Each week, you may find information here about the music in the traditional worship services at First United Methodist Church in Lewisville, Texas. Some of this information is original; much of it is "borrowed" from other sources such as Wikipedia, GBOD, and hymnary.org. It is my hope that this information will enhance your understanding and enrich your worship experience.
About the Organ Music:
Forty Days and Forty Nights - H. Alexander Matthews
George Hunt Smyttan (1825-1870) was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, B.A. He took holy orders in 1848, and in 1850 became the Rectory of Hawksworth, Notts. He published Thoughts in Verse for the Afflicted, 1849; Mission Songs and Ballads, 1860; and Florum Sacra, n.d. Smyttan wrote three poems for Lent, one of which became this hymn. It was published in the March 1856 edition of The Penny Post and was revised five years later in Hymns Fitted to the Order of Common Prayer (1861), by Francis Pott. Smyttan moved in 1859 to Germany, where he died at Frankfurt-on-the-Main, unknown and friendless. He was buried in a pauper’s grave, and his name was entered in the burial registry only as “Smyttan, England.”
It is almost always set to the tune HEINLEIN (also called AUS DER TIEFE), first published in the Nürnbergisches Gesang-Buch (1676-77) and attributed to German composer Martin Herbst (1654-1681). Martin Herbst was born in Nürnberg, Germany, and became a Lutheran pastor. He served as rector for the school and pastor of the church at Eisleben in 1680 but died of the plague the following year, at age twenty-seven. This is one of three tunes attributed to Herbst.
Forty days and forty nights You were fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights Tempted, and yet undefiled.
Shall not we Your sorrow share And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer, Strong with You to suffer pain?
Then, if Satan on us press, Flesh or spirit to assail,
Victor in the wilderness, Grant we may not faint nor fail!
So shall we have peace divine; Holier gladness ours shall be.
'Round us, too, shall angels shine, Such as served You faithfully.
Keep, O keep us, Savior dear, Ever constant by Your side,
That with You we may appear At the eternal Eastertide.
Harvey Alexander Matthews (1879-1973) was organist and director at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. He published a number of choral and organ works.
The Cross, Our True and Only Hope - R. Cochrane Penick
Penick has set the German chorale “Die Tugend wird durchs Kreuz geubet”, a Lenten hymn of 10 verses written by Johann Nehring.
Johann Christian Nehring (1671-1736) studied medicine and theology at the University of Halle. In 1700 he became rector of the school at Essen, and, in 1703, inspector of the foundation scholars in the Orphanage at Halle. He was pastor of Neuendorf on the Petersberg, near Halle, and at Morl, near Halle, on the Bernburg road. Five hymns by Nehring are in Freylinghausen's Gesang-Buch, 1704.
The tune was written by Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (1670-1739) who entered the University of Jena at Easter, 1689. Attracted by the preaching of A. H. Francke and J. J. Breithaupt, he moved to Erfurt in 1691, and at Easter, 1692, followed them to Halle. He went to Glaucha as assistant to Francke; and when Francke became pastor of St. Ulrich's, in Halle,1715, Freylinghausen became his colleague. In 1723, he became also sub-director of the Paedagogium and the Orphanage; and after Francke's death in 1727, succeeded him as pastor of St. Ulrich's and director of the Francke Institutions. Almost all Freylinghausen's hymns appeared in his own hymnbook, which was the standard collection of the Halle school, uniting the best productions of Pietism with a good representation of the older "classical" hymns. This work, which greatly influenced later collections, and was the source from which many editors drew not only the hymns of Pietism, but also the current forms of the earlier hymns.
As a hymnwriter Freylinghausen ranks not only as the best of the Pietistic school, but as the first among his contemporaries. His finest productions are distinguished by a sound and robust piety, warmth of feeling depth of Christian experience, clearness and variety of style, which gained for them wide acceptance, and have kept them still in popular use. A complete edition of his 44 hymns, with a biographical introduction by Ludwig Grote, appeared as his Geistliche Lieder, at Halle, 1855.
This hymn has not been translated to an English version. A rough translation of the text follows:
The cross is our true and only hope, for without it we cannot exist;
If we are grieved, our inner strength is in the cross at all times
Who would win without a fight?
Bravery cannot endure when Satan's army sharpens their swords.
If you don't want to die in the field, enter into a serious fight when the enemy of God opposes you. You must keep awake.
It is true that the palm tree is heavy and pushes into earth. So virtue is also oppressed;
we are almost completely down, but soon our strength will be seen
when it defeats the enemy with might.
We can reach heights when we practice virtue. The cross is the way.
Everyone must choose piously, forget himself, and hurry to eternity,
led by the Father's hand, who seeks to prepare him through the cross,
before he adorns him with the crown.
Because God did lead us through a path full of tenderness, we should run diligently on
in our a short pilgrim time to life that lasts forever, where strife and struggle are far away,
and where one experiences peace in God who sweetens all suffering.
Whoever God declares to be a child has an enemy in Satan,
with which his struggle is always increased.
Satan attacks him with his poisonous breaths and temptation to many vices.
He knows how to use great cunning that he may be a conqueror.
God leads to life; the enemy leads to ruin. Satan tries to resist with anger
and scares the poor man. He wants to defeat our courage,
therefore he dares all that he can; but he will soon cease to plague.
But how much he was beaten down, so he is often defeated.
If you get tired, depend on God and bravely war him.
Faith will withstand him and has the power of God.
Satan must flee before Him, if you watch and stay alert.
O Jesus, who won me over through Salvation, strength and life beyond death,
since you died on the trunk of the cross, after enduring much hardship,
come to my aid and create life inside me and overthrow my enemy,
who wants to rise above me where Your light doesn't shine brightly.
Always infuse me with new strength, so that I rest in Your heart and do not sin.
I remain aware of your peace. Strengthen my own faith, my Hero,
and just draw my eyes to you, so the enemy will not harm me,
because You are in me, I am in You.
R. Cochrane Penick (d. 2005) studied at the University of Texas , Austin, the Juilliard School of Music, New York, and the Union Theological Seminary, New York. He taught organ at Louisiana State University, and later at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas.
About the Vocal Solo Music:
Wayfaring Stranger - Donald Moore
“Wayfaring Stranger” (also known as "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" or "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger”) was born in the southern Appalachian Mountains about the time of the American Revolution, according to widely held beliefs about the origins of this popular, early American song. At that time, the immigrants of the region were mostly English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh, but there was also a mysterious group known as Melungeons. Sometimes called the Black Dutch, the Melungeons are often said to be of Portuguese descent, though their precise lineage is still a mystery, varies much, and is a complex mixture thought to include Native American, African (including Bantu), and some Mediterranean, with Turkish as a favorite. In recent years much research has begun to yield more clues to the Melungeons' origins and history. They appear to have been semi-nomadic, generally moving inward from the Atlantic coast in search of more favorable social conditions. Probably because of this, “Wayfaring Stranger” has become associated with Melungeon history.
Regardless of descent, in those days the people of the region lived lives of enormous hardships, struggling to survive in an environment of often-rugged wilderness terrain, few supplies, not always friendly Indians, and the frequent loneliness of isolation. “Wayfaring Stranger” is typical of many of the spiritual songs of the time, expressing the pain and hardship of daily life, while dreaming and hoping for a bright and beautiful life after death.
As many of these settlers moved westward in the expansion during the years following the American Revolution, “Wayfaring Stranger”, one of the favorite songs of the day, traveled with them, eventually becoming widely known all across North America. More recently, in the middle of the twentieth century, Wayfaring Stranger was revived by the American folk music movement and by musical researchers and performers such as Pete Seeger and Burl Ives. It was Burl Ives who popularized many early American songs, including “Wayfaring Stranger”. The song is described variously as: spiritual, American spiritual, folk-spiritual, Negro spiritual, traditional Southern spiritual, Southern folk-hymn, spiritual folk-ballad, religious ballad, hymn, etc. There is some evidence that supports a black American spiritual source for “Wayfaring Stranger”, and surely the song's history is not complete without the significant influences of the black spiritual tradition. Like most early American songs, there were hundreds or even thousands of variations. The song has an oral history that probably dates back to the 1780s. It appeared in hymnals from the mid-1800s into the early 20th Century. The lyrics were published in 1858 in Joseph Bever's Christian Songster, which was a collection of popular hymns and spiritual songs of the time. This may or may not have been the first time the song appeared in English print.
During and for several years after the American Civil War, the lyrics were known as the Libby Prison Hymn. This was because the words had been inscribed by a dying Union soldier incarcerated in Libby Prison, a warehouse converted to a notorious Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia known for its adverse conditions and high death rate. It had been believed that the dying soldier had authored the song to comfort a disabled soldier, but this was not the case since it had been published several years before the Civil War in 1858 before Libby Prison was put into service (1862), and had been known for a century before.
“Wayfaring Stranger” is a tremendously popular, universal, and timeless song that still strikes a deep, resonant chord within us today, just as it has for over two centuries.
I’m just a poor wayfarin’ stranger a-trav’lin’ through this world of woe;
But there’s no sickness, toil, or danger in that bright world to which I go.
I’m goin’ there to meet my Father, I’m going there no more to roam.
I’m just a-goin’ over Jordan, I’m must a-goin’ over home.
Donald P. Moore holds a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. Moore is Organist-Choirmaster at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is a prolific composer, arranger, lyricist and author with over 500 compositions in print. His compositions are regularly performed at state contests and festivals and have been showcased at state, regional, national and international music conventions. He is a seventeen-time winner of the ASCAP Composers Standard Award. Moore was recently listed by the American Choral Directors Association Choral Journal as one of 400 elite composers of significance throughout the history of American choral music. Moore also maintains a competitive midget car race team, campaigning throughout the year with championship drivers from around the United States.
About the Hymns:
Come Back Quickly to the Lord
This hymn’s message is drawn from the parable of the prodigal son. If you truly repent of your sins and turn to Jesus, no sin or crime or brokenness is too much for him to forgive you and save you. He waits for you by his open-door. Even when you’re far away, he sees you — he will run to you, embrace you and replace your filthy rags with clothing befitting the heirs of his kingdom — clothing such as to make glorious Solomon seem drab. The Lord will throw you a welcome-home party. Please don’t waste another moment.
Hymns that come from languages other than English, from distant places and different cultures have tunes written to match the natural rhythms of that country’s language. This means that you must have a good translation — a singable translation — in order to make the hymn meaningful and accessible in English. "Come Back Quickly to the Lord" was written during World War II by Young Taik Chun, Korean Methodist Church pastor and editor of the Korean Christian Literature Society. During a visit in 1943, the author presented the hymn, cut from his magazine, to Jae Hoon Park, who provided the music. It was translated from the original Korean in 1988, by Sang E. & Ivy G. Chun.
Come back quickly to the Lord, just come back to the Lord.
Though how grave your sins may be, or how burdensome they seem,
There is no sin He cannot bear, nor sinner not accept,
For the bosom of our loving Lord is much greater than all the skies.
Come back quickly to the Lord, just come back to the Lord.
Our Lord waits every day with His doors kept open wide.
He is anxiously waiting for you every day and every night.
The Lord is waiting through the night for a child who has gone astray.
Come back quickly to the Lord, just come back to the Lord.
Though you think that you have sinned and aren’t fit to be His child,
God will celebrate with a big feast, when repentence brings you home.
So, come back to His open arms, come back quickly unto the Lord.
Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
Joseph Hart (1712-1768) was never voted "most likely to become a minister" by the friends of his youth. Though raised among Christian influences, he was not serious about spiritual matters and soon fell into, as he put it, the "vanities and vices" of youth. But as an adult he began to feel a concern for his soul, running what he described as "an uneasy restless round of sinning and repenting." Frustrated by his inner turmoil, he looked for answers elsewhere; and listening to all the wrong voices of the age, fell captive to a doctrine that taught grace unfettered by any responsibility. Among his scholarly writings during this period was a scathing attack on John Wesley titled The Unreasonableness of Religion (1741), which reveals his adherence to the rationalist critics and to a certain extent to deism. But approaching the age of forty, he became convicted of the error of his beliefs and reformed his ways. Over the next few years he began in earnest to seek a truer path, and eventually became a minister to a Congregationalist body in London.
Hymns composed on various subjects (1759), which went through countless editions as "Hart's Hymns," was written during this period of deep soul-searching and repentance beginning around 1757. According to Hart, "They are published not only in the same order, but also in the same manner in which they were first written: for though they have since undergone a cursory revisal, and have been lightly retouched, the alterations I have made in them are neither very numerous nor material." His collection is therefore not only an anthology of his work, but a spiritual journal of this period in his life. And for a body of hymns so quickly got together, his work well stood the test of time. Augmented by his supplements of 1762 and 1768, "Hart's Hymns" became a staple in Calvinist circles.
"Come, ye sinners" is held by many to be Hart's greatest hymn. It is #100 in his original 1759 collection, and falls within the last group of hymns in that work, probably written in the spring of that year. These hymns as a group seem to look back in review of Hart's spiritual journey, though they still shows flashes of that "disorder and darkness of soul" that plagued him over his sins. Frequent themes are the assurance of salvation, our hopelessness without the atoning work of Christ, the majesty of Christ revealed in His humble sacrifice, and encouragement to the weak in faith. To this extent, then, "Come, ye sinners" is as much autobiography as invitation.
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love, and pow'r:
He is able, He is able, He is willing: doubt no more.
Come, ye thirsty, come and welcome, God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance, Ev'ry grace that brings us nigh,
Without money, without money, Come to Jesus Christ and buy.
Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Bruised and broken, full of sin;
If you tarry till you're better, You may never enter in:
Not the righteous, not the righteous; Sinners Jesus came to win.
Three additional verses are found in some hymnals by an unknown writer:
View Him prostrate in the garden; On the ground your Maker lies;
On the bloody tree behold Him; Sinner, will this not suffice?
Lo! th' incarnate God ascended, Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude.
Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream;
all the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him.
The chorus that follows each stanza, however, is by an entirely different hand:
I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior, O! There are ten thousand charms.
Raymond Glover has identified this as a variant on one of the stanzas of Caleb Jarvis Taylor's "Don't you see my Jesus coming?" Caleb Jarvis Taylor (1763-1816) was a schoolteacher from Maryland who served as a fill-in preacher for Methodist churches in western Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1792 he moved to north central Kentucky, where he continued to teach school as his primary support, but preached wherever and whenever he could. Sometimes he preached as an official circuit rider sponsored by a Methodist association, but more often it was his willingness to fill vacancies for other preachers that kept him in the pulpit. He was the founder of the Mt. Gilead Methodist Church just north of Paris, Kentucky, also known as the Old Matheny Meeting House, probably the earliest Methodist congregation in that area northeast of Lexington. By 1795 he relocated to the vicinity of what is now Maysville, Kentucky, along the Ohio River.
The Mt. Gilead meeting house was less than ten miles from the famous Cane Ridge meeting house, so it was inevitable that Taylor was right in the thick of the Second Great Awakening. And though he was known to be a successful revivalist, he was noted by his contemporaries as well as by modern historians as one of the chief songwriters of this watershed moment in American religious history.
The earliest appearance of the tune RESTORATION in print appears to be that found in William Walker's Southern Harmony. As was typical of the old colonial singing-school music, Walker's arrangement places the melody in the tenor voice; he added a bass part below and a "treble" above. The Sacred Harp version has an alto part, added in later years, to fill out a more typical voicing. William "Singing Billy" Walker (1809-1875) was a Baptist song leader from Spartanburg, South Carolina. His Southern Harmony (1835) is one of the most important hymn publications in American history, because it preserved many of the melodies of the camp-meeting folk hymns at a time when the generation that created them was passing away.
First United Methodist Church, Lewisville, Texas
A Community of Everyday People Learning to Love Like Jesus
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