Hymn Book as “Prayer Book”

An interesting thought.

It has been asserted by some that in many of the English “free churches” (dissenters from the Anglican Church, including Baptists), the hymn book acted as a central, unifying, and authoritative resource. In that place it fulfilled many of the same functions as the Book of Common Prayer did in the Church of England. I find this very intriguing, and think there is some merit in that assertion. A group of churches with a shared hymn book had a degree of shared theological and structural framework for worship.

For example, Ernest Payne says that the hymn book as a body of practical and experimental divinity was “One of the more immediate and personal legacies of Wesley was the hymn book he edited.” He continues, “In the Free Churches a hymn book takes the place occupied by the Prayer Book in the devotional life, public and private, of the Anglican. This in part explains how it is that the hymns of Watts, Doddridge, and the Wesleys have so entered into the life of the English people.”

The Free Church Tradition in the Life of England, Ernest Alexander Payne. London: S.C.M. Press Ltd., 1944, p. 79

Acts 28:30-31

A final summary statement, 28:30-31

Verses 30 and 31 provide a summary statement to conclude the account. It began in the Jewish capital of Jerusalem and ends in the Gentile capital of Rome, taking Acts 1:8 to its logical “conclusion.” Yet there is no conclusion, for the witness still goes forth.

Verse 30: in his own hired house (εν ιδιω μισθωματι, a place of lodging that is hired, or rented).[1]

The word of God cannot be bound. What might have seemed to be a setback and stumblingblock in Paul’s ministry was so ordered and arranged by God. Paul acknowledged “that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12). Often we do not at first see clearly what God has designed for our good, the good of others, and his glory. While here Paul would not only preach freely, but he also wrote what are commonly called “The Prison Epistles.” The term “Prison Epistles” refers to the four letters written while Paul was under house arrest in Rome – Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The “we” section of 27:1-28:16 indicates that Luke travels with Paul from Cæsarea to Rome. Paul mentions Luke’s presence when writing to the saints at Colosse (Colossians 4:14), and to Philemon (v. 24). Previously, Paul had most often dwelt with others; now he has a dwelling place of his own. He had been on the move in the Roman empire; now he is settled in Rome. He had gone out with the gospel message to others; now others come to him to hear the message.

In the end of this chapter, soldiers guard Paul. He receives visitors, and freely shares the gospel (Acts 28:16, 20, 30-31). In the letters, Paul mentions being with “they that are of Cæsar’s household” (Philippians 4:22), his bonds (Ephesians 6:20; Philippians 1:7, 12-16; Colossians 4:3-4, 4:18; Philemon 10-13), and refers to himself as a prisoner (Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; Philemon 1, 9, 23). This was not Paul’s only incarceration, of course. He was bound in Philippi (Acts 16:23-40), Jerusalem (Acts 21:33), Cæsarea (23:23-24; 24:27), and Rome (Acts 28:16) – as well as when transported as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Cæsarea to Rome. Paul made it to Rome, as he believed, and was able to preach concerning “the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”

“…the narrative ends as it does because it had caught up with history, and at the moment there was nothing more to record.”[2]

“Yet it is a pleasure to us (for we are sure it was to him) that, though we leave him in bonds for Christ, yet we leave him at work for Christ, and this made his bonds easy that he was not by them bound out from serving God and doing good.”[3]

The open ending!

Alexander MacLaren said the book of Acts “stops rather than ends.”[4] The work of the Lord through his churches is not finished. God the inspirer pulls the curtain on “Act 28,” but his show goes on.

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[1] Josephus, Antiquities, Book XVIII, 6.10 mentions the circumstance of Agrippa, while “still in custody,” going to live in “that house where he lived before.” This might be a situation comparable to that of Paul.
[2] Ladd, Wycliffe Commentary, p. 1178.
[3] Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Volume VI, page 361. “Luke is with me” again when Paul is in prison in Rome the second time (II Timothy 4:11).
[4] MacLaren, The Acts of the Apostles, Expositions Of Holy Scripture, p. 383. He further suggests, like Ladd, “that nothing more is said for nothing more had yet been done.” That is, simply, the book stops at the point in history when it is written. There are many dreams and nightmares recounted by the unbelieving and misbelieving scholars, when instead a simple explanation is quite sufficient. It ended where the Holy Spirit ended it.

Hymns can mean anything

Hymns can mean anything ... or can they?

“I tend to tell people that whatever meaning or relevance they take from that is up to them.” unnamed Facebook commenter, cited in Sacred Harp Singing in Europe: Its Pathways, Spaces, and Meanings, Ellen Leuck, p. 226[i]

“Flexible interpretations of texts permit singers with diverse beliefs and experience to relate to Sacred Harp in personally meaningful ways…” Traveling Home: Sacred Harp Singing and American Pluralism, Kiri Miller, page 132

Regarding the texts and scriptural bases for the songs in the Sacred Harp tune books, it is important to understand that they have a context and underlying meaning. They cannot just mean whatever someone wants them to mean. Now, I understand that different texts may touch different folks in different ways, make us think different things, or make us feel different things. However, we must also understand that what we think and feel about a text is not part of the text itself, and does not become the standard for the meaning of the text. First and foremost (except for a few patriotic songs, e.g. “Behold, the smiling happy land,” “My country, ’tis of thee”) the texts are Christian texts.[ii] Therefore, the songs have a Christian worldview and meaning. That fact does not mean the texts cannot touch someone who is not Christian. That fact DOES mean that Christian hymns cannot be removed from their context and mean just anything and everything to everybody. That folks think they can have their own meaning and eat it to is a sad commentary on an age that does not understand or believe objective truth. May God help Christian singers not acquiesce to this falsehood. The Christian texts have Christian meaning.

There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

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[i] A couple more quotes from Sacred Harp Singing in Europe: Its Pathways, Spaces, and Meanings: “…Sacred Harp singers in Europe who identify as generally non-religious…find other ways of internalizing the meaning of the texts outside of the realm of religious worship” (p. 220). “…the religious words in The Sacred Harp do have meaning for secular participants, though not a literal meaning. They have meaning within the context of the music, and they perhaps facilitate tapping into feelings of emotional and spiritual depth that secular lyrics can do less easily. Furthermore, it is understood by the community-at-large that the meaning of the texts is interpreted by participants privately” (pp. 222-223).
[ii] The Christians who included the patriotic songs doubtless understood them to fit within their Christian worldview.

Bearing the Cross

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: John 19:17

There is no incident in our Lord’s passion which, to a heart quickened with spiritual sensibility, is more replete with holy instruction, or more deeply, tenderly touching than this—Christ bearing to Calvary the cross upon which he was to suffer. It unveils such a profound abasement, and yet such a depth of love—it portrays a stoop of the Majesty of heaven to earth’s lowest degradation—so marvelous, and yet, is the measurement of grace, so vast, the fact stands out, amid the many marvels of our Lord’s death, one of the most touching and significant of all. To compel the criminal to bear the wood upon which he was to be impaled, was one of the severest elements of degradation in the Roman punishment of crucifixion. To this our Lord was subjected, “And he, bearing his cross, went forth.” Little did they dream, as they bound the fatal wood upon his shoulder, by whose power that tree was made to grow, and from whom the beings who bore Him to the death drew their existence. So completely was Jesus bent upon saving sinners by the sacrifice of himself, he created the tree upon which he was to die, and nurtured from infancy the men who were to nail him to the accursed wood. Oh, the depth of Jesus’s love to sinners! Lord! the universe in its accumulation presents no love like yours! Your love, eternal as your being, saw from everlasting the cross of Calvary, and yet you did not falter in your purpose, nor modify your plan of saving lost sinners by the sacrifice of yourself. You saved others, yourself you would not save!

Octavius Winslow, The Foot of the Cross, 1864

It is Well with My Soul

1. When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Refrain
It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul);
It is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

3, My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

4. O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
Even so, it is well with my soul.

5. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper thy peace to my soul.

Horatio Gates Spafford was born October 20, 1828 at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, the son of Horatio Gates Spafford, Sr. and Elizabeth Clark Hewitt. His father was the publisher of the Gazetteer of New York. Spafford married Norwegian-American Anna Tobine Larsen Øglende in Chicago on September 5, 1861. Horatio Spafford, Jr. was a lawyer at a large law firm in Chicago, a church elder in the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church, as well as good friends with evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Eventually he would withdraw from the Fullerton Church and emerged a dissident leader in a chapel he built behind his home. The group called themselves “Saints,” and was called by “Spaffordites” or “Overcomers” by their opponents.[i]

Horatio and Anna Gates, with some of their followers, founded “the American Colony” in Israel. Spafford died in Jerusalem of malaria on September 25, 1888. He was buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery in Jerusalem.

The story of the song It Is Well with My Soul is fairly well-documented. As with many others, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was a calamitous loss for the Spaffords. This was followed two years later by and the sea-faring deaths of their four young daughters. They drowned on a transatlantic voyage. Horatio was home working in Chicago, while his wife and daughters traveled to England. They were on board the steamship SS Ville du Havre. On November 22, 1873, the iron sailing vessel Loch Earn collided with the Ville du Havre. Two hundred twenty-six of the 313 member passengers and crew were killed, including the Spafford’s daughters. Anna escaped. Upon reaching Cardiff, Wales, she sent Horatio a telegram, “Saved alone.” Survivors reported that they heard the child Annie Spafford (age 11) calmly say, “Don’t be afraid. The sea is His, and He made it.”

Soon Horatio Spafford traveled to meet his wife. When his ship passed near where the Ville du Havre sank, he felt inspired to write the lines we know as It Is Well with My Soul. Spafford wrote in a letter to his sister-in-law:

“On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the water three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the dear lambs, and there, before very long, shall we be too. In the meantime, thanks to God, we have an opportunity to serve and praise Him for His love and mercy to us and ours. ‘I will praise Him while I have my being.’ May we each one arise, leave all, and follow Him.”

A reproduction of the original manuscript can be seen HERE. It has only four stanzas (which are the four contained in many hymnals and in first printing). The last line – “Even so, it is well with my soul” was originally “A song in the night, oh my soul!”

For more on the song, see Our Jerusalem: An American Family in the Holy City 1881-1949, by Bertha Spafford Vester, pp. 45-46, et al.

Another stanza (by Spafford, I think) was added to the song later (see No. 5, above), and some books print a sixth stanza (as follows), whose origin is unknown to me.

But, Lord, ’tis for thee, for thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

The tune, known as Ville du Havre, was written by the evangelistic singer Philip Paul Bliss (1838 – 1876) in 1876. For some biographical information on Bliss, see “My Redeemer.” The meter of It Is Well with My Soul is 11.8.11.9. with refrain. The refrain seems likely added by Bliss when he wrote the tune. Gospel Hymns No. 2 by Ira Sankey and P. P. Bliss seems to be the first printing of the song. It is No. 76. The scripture under the song title is “He hath delivered my soul in peace” (Psalm 55:18). Other related scriptures include Isaiah 66:12 (I will extend peace to her like a river); 2 Kings 4:26 (Is it well? It is well); Psalm 146:1 (Praise the Lord, O my soul) and Isaiah 34:4 (the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll).

This is a wonderful hymn expressing the peace and wellness of soul available to those who put their trust in God.

Psalm 84:12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

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[i] This is such a well-loved and comfort-giving hymn that I will pull the curtain of charity over its author. Suffice it to say that while all may have been well with the soul of Horatio Gates Spafford, all was not well with his theology as he progressed further and further in life.

I gave you one book, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“What if you get to heaven one day, then the God of all the universe tells you, ‘I gave you one book, and you mean to tell me you never managed to read it.’” -- Reta Dyess

“The LXX continues to be treated with a mystical reverence wholly out of proportion to its origins.” -- Peter Van Kleeck, Sr.

“We are not called to manage a goat farm. We are called to shepherd God’s sheep with God’s word.” -- Keith Foskey

“Influence is not unimportant, but it should never be all-important. The glory of God, not the influence of gifted men, governs the priorities for calling and appointing pastors.” -- Scott Hurst

“Never overestimate the power of one great sermon. Never underestimate the power of many good sermons week after week.” -- Ray Pritchard

“Money is not the solution to poverty when poverty is still rooted in the mind” -- Omotade Makinwa

“The poor are those ‘passing over opportunities repeatedly.’” -- Herman Johnson

“Paul was a ‘cross-eyed’ preacher.” -- Robert Smith, Jr.

“America is not gospel hardened. It is gospel ignorant because its preachers are gospel ignorant.” -- Paul Washer

“A church that elevates sexual orientation above the Scriptures is not loving, it’s lost.” -- Chad Prather

“If the Bible is no longer their authority, then the ‘church’ is no longer a church.” -- Chad Prather

“60% of the time it works every time.” -- Brian Fantana

“I believe in prayer, but the last place you want to be is on a Southern woman’s prayer chain. All that means is, ‘I will tell everybody your business.’ Amen.” -- J. J. Barrow

“God created man in his own image and ever since then man has been trying to return the favor.” -- Andrew Remillard (perhaps quoting someone else)

Two for one, Sacred Harp history

In researching a composer of a song in the 1911 J. L. White Sacred Harp, A. O. Jackson, I was not only able to identify him, but also Mattie Pope of the 1902 W. M. Cooper Sacred Harp, who I had previously failed to identify.

Jackson, A. O. Andrew Orestes Jackson was born August 20, 1888 at Glenwood, Alabama. He was the son of Andrew Jackson and Mary Ann Richburg. He graduated from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1916 with a Bachelors of Science degree,[i] served in World War I, and afterward married Martha Matilda “Mattie” Pope (1889–1947) on September 7, 1919 in Luverne, Crenshaw County, Alabama. They were active in singing conventions in this area. Mattie is credited with arranging The Blessed Lamb in the Cooper Revision of The Sacred Harp. She taught music, including piano. A. O. Jackson served on the “Examining Committee” of the Sweetwater Musical Convention (1912), Secretary of the Luverne Annual Singing (1924), and in other offices A. O. worked at several occupations, but primarily as a teacher. He advertised as a piano tuner in Luverne in the mid-1920s. They lived in Luverne, Mountain Creek, and Montgomery in Alabama, and Miami in Florida (and perhaps other places). After Mattie’s death, A. O. Jackson married Germa Blanton in 1949. He died April 30, 1982 in Brooks County, Georgia. A. O. and Mattie are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia.

504       The Love of God

Pope, Mattie. Martha Matilda “Mattie” Pope was the daughter of George William Pope and Sarah Missouri Head of Crenshaw County, Alabama, born January 29, 1889. She arranged The Blessed Lamb, a song already in The Sacred Harp on page 454, when she was about 13 years old. The greatest part of the arrangement of this tune is the change of the initial section from 3/4 to 2/4 time. There are a few note changes as well. Minnie Floyd added the alto part. In her youth, Mattie was active in the singings in Crenshaw County. She served as secretary of the all-day singing at Luverne in 1908 (as well as other years). W. M. Cooper was among the “prominent visiting singers present.” Mattie taught music in school, and taught private piano lessons. She married fellow Sacred Harp singer A. O. Jackson at Luverne, September 7, 1919. They lived in Luverne, Mountain Creek, and Montgomery in Alabama, and Miami in Florida (and perhaps other places). Mattie died in Miami, Florida. A. O. and Mattie are buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia.

454       The Blessed Lamb (arranged)

 

Jackson, A. O.

U.S. Censuses 1900-1950

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176908845/andrew_orestes-jackson

“The Sweet Water Singing Convention,” Crenshaw County News, Thursday, August 8, 1912, p. 4

“Singing Convention at Campground,” The Luverne Journal, Thursday, July 29, 1915, p. 8

“Luverne Annual Singing,” Crenshaw County News, Thursday, June 5, 1924, p. 1

“For Piano Tuning,” Crenshaw County News, Thursday, July 3, 1924, p. 3

 

Pope, Mattie

U. S. Federal Censuses, 1900-1940

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176908826/martha-matilda-jackson

“News of Luverne,” The Montgomery Advertiser, Tuesday, June 9, 1908, p. 2

“Pope-Jackson At Luverne,” The Luverne Journal, Thursday, September 18, 1919, p. 1

“Mrs. A. O. Jackson Dies At Her Home in Miami,” The Montgomery Advertiser, Saturday, November 1, 1947, p. 8

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[i] Alabama Polytechnic Institute is now Auburn University.

Acts 28:23-29

Expounding the kingdom of God, 28:23-29

Now in Rome, Paul has an interview with the Jews on two occasions, 17-22 and 23-28. In this first meeting, he makes four points in his defense. In the second meeting, he makes three points of prosecution.. Paul (1) testifies to the Jews at Rome, 23-24; (2) charges them with fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, 25-27; and (3) declares the message of salvation goes to the Gentiles, v. 28.[1] 

Verse 23: A day was settled upon to hear from Paul on their questions “concerning this sect.” The Jews came to where Paul lodged. The latter part of this verse summarizes Paul’s preaching to many Jews who came there to his lodging to hear him. Paul spent the day (from morning till evening) preaching the word. He presented two related subjects from one authoritative source – the Scriptures (out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets). This is descriptive. It explains what Paul said to the Jews that day. This is also prescriptive. It teaches regarding the proper content of Christian preaching. Paul “expounded and testified the kingdom of God.” The subject of the kingdom of God covers the rule and reign of God in broad swaths. Paul was “persuading them concerning Jesus,” honing in on the central message of the kingdom. The gospel (death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ) was his constant theme (I Corinthians 1:23). When Jesus Christ came in the flesh (John 1:14), God’s rule broke into this world in a special and unique way (Galatians 4:4-5). God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ will triumph over all (Revelation 11:15). Faithful Christian preaching will consistently proclaim from the Scriptures these two related subjects and all that is included in them.

Paul (1) expounded, (2) testified, and (3) persuaded. He set forth, expounded, exegeted the truth from the Scriptures. As a witness (Acts 1:8), he testified of its correctness (probably including personal testimony, eyewitness testimony). He persuaded, that is, appealed to their hearts and minds the importance and necessity of believing and receiving the truths he has expounded and testified. Paul’s authentic interpretation of the text, exegetic communication of the text, and explicit application of the text can serve to help guide in the minister’s faithful preaching of the gospel.

The unconverted Jews listened “from morning till evening,” showing a greater tenacity of interest than many moderns who call themselves Christians!

Verse 24: Some believed what Paul said. Some did not believe what he said. Though Luke does not indicate the proportion of believers and unbelievers, Paul’s reaction suggests the number in unbelief comprise the greater number.

Verse 25-27: Paul propels the Old Testament prophet Isaiah toward their hearts, referencing Isaiah 6:9-10. Jesus also used this text to illustrate his rejection rather than reception – by those who did not have ears to hear (cf. Matthew 13:14-15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10). See also John 12:40, where it stands not in a conversation, but as an explanatory note, as well as Romans 11:18. “waxed gross” excessively fat, cf. Isaiah 6:10. A heart that cannot be penetrated with truth.

Isaiah addressed “our fathers” – but now his words speak to you!

Verse 28: Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. God, through the words of Paul, provokes them to jealousy. See Deuteronomy 32:21.

• But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. Romans 10:19
• I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Romans 11:11

Verse 29: “And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves” by those who believed and did not believe, concerning the meaning of the things Paul taught them from the Scriptures. These words in verse 29 are lacking in sources such as Sinaiticus (א) and therefore do not appear in many modern English translations. Critics complain that they only appear in later sources (such as Codex Porphyrianus, or P, 9th century). However, it appears in the Latin Vulgate translation – indicating it was in Jerome’s sources when he was translating it from AD 383 to AD 405. The reading is found in the Majority Text family and the Itala MSS. The sentence provides a natural and logical culmination of the previous verses. J. A. Alexander concludes, “its insertion is as hard to be accounted for as its omission.”[2] The preserved word properly contains it.

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[1] Fitzmeyer, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 790.
[2] Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles, 1857, p. 495. Many today are establishing the text according to the academy rather than according to the church. Jay Chambers says that preachers who take this approach “they have to make an acknowledgement to the grandmothers in the congregation that their Bible is spurious.” (“Preaching & the Text of Revelation,” Reformation Bible Society Conference, August 2, 2025) “The most reprehensible pedantry of all is that which delights in criticising and amending the received English version…If their confidence in its fidelity is overthrown, they are virtually robbed of the written word of God” (Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, 1870, pp. 162-163).