Holy Spirit, living breath of God

I first sang this beautiful song while I was on retreat three years ago, at the Sisters of Jesus' Way in West Kirby.  It's one of my favourite Getty/Townend songs - there's more information about their collaboration in my posts on In Christ alone and See, what a morning.

Keith Getty writes that he and Stuart Townend "wanted to connect the radical truths of what we believe with everyday life.  In this particular song, we desired the hymn to function as a sung prayer about the Holy Spirit's renewing power."  If you follow the link at the beginning of this paragraph, there's a lot more detail about the composition of the three verses, and how Getty and Townend see them applying to the life of the individual believer, and of the church as a whole (you'll need to scroll down past the lyrics and the section headed 'Videos').

Stuart Townend's website says that "this song seeks to point to the central vitality of the Spirit in every area of our lives: applying the word of God to our lives; bearing his multi-faceted fruit in us, and thus shaping us into the likeness of Christ; inspiring passion, repentance, unity, intercession, and sacrifice."

Keith Getty wrote the tune, and he writes here that the melody came to him one Sunday morning while he was meditating on the lyrics of the hymn, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds".  He adds that the harmonies were probably influenced by his love of the music of J S Bach.

For me, this song has been a precious addition to the repertoire, with its focus on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of both the individual believer and of the church as a whole.

There is a lyric video here, with Kristyn Getty singing.  Or you can hear Stuart Townend's version (no lyrics) here.

Crown him with many crowns

As we celebrated Jesus' Ascension this week, I thought it was a good opportunity to look at a hymn which celebrates his kingship.  Crown him with many crowns definitely ranks among my many favourite hymns, praising Jesus for all that he is, reminding us of all that he did for us, and seeing him as firmly enthroned in heaven - the Lord of love, peace, light, life and time.  It's set to a fantastic tune, which was written especially for this hymn.

The original author of the words was Matthew Bridges (1800 - 1894).  He was an Anglican, born in Essex, who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1848, under the influence of the Oxford Movement.  He published Crown him with many crowns in 1851, in the second edition of a book of his own hymns entitled Hymns of the Heart.  Bridges' original version had six verses, and was inspired by Revelation 19:12, which is translated in the Authorised (King James') Version as follows: His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Crown him with many crowns became well-known when it was included in the appendix to the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1868.  It's stirring tune, Diademata was written to accompany the hymn at that time and for that book.

You many have noticed that Crown him with many crowns is often attributed to both Matthew Bridges and Godfrey Thring.  This was no collaboration!  Thring (1823 - 1903) was an Anglican priest who wrote an entirely new version of the hymn, published in 1874 in his own Hymns and Sacred Lyrics.  He was seeking to counteract Bridges' Catholic doctrine, and to write a version of the hymn which avoided Bridges' Roman Catholic imagery.

Today, we often sing a selection of verses from both authors.  In addition, two of Bridges' original verses are usually conflated - we sing the first half of his fifth verse followed by the second half of his final verse.

According to Wikipedia, these are the twelve verses - the first column those written by Matthew Bridges, the second, those written by Godfrey Thring:

This hymn was sung at the service in Westminster Abbey to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Because He Lives

I really can't remember how I learned this song, or even whether I've ever sung it in communal worship.  I may simply have heard recordings of it, but with its catchy tune and powerful words it has stuck in my mind.  In the UK, it might be better known outside the Anglican church, but it doesn't appear in many British hymn books.   I suspect that it was introduced here through the Billy Graham crusades, as it has appeared in Mission Praise since the first edition in 1983.  The song was sung at Billy Graham's memorial service in 2018.

Because He lives was written by an American Christian couple, Gloria and Bill Gaither, who were important figures in the development of southern Gospel music in the USA.  The forthcoming birth of their third child was part of the inspiration for writing Because He lives.  They wrote the following for The Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (published in 1993):

          "'Because he lives' [1971] was written in the midst of social upheaval,
          threats of war, and betrayals of national and personal trust.  It was
          into this world at such a time that we were bringing our third little
          baby.  Assassinations, drug traffic, and war monopolized the headlines.
          It was in the midst of this kind of uncertainty that the assurance of the
          Lordship of the risen Christ blew across our troubled minds like a
          cooling breeze in the parched desert.  Holding our tiny son in our arms
          we were able to write:
                    'How sweet to hold our newborn baby,
                    and feel the pride, and joy he gives;
                    but greater still the calm assurance,
                    this child can face uncertain days because He lives.'"
                    (cited here)

There is more information about the background to the song on the Crossrhythms website, where Gloria Gaither dates the social upheaval and personal difficulties she and her husband were experiencing to the mid-1960s.

In verse 1, the song sets out the reason we have for hope even in uncertain times (verse 2), and for the sure and certain hope of believers that the day will come when we meet the Lord face to face (verse 3): the reason for our hope being the tomb on the first Easter morning, empty of all but the Lord's grave-clothes.

For Easter 2020, Bill Gaither recorded an introduction to the song (here), in which he drew parallels between the upheavals of the 1960s and the current global pandemic.  He points out that the world has never been very stable, but because our Saviour lives, the children of God have always made it through.

There is a lyric video here.

In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone!! by Redeemed by His (Christ) Grace is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

I've mentioned In Christ Alone in a previous post, but as one of the British nation's favourite hymns in recent years, as well as one of my own favourites, I think it deserves it's own post.

Stuart Townend explains that this song came about after a mutual friend said that he and Keith Getty should meet up when they were both at the same conference.  That mutual friend has done a huge service to modern hymnody: Townend and Getty have continued to collaborate, and so far have written about 40 songs which are attributed to the two of them and (in some cases) to Getty's wife Kristyn, plus others where they've joined forces with other song-writers.  Our churches' sung worship would be much poorer without songs like In Christ Alone, See What a Morning, Hear the Call of the Kingdom or Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God, to name but a few.  Music and words are so deep and rich that, I believe, many of these songs will remain in the repertoire of English-speaking churches for a very long time.

Keith Getty wrote the melody for In Christ Alone, and Stuart Townend added the words, although Getty did suggest some changes, which included making 'In Christ alone' the first half of the first line.  Townend (in the article linked above) says, "I actually think it was a stroke of genius because now the song is known as In Christ Alone, it's where the song begins, it's the statement you make and it's the first thing you sing."

There is much controversy about one line of this song, in verse 2: "till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied."  If you're interested in reading the theological reasons as to why some would prefer to amend that line, there's an article here.  You can read the reasons why Getty and Townend have refused to allow hymnals to amend the line here.

In the end, as Townend observes (at the end of this video), ". . . this song is about the life, death, resurrection of Christ, and what difference that makes to every single person on the planet."

You can watch the official lyric video here.

The Day of Resurrection

As you will have realised if you're following this blog, during the Easter season, I'm keeping the focus on hymns and songs which celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Day of Resurrection is one of the oldest hymns which we still sing in the English-speaking church, thanks mainly to the translation into English by John Mason Neale (1818 - 1866), which he published in his Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862).  The original hymn was written in Greek by St John of Damascus, in about 750 AD.  Together with another hymn translated into English by Neale, Come, ye faithful raise the strain, it was written as part of a series of Easter poems.  Neale's translation is apparently quite a loose one; John Julian in his Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)  (p 789) describes Neale's translations of Greek hymns as 'adaptations rather than translations'; Neale omitted those sections (eg praising the Blessed Virgin Mary) with which, as an Anglican, he disagreed.  Julian also points out Neale's amazing skill as a translator of verse: "He had all the qualifications of a good translator . . .  [his] exquisite ear for melody prevented him from spoiling the rhythm by too servile an imitation of the original; while the spiritedness which is a marked feature of all his poetry preseved that spring and dash which is so often wanting in a translation." (Julian, p 787).

The version we sing today is not exactly as Neale translated it; it was altered originally by the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern so that all the verses were in the same meter.  The tune with which I am familiar is called Ellacombe.  It was first published in Germany in 1784, even though its name comes from a village in Devon.

For me, The Day of Resurrection is another hymn which is an essential part of Easter, full of joy and triumph.  One description (here) is that it "explodes with Easter triumph", which puts it very well.

          The day of resurrection!
               Earth, tell it out abroad;
          the Passover of gladness,
               the Passover of God;
          from death to life eternal,
               from earth unto the sky,
          our God hath brought us over
               with hymns of victory.

          Our hearts be pure from evil,
               that we may see aright
          the Lord in rays eternal
               of resurrection-light;
          and, listening to his accents,
               may hear so calm and plain
          his own 'All hail', and, hearing,
               may raise the victor strain.

          Now let the heavens be joyful,
               and earth her song begin,
          the round world keep high triumph,
               and all that is therein;
          let all things seen and unseen
               their notes of gladness blend,
          for Christ the Lord is risen,
               our joy that hath no end.

You can find a recording of this hymn here or here.

Everyone Needs Compassion (Mighty to Save)

I think I first sang Mighty to Save on a Nefyn Camp, about 10 years ago.  It's full of gospel themes, including of course, the Resurrection, with it's emphasis that Jesus 'rose and conquered the grave'.

This is one of many modern worship songs to come out of Hillsong.  Hillsong is an Australian megachurch, which came into being in the outskirts of Sydney in 1983, and has since spread across the globe.  The first Hillsong church in the UK opened in London in 1992.

The co-writers of Mighty to Save are Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding, who are both Australian.  Morgan is currently based in London, but like Fielding, attended Hillsong in Sydney for a number of years.  Both hold the position of Worship Pastor in their respective Hillsong congregations.

Mighty to Save was first released on the Hillsong album of the same name in July 2006.  In 2009 it won the award for Worship Song of the Year at the 40th annual GMA Dove Awards.

There's a lyric video of the song here.