HymnPod

William Rees was known as a preach­er and lec­tur­er, po­et, no­vel­ist, as­tron­o­mer and po­li­ti­cal think­er, Rees pas­tored in Li­ver­pool for over 30 years.

This wonderful hymn is a Welsh revival hymn. It speaks of the great and wonderful love of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners like me. Only through his precious blood can we be forgiven of our sins. Amen.

I would like to specially thank Roy and family for first introducing us to this hymn at last year’s church camp. Thanks for all the friendship and fellowship that we can enjoy in Christ.

Words: William Rees
Music: Robert Lowry

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

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Lyrics: Jeremiah E Rankin
Music: William G Tomer

The hymn is written as a Christian good-bye, it was called forth by no per­son or oc­ca­sion, but was de­lib­er­ate­ly com­posed as a Christ­ian hymn on the ba­sis of the ety­mol­o­gy of “good-bye,” which is “God be with you.” The author Jeremiah Rankin recounts: “It was sung for the first time one ev­en­ing in the First Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church in Wash­ing­ton, of which I was then the pas­tor and Mr. Bis­choff the org­an­ist.”

This hymn is specially for Daniel Sim who will be leaving for a student exchange program for six months at Holland. God Be With Thee. Amen.

God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we we meet again.

Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
‘Neath His wings protecting hide you,
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you,
Put His arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
Smite death’s threat’ning wave before you;
God be with you till we we meet again.

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Just as I Am is a well-known hymn, written by Charlotte Elliott in 1835, first appearing in the Christian Remembrancer, of which Elliott became the editor in 1836. The final verse is taken from Elliott’s Hours of Sor­row Cheered and Com­fort­ed (1836).

This hymn reminds us of our acceptance in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jn 6:37 says: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Once we are saved, we are always saved. Amen.

Lyrics: Charlotte Elliot
Music: William B Bradbury

Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, tho’ tossed about
With many many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind:
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am- Thy love unknown
Hath broken ev’ry barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

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Daniel Webster Whittle and James McGranahan, author and composer of this hymn, supplied many other choice gospel songs, including “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing,” “The Banner of the Cross,” and “Christ Liveth in Me.” Whittle was a Civil War veteran who accompanied Union general William Sherman on his march through Georgia. At the close of the war Whittle was promoted to the rank of major and was thereafter known as Major Whittle. After the war he returned to Chicago, where he became treasurer of the Elgin Watch Company. In 1873, at the urging of D. L. Moody, the major left his successful position to become an evangelist. He enjoyed a most effective ministry for the rest of his life. He was ably assisted musically by P.P. Bliss and later James McGranahan. Many of Whittle’s hymns bear the pseudonym “El Nathan.” The piece “I Know Whom I Have Believed” is known by that name.

This is a lovely hymn that reminds us of our confidence in Christ. Indeed, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has loved us, redeemed us, and keeps us safe till the end. Amen.

Lyrics: Daniel W Whittle
Music: James McGranahan

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.

Refrain:
But “I know Whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”

I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.

I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.

I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.

I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.

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Lyrics and Music: Seth and Bessie Sykes

The Evangelists Seth & Bessie Sykes were well-known in Springburn, the U.K, and even in the United States. In 1929 Seth, who was a tram conductor, resigned in 1929, and both of them travelled to mission churches throughout the length an breadth of Britain with a barrel organ, singing, preaching the gospel and retelling stories from the Bible with lantern slides.

This is a favourite hymn amongst residents of Ju Eng Home Singapore. It reminds to be thankful to our God and creator who provides and sustains our lives. Through this Chinese New Year, let us remember the LORD who is the true provider of peace, harmony and prosperity. Amen.

Some thank the Lord for friends and home
For mercies sure and sweet
But I would praise Him for his grace
In prayer I would repeat

Refrain:
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free

Some thank Him for the flow’rs that grow
Some for the stars that shine
My heart is filled with joy and praise
Because I know He’s mine

I trust in Him from day to day
I prove His saving grace
I’ll sing this song of praise to Him
Until I see His face

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Jesus Bids us Shine is a children’s hymn with words by Susan Bogert Warner (1819-1885) and music by Edwin Othello Excell (1851-1921). It was first published in the children’s magazine The Little Corporal in 1868.

This children’s hymn is a favourite of Pastor Patrick Tan from Ebenezer BP Church, Melbourne, Australia. I would like to dedict this rendition of this hymn to him. God Bless.

Lyrics: Susan Warner
Music: Edwin O Excell

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine, first of all for Him;
Well He sees and knows it if our light is dim;
He looks down from heaven, sees us shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine, then, for all around,
Many kinds of darkness in this world abound:
Sin, and want, and sorrow-we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

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Elvina Hall (1822-1899) wrote the words to “Jesus Paid It All.” It was initially played as an organ tune. The story is that she was sitting in church one Sunday, listening to the sermon, when her mind drifted from what the preacher was talking about. He had been talking about all the Jesus had done for us, and her mind drifted to “all” that Jesus had done for her. Elvina first married a man from Virginia, but was widowed. Afterward, she married a Methodist minister, Thomas Meyer, and moved to Baltimore, Maryland. She was a member of the Monument Street Methodist church for forty years. It was during her time at this church that she wrote the words to the organ hymn “Jesus Paid It All.”

We cannot save ourselves by our good works. We need the grace that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sins on the cross with His own precious blood. Amen.

Lyrics: Elvina M Hall
Music: John T Grape

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat.

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This hymn has a good solid melody. I read somewhere that it was a favourite amongst the American presidents. This hymn was sung at the fun­er­als of Amer­i­can pres­i­dents The­o­dore Roo­se­velt and Wood­row Wil­son.

The surest foundation we have is the Lord Jesus and His Word. Amen.

Lyrics: “K” in Rippon’s Selection of Hymns
Music: American Melody

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said-
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

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The author of this hymn writes on how this hymn came about as follows:

There was a wo­man to whom God had per­mit­ted ma­ny vi­sit­a­tions of sor­row and af­flict­ion. Com­ing to her home one day, I found her much dis­cour­aged. She un­bur­dened her heart, con­cluding with the quest­ion, “Bro­ther Hoff­man, what shall I do?” I quot­ed from the word, then add­ed, “You can­not do bet­ter than to take all of your sor­rows to Je­sus. You must tell Jesus.”

For a mo­ment she seemed lost in med­i­ta­tion. Then her eyes light­ed as she ex­claimed, “Yes, I must tell Je­sus.” As I left her home I had a vi­sion of that joy-il­lum­in­at­ed face…and I heard all along my path­way the echo, “I must tell Je­sus. I must tell Je­sus.”

Hoffman wrote these words after reach­ing home.

This great hymn reminds us of the need to rely on our wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, in each and every situation and trial in life. May the Lord help us. Amen.

Lyrics and Music: Elisha A Hoffman

I must tell Jesus all of my trials,
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me,
He ever loves and cares for His own.

Refrain:
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.

I must tell Jesus all of my troubles,
He is a kind, compassionate Friend;
If I but ask Him He will deliver,
Make of my troubles quickly an end.

Tempted and tried I need a great Savior,
One who can help my burdens to bear;
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus:
He all my cares and sorrows will share.

O how the world to evil allures me!
O how my heart is tempted to sin!
I must tell Jesus, and He will help me
Over the world the vict’ry to win.

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This hymn was written by Joseph Gilmore who has the following account of how this hymn was written.

As a young man who re­cent­ly had been grad­u­at­ed from Brown Un­i­ver­si­ty and New­ton The­o­lo­gic­al In­sti­tu­tion, I was sup­ply­ing for a cou­ple of Sun­days the pul­pit of the First Bap­tist Church in Phil­a­del­phia [Penn­syl­van­ia]. At the mid-week ser­vice, on the 26th of March, 1862, I set out to give the peo­ple an ex­po­si­tion of the Twen­ty-third Psalm, which I had giv­en be­fore on three or four oc­ca­sions, but this time I did not get fur­ther than the words “He Lead­eth Me.” Those words took hold of me as they had ne­ver done be­fore, and I saw them in a sig­ni­fi­cance and won­drous beau­ty of which I had ne­ver dreamed.

It was the dark­est hour of the Ci­vil War. I did not re­fer to that fact-that is, I don’t think I did-but it may sub­con­sciou­sly have led me to real­ize that God’s lead­er­ship is the one sig­nif­i­cant fact in hu­man ex­per­i­ence, that it makes no dif­fer­ence how we are led, or whi­ther we are led, so long as we are sure God is lead­ing us.

At the close of the meet­ing a few of us in the par­lor of my host, good Dea­con Watt­son, kept on talk­ing about the thought which I had em­pha­sized; and then and there, on a blank page of the brief from which I had in­tend­ed to speak, I pen­ciled the hymn, talk­ing and writ­ing at the same time, then hand­ed it to my wife and thought no more about it. She sent it to The Watch­man and Re­flect­or, a pa­per pub­lished in Bos­ton, where it was first print­ed. I did not know un­til 1865 that my hymn had been set to mu­sic by Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry. I went to Ro­ches­ter [New York] to preach as a can­di­date be­fore the Se­cond Bap­tist Church. Go­ing in­to their cha­pel on ar­riv­al in the ci­ty, I picked up a hymn­al to see what they were sing­ing, and opened it at my own hymn, “He Lead­eth Me.”

He Leadeth Me is one of my personal favourites. A verse that comes to mine is Pr3:5-6 which says “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” May God lead us through the highways and byways of life till we reach the heavenly gates. Amen.

Lyrics: Joseph H Gilmore
Music: William B Bradbury

He leadeth me! O blessed thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I  be
Still tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Refrain:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful foll’wer I would be
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom
By waters still, o’er troubled sea
Still tis God’s hand that leadeth me!

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine
Nor ever murmur nor repine
Content, whatever lot I see
Since tis my God that leadeth me!

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee
Since God thru Jordan leadeth me.

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