The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-31


When the Poets Speak for Us
Terse Comments on the Uniform Pray
er Meeting Topic of the Young Peo-
pies Societies-Christian Endeavor,
etc-fof September 2: My Favor
tie Hymn Tell Why Psalms
S3:1-22.
The power of the poet consists in
his ability to say, in choicest words,
what other persons are also thinking.
A hymn especially has this quality of
collectiveness: it gathers up the as
pirations and sentiments of the hearts
of the many 1t is a curious thing
that we often do not realize our own
Hottest sentiments until the poet has
expressed them for us. We turn to
the Psalms, for example, and 10, all
the fervor and beauty and reliance
upon Jehovah and eagerness for holt
ness of those passionate utterances are
appropriated as our own. That is
why the reading or singing of hymns
is a first aid to devotion-and it is
also a sufficient reason why we should
guard well the character of our hymn
books so that no needless publisher
may foist mere doggerel and jingles
upon services of Christian worship.
Books of worship and ritual are
sometimes called COLLECTS one reason
being that they collect" or gather up.
the common devotion of all the people
This is an office of the hymn. 1t 10
EXPRESSION
tian heart The feelings of millions
meet in the words of the poet. Con-
slider how hundreds of millions of
yearning spirits have sung such hymns
as Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Abide
With Me- Rock of Ages" Lead,
Kindly Light To have written one
hymn that lives is life-work for any
body.
| When George Matheson. the blind
So n6
sweetheart when it became known
that he was to lose his sight, he PEN
ned the words that seem destined to
be immortal:
20 Love that will not let me go,
| / rest my weary soul in Thee;
| give Thee back the life / owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow,
May richer, fuller be.
80 Cross that lifted up my head,
1 dare not ask to fly from Thee;
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be-
.aThey learn in sorrow what they
| teach in song" il is said of the poets.
Out of the heartbreak of an obscure
| preacher, doomed to death by dis
ease, sprang the deathless hymn:
abide with me: fast falls the eventide
! The darkness deepens; Lord, with me
| abide;
When other helpers fail, and comforts, flee.
| Probably no poet ever knew which
of his lines were to enjoy deafness
fame. Some hymns have found
mission far beyond the design of their
writer's. Reginald Heber's From
Greenland's Icy Mountains was writ
ten for local church program with
no thought beyond the minutes need;
and so also was S. Barring Gouto s
Coward Christian Soldiers" Even
such noble hymns as Jesus, Lover of
My Soul and Rock of Ages orig
inally had a controversial purpose
Toplady wrote his great lines to con-
flute the uncalvinistic tendings Of tho
hymn, however, as he sings, like
homeward- bound bird:
Rock of Ages cleft for me.
Let hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
Il From Thy riven side which flowed.
Be of sin the double cure.- -. u
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
There are many and divers reasons
why the noble hymns of the church
should be memorized in youth; and
valid one is that the mothers of to-
morrow may have them stored up
/ against the day when little children
are to be sung to. That person has
missed something from his education
who does not cherish among his ear
lest and sweetest memories the sing
ing of the famous hymns of his own
mother. l have battlefield memories
| of soldiers craving, Jesus, Lover of
My Soul" and L have heard it sung
by many great congregations; but the
very mention of the hymn recalls il as
a mothers lullaby, sung to comfort a
: fretful child amid the thronging cares
: of home. 1 would rather have
penned Jesus, Lover of My Soul
! than to have preached all the SER
mons, written all the books and ex-
ercised all the leadership of John
Wesley:
"Other helpers have l none;
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ali leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed.
Ali my help from Thee | bring;
ii Cover my defenceless head
$ With the shadow of Thy wing"
Fanny Crosby lived and died blind
= and she was not wise, as the world
counts wisdom; but her vision of spir-
itual things was clear and unclouded
r 1 wonder how many persons, in the
presence of a glorious sunset, have re-
peated in their hearts Fannie Crosby
HneS;<
Some day, when sinks the golden sun.
Beneath the rosy tinted West,
Ny blessed Lord will say, Well done
3 And 1 shall enter into rest.
! And / shall see Him face to face.
t And tell the story, saved by grace
There are no creed lines in greai
: hymns 1t was a Unitarian who wrote
Nearer, My God to Thee" and Ro-
man Catholic to whom we owe Lead.
: Kindly Light" Yet these hymns are
! found in every evangelical Protestant
l hymn book, and are sung by peoples
! ! of all creeds, and of no creed, except
, the desire to know God.
One rare and unforgettable hight
, was travelling over the steep defiles
: of Mt. Carmel, in the Holy Land.
. There was danger from brigands and
L danger from the slipping of the
horses feet on the rocky slopes of
the interminable hills Nevertheless.
= above shone the wondrous clear
{ Syrian stars and all about me we're
5 ancient and sacred memories, SO
Y | cried aloud ev, hymn that / knew.