The castle of the human heart

“The heart taken” is Hymn 101, Book One in Olney Hymnss – on the text [Luke] “Chap. xi. 21, 22.”[i]

When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

The hymn emphasizes the depravity of man, with native sin and Satan set up in the human heart. However, praise God, the strong man Satan is routed by the stronger man Jesus Christ, who rescues from sin and darkness, translating the delivered into his kingdom! The hymn ends with the rebel soul now subdued and rejoicing to be all in for Christ.

1. The castle of the human heart
Strong in its native sin,
Is guarded well, in ev’ry part,
By him who dwells within.

2. For Satan there, in arms, resides,
And calls the place his own;
With care against assaults provides,
And rules, as on a throne.

3. Each traitor thought on him, as chief,
In blind obedience waits;
And pride, self-will, and unbelief,
Are posted at the gates.

4. Thus Satan for a season reigns,
And keeps his goods in peace;
The soul is pleas’d to wear his chains,
Nor wishes a release.

5. But Jesus, stronger far than he,
In his appointed hour
Appears, to set his people free
From the usurper’s pow’r.

6. “This heart I bought with blood” he says,
“And now it shall be mine.”
His voice the strong one arm’d dismays,
He knows he must resign.

7. In spite of unbelief and pride,
And self, and Satan’s art;
The gates of brass fly open wide,
And Jesus wins the heart.

8. The rebel soul that once withstood
The Saviour’s kindest call;
Rejoices now, by grace subdued,
To serve Him with her all.

I have not found this particular hymn used with any tune, though it likely has been. Written in Common Meter, it offers many tune prospects. I suggest the wonderful old hymn tune Mear. One might also consider New Britain, commonly used with Newton “Amazing Grace,” or the tune Avon by Hugh Wilson. Hymnary.org suggests the tune Wrexford by A. H. Mann (but I did not notice an example of the two paired together).

The life of John Newton is perhaps one of the best-known and widely circulated of English hymn writers – due to his dramatic deliverance from slaver to abolitionist, from reprobate to rector (minister). “Hymn of the Day” writes that John Newton’s “theological insights and pastoral care through his words are a dagger to my heart, a balm to my soul, and an encouragement in my race to press onto Christlikeness.” “Amazing Grace,” according to biographer Jonathan Aitken, is “the most sung, most recorded and most loved hymn in the world.” This hymn, titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” was prepared by John Newton for a New Year’s sermon on January 1, 1773. Newton was a prolific writer with amazing output –not only many hymns, but also for journals, theology, letters. and sermons.

John Newton was born in London August 4, 1725, the son of shipmaster John Newton. He married Mary Catlett in 1750. Mary died in 1790, and John died 21 December 21, 1807. They were originally buried in the vault beneath the St. Mary Woolnoth Church, where he had served as rector for 28 years. London’s progress could wait for no man, not even the author of the “Christian National Anthem.” Before they built a railway station beneath the church, the remains of John Newton and his wife Mary were removed in January of 1893 to the churchyard of St. Peter and Paul in Olney, where Newton had lived when he published Olney Hymns.

The Southern Echo, Monday, January 16, 1893, p. 4

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[i] The “Book One” section of Olney Hymns contains hymn “On Select Texts of Scripture.”

All in me

“I have read the Bible and found many errors, all of which were in me.” Greg Mathis

I don’t know Greg Mathis. 

I began to read this – “the Bible…found many errors” – and I was shocked by the audacity! 

Then I read the punch line – “all of which were in me” – and I was shamed by the accuracy!

Baptists afraid of water?

A Little Humor in Baptist History: 

...Elder Hastings...had just returned from the ordination of Mr. Whelpley, a baptist minister, in Sandersfield, Mass. This young man was educated at Providence college, as I heard; studied divinity with Dr. Stillman, of Boston, and was quite in clerical fashion. As he had a college education, and was something like the clergy in Connecticut, several of the presbyterian clergy attended. Elder Hastings stated to us that Elder John Leland was appointed to preach the ordination sermon. He said that when the people came together, the meeting-house would not hold them. The people then went to a grove, near the house; erected a stage that the people might hear. Mr. Leland had not spoken long, before it began to rain a little, so that several people went to the meeting-house for a shelter. As they were going, Elder Leland said to old Elder Thomas Morse, “What shall I do, father Morse?” He replied, “Wait a little while; the rain will soon be over, and the people will return.” He sat a while; the cloud passed over, and the people returned. After they were all seated, ready to hear, Mr. Leland rose up, and after looking around, as though surprised, and wishing also to sting the clergy severely on account of their infant sprinkling, he said, “My friends, I am astonished to see baptists afraid of water! But when I come to think, it is sprinkling; and I do not wonder that you flee from it.” This was a severe stroke upon the Connecticut clergy, and very mortifying to Mr. Whelpley. Mr. Leland having said this, proceeded in his sermon as he had proposed before the shower.

From The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travels, and Sufferings of Elias Smith, pp. 224-225

To day, in paradise

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Some theologians, feeling the weight of the statement of Jesus to the thief,[i] reorganize the wording as “Verily I say unto thee to day, Thou thou be with me in paradise” (that is, moving the comma after “to day” so to change today to referring to when Jesus made the statement, rather than when the thief would be in paradise). The purpose is to diffuse the strength of Jesus taking the thief with him to paradise on the very day he made the statement. They want to deflect to the idea that Jesus is just saying it today, not that the thief will be in paradise today.

To put the comma after “To day” would be an odd way to speak. When I am telling you something today, I do not have to tell you that I am telling you today. What other day would you be saying it? Translators consistently put the comma before “To day.” Every Bible translation at Bible Gateway that I looked at (even some other than English) has the verse translated in such a way to mean that “to day” refers to when the thief would be in paradise. In some translations, the comma does not come into play due to how the sentences are written. Further, the usage of semeron (σήμερον, today) in Luke demonstrates the same. When there is a quote, semeron (today) goes with the verb in the quote – not with the verb “said” before the quote (in other words, referencing the day on which something significant is happening). See Luke 5:26, 19:5, 19:9 for other examples in Luke. Compare also Mark 14:30, Hebrews 3:7, 3:15, and James 4:13 for other New Testament uses. The word “today” is an adverb that goes with the quote to tell when concerning the statement in the quote. It does not go with “I say” as if telling when “I say” it. The use of “Today I say,....” is not found in the New Testament.

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[i] Most often, the objectors are those who do not believe in the immortality of the soul and/or the immediacy of paradise. For example, the Jehovah’s Witness New World Translation changes the verse to fit their theology: ‘And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.’” Notice, for example, how the incident of the death Stephen fits the theology of Luke 23, with the believer being received by Christ upon death (Acts 7:55-60). Others seem to fear a supposed contradiction between Luke 23:43 and John 20:17, and run from it in this manner (i.e., changing the comma in Luke 23:43).

Reverse engineering a Greek text

• reverse engineer. To examine or analyze in detail to discover the concepts involved in creating something, usually in order to produce something similar.
• back translate. To translate a previously translated document or text back to its source language.

These two terms above are often used to describe a misconception some people have concerning the creation of The New Testament in the Original Greek compiled by F. H. A. Scrivener in 1881.

Reverse engineered is preferable to back translated for this description. The term “reverse engineered” means or can mean something different than “back translated” – and perhaps is understood differently by some people discussing the subject. However, the average person talking about the King James Bible means basically the same thing when using these terms. People have a misconception of the relationship of the Scrivener TR and the KJV. For that reason, the use of “reverse engineered” is still likely to be misunderstood and confusing. It is somewhat problematic to try to come up with a simple terminology that would acceptably and accurately represent the relationship of the Scrivener Greek New Testament and the King James English translation, since the idea has been corrupted in the minds of many people (sometimes deliberately so, and add to that the acrimony often fueled by such discussions). The title given by Scrivener and/or Cambridge is: “The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorised Version…”

Reverse engineered may in fact be apt and accurate if what the person means by it is apt and accurate. Nevertheless, the number of people who regularly and consistently use “back translated” and “reverse engineered” to mean the same thing makes it problematic. Ultimately, people will often spend more time explaining what they mean by the term than they will spend if they start out with “the Original Greek according to the Text followed in the Authorized Version” and then describe and explain what F. H. A. Scrivener did. (Not that we can solve everyone’s inability or refusal to understand.)

Even someone so reasonable as Dwayne Green puts “back translated” and “reverse engineered” in “almost” the same category in his video “Why Scrivener Reverse Engineered the Textus Receptus.” “So the 1881 text of the Textus Receptus has actually been sort of – I don’t want to say back translated but you could almost say back translated from the King James Version.” (At about 25 seconds into the video). Interestingly, according to the transcript (if accurate) Dwayne actually used “reverse engineered” only once in his lesson, and used “back translated” three times. Back translated is used both in the introduction and the conclusion. (I am not saying that Dwayne did not explain it properly in the video, but am using the video as an example of why I even avoid “reverse engineered.” Even in the end of it he says, “I’d always wondered about what he was doing when he back translated the King James Version into the Textus Receptus…” I would wonder, if he had it to do over again, if Dwayne might approach that differently. The fact that Dwayne made another video clarifying his position strengthens the point I am trying to make.)

To conclude – the popular idea is that F. H. A. Scrivener took the Authorised King James Bible translation in English and translated those words back into Greek. That is a misrepresentation, whether in ignorance or deliberate.

In his “Preface,” F. H. A. Scrivener wrote:

“One of the Rules laid down for the guidance of the Revisers by a Committee appointed by the Convocation of Canterbury was to the effect ‘that, when the Text adopted differs from that from which the Authorised Version was made, the alteration be indicated in the margin.’ As it was found that a literal observance of this direction would often crowd and obscure the margin of the Revised Version, the Revisers judged that its purpose might be better carried out in another manner.” (Part of this “another manner,” was to compile and print “the text followed in the Authorized Version.”)

Here are the facts. The translators commissioned by King James created an English translation. They did not create a Greek translation to match their English translation. F. H. A. Scrivener was given the task of compiling a Greek text that would contain the Greek Textus Receptus readings used by the translators. The translators did not use one single Greek edition, but primarily used the 1598 Theodore Beza Greek New Testament. Therefore, Scrivener started with Beza’s 1598 Greek edition as a base text, then carefully identified places where the KJV translators used readings different from Beza’s edition. He searched texts and found these different readings in other editions of Greek New Testaments. In this task, F. H. A. Scrivener did not translate anything. We can say he “reverse engineered,” in that he began with the King James translation and worked backward. Nevertheless, I recommend even avoiding the terminology “reverse engineered” – because many people who hear it hear “back translated” (and their idea is that Scrivener took the KJV and translated the English words into Greek.) Just start with the hard work of explaining what you mean, which will probably be easier and more successful in the long run.

If ye love me, keep my commandments

David M. Ramsey recalled the following words, as spoken by the Baptist preacher E. R. Carswell, before baptizing several candidates in the Rocky River, Anderson County, South Carolina.

“And then, closing the book, the preacher said something like this: ‘Our Lord must have walked some forty miles across the desert country to come down to the Jordan to be baptized by John in the river. Jesus, calm and silent and unrecognized, had been working in the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth, but now he leaves these duties to enter upon his vast labors as the World’s Redeemer. First he must be baptized in the Jordan. Here stands his baptism on the threshold of his life-work. It was a solemn hour and tender experience, for Jesus Himself said it was necessary for him to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. I know not all the deep meaning of that utterance. By example and precept he has taught us that it is our duty to be baptized, and I think if we love him it should be pleasant to keep his commandments.”

Excerpted from Baptist Why and Why Not, pp. 399-400.

The hour of my departure’s come

The following hymn is “Hymn V” of five hymns included in the back of Translations and Paraphrases, in Verse, of Several Passages of Sacred Scripture. Collected and Prepared by a Committee of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, in order to be sung in Churches (Edinburgh: J. Dickson, 1781). This book addresses in its “Advertisement” the movement in the Church of Scotland to include singing more Scripture in addition to the Psalms, first publishing something in the year 1745.

“…it has been the general sentiment of devout persons, that it would be of advantage to enlarge the Psalmody in public worship, by joining with the Psalms of David some other passages of Scripture, both from the Old and the New Testament…”

These words below were (apparently) written by Michael Bruce. He was the son of a Scottish weaver. Bruce was born March 27, 1746 at Kinrossshire in Scotland, March 27, 1746. He studied at Edinburgh University, and there met John Logan (1748-1788). He studied at the Theological Hall of the Associate Synod under John Swanston. His purpose was to enter the ministry, but he died of consumption at age 21 on July 5, 1767, before fulfilling that purpose. He was buried at Portmoak Churchyard Kinross, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

There let me sleep forgotten in the clay,

When death shall shut these weary aching eyes,

Rest in the hopes of an eternal day,

Till the long night’s gone, and the last morn arise.

Michael Bruce wrote poetry and hymns. Several of his poems were published posthumously under the title Poems on Several Occasions (Edinburgh: J. Robertson, 1770). This hymn is fitting for his circumstance, but for all of us as well. When God calls, when the hour of our departure’s come, may we gladly hear and answer his call and depart to him in peace.

1. The hour of my departure’s come;
I hear the voice that calls me home;
At last, O Lord! let trouble cease,
And let thy servant die in peace.

2. The race appointed I have run;
The combat’s o’er, the prize is won;
And now my witness is on high,
And now my record’s in the sky.

3. Not in mine innocence I trust;
I bow before thee in the dust;
And through my Saviour’s blood alone
I look for mercy at thy throne.

4. I leave the world without a tear,
Save for the friends I held so dear;
To heal their sorrows, Lord, descend,
And to the friendless prove a friend.

5. I come, I come, at thy command,
I give my spirit to thy hand;
Stretch forth thine everlasting arms,
And shield me in the last alarms.

6. The hour of my departure’s come;
I hear the voice that calls me home:
Now, O my God! let trouble cease,
Now let thy servant die in peace.

An unfortunate controversy (which apparently is still debated) surrounds this hymn, is explained by John Julian (A Dictionary of Hymnology, Volume 1, 1907, pp. 187-189).

The names of Michael Bruce and John Logan are brought together because of the painful controversy which has long prevailed concerning the authorship of certain Hymns and Paraphrases of Holy Scripture which are in extensive use in the Christian Church both at home and abroad. During the latter years of Bruce’s short life he wrote various Poems, and also Hymns for a singing class at Kinnesswood, which were well known to his family and neighbours, and were eventually copied out by Bruce himself in a quarto ms. book, with the hope that some day he might see them in print. Immediately upon his death, in 1767, Logan called upon his father and requested the loan of this book that he might publish the contents for the benefit of the family. This was granted. Not till three years afterwards did a certain work, containing seventeen poems, and entitled Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce, 1770, appear, with a Preface in which it was stated that some of the Poems were by others than Bruce. Bruce’s father immediately pointed out the absence from the volume of certain hymns which he called his son’s “Gospel Sonnets,” and members of the singing class at Kinnesswood also noted the absence of hymns with which they were familiar. Letters of remonstrance and demands for the return of the quarto manuscript book of Bruce by the father remaining unanswered, led him eventually to see Logan in person. No book was forthcoming, a few scraps of ms. only were returned, and Logan accounted for the absence of the book by saying he feared “that the servants had singed fowls with it.” For a time the matter rested here, only to be revived with renewed interest by the publication, in 1781 (14 years after the death of Bruce, and 11 after the Poems, &c, were issued), of Poems. By the Rev. Mr. Logan, One of the Ministers of Leith. In this volume, an “Ode to the Cuckoo,” a poem of exquisite beauty, and other poetical pieces which appeared in the Poems on Several Occasions, by Michael Bruce, were repeated, and claimed as his own by Logan. In addition, certain Hymns and Paraphrases were included, most of which were of sterling merit, and poetical excellence. It has been shown, we think, most conclusively by Dr. Mackelvie in his Life of Bruce prefixed to the Poems, 1837 and by Dr. Grosart in his Works of M. Bruce, 1865, that the “Ode to the Cuckoo,” “Lochleven,” and other poetical pieces were taken from ms. book of M. Bruce. The Hymns and Paraphrases, most of which were included in the Translations and Paraphrases during the same year, were also claimed for Bruce...

Julian’s conclusion was that certain hymns were without doubt written by Bruce rather than Logan, while some others were unclear. For those that were unclear, including “The hours of my departure’s come” (which he said Dr. Grosart claims for Bruce), Julian (seemingly somewhat reluctantly) gave to Logan “as the defendant” on “the benefit of the doubt.” Some publications solve the problem (or avoid the issue) by simply crediting it to the book Scottish Paraphrases. I come down on the side of Michael Bruce.

This hymn does not seem to have become associated with any one particular tune. Being in Long Meter, it will not be hard for one to choose a good hymn to sing it with. In The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book, for Public Worship (Philadelphia, PA: American Baptist Publication Society, 1871), music editor John M. Evans set it below the tune Rest by William B. Bradbury.

3 Views of Baptist Origins

“A Roundtable Discussion on Baptist Origins” in The Journal of Baptist Studies, Volume 3 (2009) contains articles representing three different historical views of the origin of Baptists.

• The Successionism View of Baptist History, by James R. Duval -- “There is an identity problem among present-day Baptists and the gulf seems to be widening.”
• The Spiritual Kinship Theory of Baptist Origins, by W. Glenn Jonas Jr -- “The spiritual kinship theory was a type of Baptist successionism although different than Landmarkism.”
• A Brief Defense of the English Separatist Origins of Modern Baptists, by James M. Renihan -- “The question of Baptist origins is like a carpet worn thin from more than a century of debate and discussion.”

Baptizing babies (or not) in the first century

I recently heard a Roman Catholic apologist make the statement below about infant baptism. He was referencing the lack of early historical evidence for infant baptism; and the possibility that the apostles’ did not institute the practice “because of how baptism is described in the writings of the first 150 years of church history.” He said:

“Most of the apostles would have died before most Christians were born from Christian parents rather than being converts to the faith as adults.” (Trent Horn)

I found that statement unbelievably astounding from an intelligent academic theologian and debater. I may be a little simple, but it seems to me within the realm of logic that any average Christian couple could have a baby within nine months of their conversion. No need for most of the apostles to be dead. (Certainly, this is not the sole argument he makes on the subject, but it was one that he made that I could not believe he made.)

Research on James Robert McEwin

James Robert McEwin was a songwriter and singing school teacher who seems to mysteriously disappear after about 1902-03. McEwin was born in Texas in 1868, the son of William McEwin and Catherine Reynolds of Lamar County, Texas. He married Elizabeth Ledbetter in 1897 in Jack County, Texas. In 1899 he was a vocal music teacher, also organizing a string band. The McEwin family was living in Jack County in 1900, when the U. S. Federal census was taken. J. R. is listed as a “teacher of music.” He was active in teaching Eureka Normal Music Schools. Here’s a link showing one of his advertisements (Jacksboro Gazette, August 16, 1900), advertising with S. J. Oslin in the summer of 1900, at Post Oak, in Jack County:

J. R. McEwin and his wife divorced in 1905. A divorce was granted and she was given custody of the children (Jacksboro Gazette, September 21, 1905, p. 3). She remarried, to Benjamin Franklin Page. However, what happened to J. R. McEwin? Perhaps he died before the 1910 census, or perhaps he will turn up elsewhere? There is one story that he was accidentally killed in Arkansas, that he was mistaken for someone else.

It seems that J. R. McEwin was very active at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s, then just disappears. In her divorce suit in 1905 (Jacksboro News, August 3, 1905, p. 5), Lizzie McEwin claimed she had not had not seen or communicated with J. R. McEwin since February 25, 1901. He is listed as an associate compiler on Songs of Glory No. 2, by J. S. Torbett, which must have first been printed in 1902. Even if he and his wife divorced, it seems that he should show up somewhere in a census, in newspapers about teaching singing schools, or in publishing more books somewhere. This could lend credence to the story about his being accidentally killed in Arkansas.

This McEwin family site gives a possible story of what happened to J. R. McEwin, as well as a picture:

“James Robert McEwin was born about 1868 and died after 1895. He was a music teacher. He was killed in Arkansas, according to a family story. Annie McEwin, the widow of Edgar McEwin reported that James was mistaken for someone else and shot as he got off a train. His belongings were shipped back to his brother, John, whose family had them for a long time afterwards. John was Annie McEwin’s father-in-law.”

If this link works properly, it will show 16 times that J. R. McEwin is mentioned in The Musical Million periodical. (The later ones are simply his name included in continuing advertisements for Songs of Glory No. 2.) Perhaps some day the conclusion of his story will be revealed.

Bad news and Good news

As someone has well said, “There can be no good news until we first accept the bad news.” The bad news is that man is a habitual hereditary sinner separated from God.

• heart is evil (Genesis 8:21; Jeremiah 17:9)
• gone aside, filthy, not good (Psalm 14:3; Romans 3)
• righteousnesses are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)
• spiritually sick (Luke 5:31-32)
• rebellious children (Isaiah 30:1; Luke 15:11-32)
• lost (Luke 15:24; 19:10)
• in darkness (Acts 26:18)
• under the power of Satan (Acts 26:18)
• God’s enemies (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
• servants of sin (Romans 6:22)
• influenced and led astray by dumb idols (1 Corinthians 12:2)
• spiritually blind (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)
• slaves to those who by nature are not gods (Galatians 4:8)
• dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5)
• by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3)
• having darkened understanding (Ephesians 4:18)
• separated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:18)
• were darkness (Ephesians 5:8)
• under the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13)
• alienated from God (Colossians 1:21)
• enemies of God (Colossians 1:21)
• idol worshippers (1 Thessalonians 1:9)
• subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:15)
• not a people; had not obtained mercy (1 Peter 2:10)
• sheep going astray (1 Peter 2:25)

The good news is “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).

[Note: This list inspired and developed from a list started by Bill Muehlenberg.]

Why Become a Baptist

David M. Ramsey, brought up in a strict Presbyterian household, left his home in Greenville County, South Carolina around 1875 to attend high school at the Carswell Institute in Anderson County, South Carolina. The principal of the school was a young Baptist preacher, E. R. Carswell.

“Soon after I entered the Carswell institute, the young Baptist preacher in a spirit of pleasantry asked his Presbyterian pupil for a good text for a sermon on infant baptism which he intended to preach the following Sunday, stipulating to use the very strongest one favoring this custom which might be produced. The terms were agreed to and at once the search began in good earnest. The boy chuckled over the embarrassing predicament which the preacher and congregation would find themselves in the next Sunday.

“But soon the subject became distressingly serious. One of the first passages turned to of course was, ‘But Jesus said suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ To my surprise there was not a word here about any kind of baptism. The Baptist minister could do all this for his own babe next Sunday at the close of his sermon, if he thinks there is nothing sacrilegious in a poor mortal man’s imitating the Divine Redeemer in bestowing a blessing. So one after another of the familiar passages were examined with similar results. The household baptisms mentioned in the New Testament failed me for they possessed no remotest hint that infants were present. On the contrary, I remember very distinctly that in every case studied in my crude way the startling fact came out prominently that there was proof that each one baptized had previously exercised faith for himself. The concordance was patiently consulted but no relief came. About Friday the preacher insisted on having his text. I think now that there was in his eye a twinkle of almost cruel pleasure over my discomfiture and awkwardness as I made my lame excuses of absence from books and counseling friends, lack of time, etc. With the assurance on my part that he should hear from me again on this subject, the preacher was left to select his own text according to his liking.”

The Baptist principal’s experiment struck its mark. Over time the Presbyterian youth gave in to the Bible’s teaching and the Spirit’s conviction, became a Baptist and surrendered to the ministry. Excerpted from Baptist Why and Why Not, pp. 395-396.

Our Mortal State

Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

The following hymn by Isaac Watts is the “Sixth Part” of his paraphrase of Psalm 89 “verse 47, &c.” which he called “Mortality and Hope.—A Funeral Psalm.” It was published in The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. The name makes clear the intent, to warn of the mortality of man – life how short and frail – but to also point to the hope that is found in Jesus Christ and his resurrection! The subtitle suggests this as an appropriate song or reading at a funeral.

1. Remember, Lord, our mortal state;
How frail our life! how short the date!
Where is the man that draws his breath,
Safe from disease, secure from death?

2. Lord, while we see whole nations die,
Our flesh and sense repine and cry;
Must death for ever rage and reign?
Or, hast thou made mankind in vain?

3. Where is the promise to the just?
Are not thy servants turned to dust?
But faith forbids these mournful sighs,
And sees the sleeping dust arise.

4. That glorious hour, that dreadful day
Wipes the reproach of saints away,
And clears the honour of thy word;
Awake our souls, and bless the Lord.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748) was an English independent (dissenting) minister, theologian, and hymn writer. Because of his prolific, original, and splendid poetry, he has been designated the “Father of English hymnody.” Watts was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England in 1674. He served as a pastor at the Mark Lane Congregational Chapel in London from about 1702 to 1712, but resigned due to poor health. He accepted an invitation from Sir Thomas Abney and Lady Mary Abney to live in Stoke Newington, where he remained the rest of his life.

In addition to hymns (for which he is best remembered), Watts also wrote on theology and logic. He died in 1748, in Stoke Newington and was buried in Bunhill Fields. Some of his best-known hymns include “Joy to the World,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past.”

The hymn is Long Meter and the recommended tune in some later printings of Watts’s “Psalms of David” is Pleyel’s (but apparently not the Pleyel’s we know in Sacred Harp, since it is a different meter). In The Sacred Harp 1991 Edition, two stanzas of this hymn were paired with the new tune Granville, written by Sacred Harp singer Judy Hauff of Chicago, Illinois.

Which service?

A pastor was at his church house one weekday morning looking around. He heard a noise out in the foyer and he went out to see what it was. He saw a little boy looking around at everything. So the preacher said, “Son, would you like me to show you around our building?”

The little boy replied, “I sure would!” 

The preacher began to show the boy around. They came to a place in a hallway where there was a plaque. The plaque had a lot of names on it. The little boy asked, “Who, who are all these people?” 

The pastor answered, “Those are the names of the ones who died in the service.”

The little boy looked very puzzled. He thought awhile and finally he asked, “Was that the morning service or the evening service?”

Probably some good information to know!

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More John Leland

Captain Abner Lee, who lived near Lyme, Massachusetts, would have meetings in his house. He would bring in seats and a moveable pulpit. On one occasion he had Elder John Leland preach in his house, Captain Lee “said to Mr. Leland, ‘I do not know as you can put up with our wooden pulpit.’ He made no reply, but began his meeting. After preaching a while, he had occasion to notice the preaching the people had in old times; and noticed the difference between that and the popular doctrines of the day in which he lived. ‘In the days of the apostles, said he, they had wooden pulpits and golden preaching but now they have golden pulpits and wooden preaching. Give me a wooden pulpit and golden preaching, rather than golden pulpits and wooden preaching!”

From The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travels, and Sufferings of Elias Smith, p. 227

John 13:1-17, Matthew Henry

What follows is four points on John 13:1-17, by the old English commentator Matthew Henry. In the past I have referred to these points by Henry for teaching/preaching on this passage. I believe they are helpful, and share them here for your edification.

I. Christ washed his disciples’ feet that he might give a proof of that great love wherewith he loved them; loved them to the end, vs. 1-2.

II. Christ washed his disciples’ feet that he might give an instance of his own wonderful humility, and show how lowly and condescending he was, and let all the world know how low he could stoop in love to his own. This is intimated, vs. 3-5.

III. Christ washed his disciples’ feet that he might signify to them spiritual washing, and the cleansing of the soul from the pollutions of sin. This is plainly intimated in his discourse with Peter upon it, vs. 6-11

IV. Christ washed his disciples’ feet to set before us an example. This explication he gave of what he had done, when he had done it, vs. 12-17.

Search After Happiness

I found the following in some old files, which I apparently wrote in June of 2020.

The Search After Happiness

The following hymn is an excerpt from A Search After Happiness: A Pastoral in Three Dialogues, written by “A Young Lady” (Hannah More), in 1762/1773.[1] In the second edition, the title was changed to The Search After Happiness: A Pastoral Drama, and this portion of the poem was expanded to seven 4-line stanzas.[2] The poem/hymn as used in The Sacred Harp and other shape-note books has some word changes, and only six stanzas (the third stanza is not used).

In later printings, the “Preface” explains the purpose of the “Pastoral Drama”:

The object of the following Poem, which was written in very early youth, was an earnest wish to furnish a substitute for the very improper custom, which then prevailed, of allowing plays, and those not always of the purest kind, to be acted by young Ladies in boarding schools. And it has afforded a serious satisfaction to the Author to learn that this little Poem, and likewise the Sacred Dramas, have very frequently been adopted to supply the place of those more dangerous amusements. If it may be still happily instrumental in promoting a regard to Religion and Virtue in the minds of young persons, and afford them an innocent, and perhaps not altogether unuseful, amusement in the exercise of recitation, the end for which it was originally composed, and the author’s utmost wish in its re-publication, will be fully answered.

In the drama this portion is sung by the character Florella, a young shepherdess.

1. While beauty and youth are in their full prime,
And folly and fashion affect our whole time;
O let not the phantom our wishes engage,
Let us live so in youth that we blush not in age.
 
2. The vain and the young may attend us a while,
But let not their flattery our prudence beguile;
Let us covet those charms that shall never decay
Nor listen to all that deceivers can say.
 
3. I sigh not for beauty, nor languish for wealth,
But grant me, kind Providence, virtue and health;
Then richer than kings, and far happier than they,
My days shall pass swiftly and sweetly away.
 
4. For when age steals on me, and youth is no more,
And the moralist Time shakes his glass at my door,
What pleasure in beauty or wealth can I find?
My beauty, my wealth, is a sweet peace of mind.
 
5. That peace! I’ll preserve it as pure as ’twas given
Shall last in my bosom an earnest of heaven;
For Virtue and Wisdom can warm the cold scene,
And sixty can flourish as gay as sixteen.
 
6. And when I the burden of life shall have borne,
And death with his sickle shall cut the ripe corn,
Reascend to my God without murmur or sigh,
I’ll bless the kind summons, and lie down and die.

The third stanza that Florella sings is:

How the tints of the rose, and the jess’mine’s perfume,[3]
The eglantine’s fragrance, the lilac’s gay bloom,
Tho’ fair and tho’ fragrant, unheeded may lie,
For that neither is sweet when Florella is by.

This is the stanza not used in songbooks. The other six stanzas are used with the tune Morality, number 136 in The Sacred Harp. It is in other shape-note tune books as well, such as The Southern Harmony. It can be found on YouTube sung at Waycross Primitive Baptist Church.

Hannah More was born February 2, 1745 in the village of Fishponds in Gloucestershire. She was a daughter of Jacob and Mary Grace More. He was a schoolmaster. She was taught by her father, then attended a girls’ school of her oldest sister Mary. Hannah later taught at the school, and wrote A Search After Happiness circa 1762.[4] She left teaching and earned most of her living through writing. After a religious conversion she became close friends of John Newton and& William Wilberforce. She was one of the most successful writers of her time. She died September 7, 1833 and is buried at All Saints Churchyard in Somerset, England.

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[1] A Search After Happiness: A Pastoral in Three Dialogues, A Young Lady, Bristol: S. Farley, 1773, pp. 30-31. The “Advertisement” in the Google version purported to be printed in 1773 strongly suggests that this is the first printed/book version of A Search After Happiness.
[2] The first printed version had 26 lines rather than 28 lines.
[3] The first version appears to have jessamine (jess’mine’s), while later versions change this to “jasmine.”

[4] The scan of the book at Google Books does not have a date printed, but it is believed to be from around 1762. However, Google Books dates it as 1766.

Going nowhere

“How many times we have heard a Preacher announce a text, and then immediately depart from it on an excursion over land and sea, and never come back to the text again. When the sermon is over we feel like saying what Mandy said to Sam after he had ridden the merry-go-round at the circus for one solid hour: ‘Sam, you’ve been gone an hour and spent a whole dollar, but you ain’t been nowhere!’ My father used to tell of a deacon who slipped a note on the preacher’s pulpit saying ‘Stick to your text—and some of it will stick to us.’ To advertise a text and then ignore it is fraudulent advertising!”

M. R. DeHaan, Bread For Each Day, Zondervan, 1962, June 30