dainty nour’shing pastures where
Thou dost them always keep.

4. Thou in Communion fold’st them up,
In Winter keep’st them dry;
Thou giv’st them shades from heat of Sun:
O tell me where they lye!

5. For why should I be led away
By Creatures, in pretence;
And starve my soul, misled by such
As come I know not whence?

6. O tell me then, and bring me where,
In this my greatest need,
Thy Pastures and thy Pastors are;
And I with them will feed.