Hymn

When D. L. Moody visited New Haven in 1878, R. A. Torrey was a student in the University there. He said, “The ripest scholar in the University at the time, if not the ripest in America, was President Wolsey, Ex-President of Yale University. One night a young man went up to hear Mr. Moody preach and President Wolsey sat on the platform, and when they sang the old Gospel hymns, President Wolsey, himself a gray-haired scholar, joined in singing the hymns with all his heart.

One of the best-loved hymns of the faith, “It Is Well with My Soul,” was written by Horatio Spafford. Mr. Spafford, a wealthy businessman in Chicago, lost much of his real estate holdings in the Great Chicago Fire. After the fire, he sent his wife and four daughters on a ship to Europe, intending to join them later, for a time of rest as well as to assist Moody and Sankey with a revival in Great Britain. But the voyage was struck by disaster, and Spafford received a cable from his wife with the painful message, “Saved alone.”

Ira Sankey, who for years led the music for D.L. Moody’s evangelistic meetings, was traveling by steamboat on Christmas Eve in 1875. He was recognized by some of the passengers, and they asked him to sing. Sankey agreed, and began singing “Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” When the song was done, one of the listeners stepped forward and asked, “Did you serve in the Union Army?”

“Yes,” Mr. Sankey answered.

“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862?”

“Yes,” Mr. Sankey said again.

Fanny Crosby loved sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen. In 1869 she penned the words to “Rescue the Perishing.” When asked about the song, she explained, “It was written following a personal experience at the New York City Bowery Mission.” She went on to explain that she would go one night a week to talk to “her boys.”

A young woman named Anne Steele had encountered one trial and disappointment after another. Her mother died when she was three, and when she was nineteen she suffered a severe hip injury that left her an invalid. Eventually she fell in love and was engaged to be married, but the day before the wedding her fiancé drowned.

Later Anne Steele penned the following song:

The Weatherman’s Hymn—There Shall Be Showers of Blessings

The Contractor’s Hymn—The Church’s One Foundation

The Tailor’s Hymn—Holy, Holy, Holy

The Politician’s Hymn—Standing on the Promises

The Optometrist’s Hymn—Open My Eyes That I May See

The IRS Agent’s Hymn—I Surrender All

The Electrician’s Hymn—I Saw the Light

The Shopper’s Hymn—Sweet Bye and Bye

The Realtor’s Hymn—I’ve Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop

The Massage Therapist’s Hymn—He Touched Me

The Doctor’s Hymn—The Great Physician

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the farmer, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”

“Praise choruses,” said his wife, “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re okay. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.

Sometimes singing hymns can be convicting. Here are some you can sing without a tinge of guilt:

I Surrender Some

There is Scattered Cloudiness in My Soul Today

There Shall Be Sprinkles of Blessings

Onward, Christian Spectators

Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following

Oh, How I Like Jesus

Just as I Pretend to Be

I Love to Talk about Telling the Story

Brethren, We Have Met to Have a Business Meeting

Sweet Minute of Prayer

Let Me Have My Own Way Lord

Standing on the Premises

Ira Sankey was traveling on a steamer down the Delaware river when he was asked to sing. He led the group in singing “Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us.” When he finished, a man stepped from the shadows and asked, “Did you ever serve in the Union Army?” “Yes,” Sankey replied, “in the spring of 1860.”

“Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862?”

“Yes,” Sankey replied.

James Cash Penney (who started J. C. Penney stores) made some unwise commitments and became very depressed. He worried so much that he developed shingles. He went to see his doctor who admitted him to the hospital, but his condition became worse. One night he was prescribed a sedative that quickly wore off, and he awoke believing that he would die that night. He wrote letters to his family and fell asleep.

Thomas Obediah Chisholm was born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky in 1866. He received his education in a little country schoolhouse, and at age 16 began teaching there. He was saved at age 27, and with no college or seminary training was ordained to the Methodist ministry at age 36. He served as a Methodist minister for a year, but ill health made it impossible for him to continue. He moved to Vineland, New Jersey, where he opened an insurance office.