The beauty of Hymns...

I just listened to the most beautiful message on Revive Our Hearts w/ Nancy Leigh DeMoss. In it, she shares the story of Horatio Spafford: the man who penned the words to the great hymn, "It is Well With My Soul". I was once again reminded of why I love the old hymns....and it certainly isn't because of the ways I've heard them sung or played. (think, heavy organ, subdued singing, and slow, funeral-like tempo) The old hymns were forged by saints of old who had great faith and great trials. Growing up with hymns as the main musical "food" of worship created a culture in me and my family, and it's one I want to re-create w/ my own children.

This afternoon, I was sitting in my living room folding laundry,--having just "dealt" w/ my beloved 3 year old who was supposed to be taking a nap, but instead, decided to be creative and color himself from head to toe AND his bedroom walls. Thank goodness they were washable markers!--crying as I listened to Nancy DeMoss tell the full story of Horatio Spafford and his family. I was aware that "It is Well" was written soon after his 4 daughters had drown in the Atlantic Ocean, however, I was unaware of the trials that had come before, including the death of his 4 year old son and a great financial loss w/ his properties on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. His wife survived the ship-wreck, but watched as the waves swept her 4 daughters away from her. She too, would've drowned, except that a piece of floating debris supported her until she was rescued. Listening to Nancy read through the words of that hymn caused me to realize that although Horatio Spafford had experienced great loss, he turned his focus off of his grief, and onto what he knew to be true about Christ. "He was focusing on the redemptive work of God that makes every other suffering in life seem inconsequential by comparison, as huge as his loss was."

On another note, I was singing "How Firm A Foundation" during worship on Sunday and remembered when that hymn was burned into my memory at age 13. I attended a funeral of some new friends of ours who had just lost their 6 children in a vehicle accident. I still remember the faces of the family members as they sang that song. They were truly worshipping, in spite of their overwhelming loss. The verse, especially, that reminds me of that situation is the one that says,
"When through fiery trials, thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine."
That family was and is living out a fiery trial. 6 of their 9 children burned to death, in front of the parents...yet, they could still praise God? Wow. The 1st words out of the parents' mouths at the scene of that accident were verses from Psalm 34. I will always remember the effect that hymn had on me. Those words of that hymn were not sung in a half-hearted, memorized, mono-toned way. Those words were what those saints were living out!

There's a multitude of other hymns that have significant stories to be told. But, these are 2 that I've been thinking about recently. I'm also very aware of wanting to teach my children these hymns and the stories behind them. We're going to be singing for all eternity, right? Maybe not the same songs, but we might as well practice now. :)

"Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding.
God reigns over the heathen; God sits upon the throne of his holiness." Psalm 47

Singing hymns with the knowledge of who wrote them, and why, makes them more than "just a church song". Paying attention to the meaning of the words and the theology contained in the hymns, is what I believe Psalm 47 means, when it says to "sing w/ understanding" It's so easy to just sing memorized words, instead of really grasping the rich meaning and beauty of the old hymns. I was reminded of this recently, and thought I'd spill it out here, for ya'll to read. :)

~I was unable to copy and paste the story that Nancy DeMoss retold, but you can go to http://www.reviveourhearts.com/ and either read it or listen in. (the message was from, Tues. Nov 2)