Hymns in Human Experience :: CHAPTER X Hymns of Youth

CHAPTER X Hymns of Youth

The questioning attitude of youth is impelled by a desire for deeper reality. Some of their words and ways may scandalize the conventional, but back of it all we find eager sincerity and animated purposefulness to make life count for more. We need to show the patience of confidence towards skeptical young people. We must encourage them to work out their problems not by holding up danger signals, but by magnifying the ways of sure deliverance. We are not wedded to methods but are inspired by motives. So long as these latter are right we might well disagree about how they are to be expressed.

An interesting sidelight on the essential loyalty of young people was recently given when, at a summer institute attended exclusively by them, a popular vote was taken of the best ten hymns. The following were named: “Holy, Holy, Holy;” “Nearer, My God, to Thee;” “Rock of Ages;” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross;” “Abide With Me;” “Sweet Hour of Prayer;” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul;” “O Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go;” “Just As I Am;” “Lead Kindly Light.”

This is certainly not the choice of erratic radicals, but of rational conservatives who desire to retain what is best in the past while going forward with characteristic adventuresomeness to new fields of activity and of achievement.

The new program of religious education is an attempt more satisfactorily to meet the needs of children and adolescents. Previous efforts had their limitations but all who grew up under the conditions of the former generation will appreciate this testimony from Sir Harry Lauder in Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ about

The Influence of the Sunday School

“I forget many of the hymns we sang at the Band of Hope, but such favorites as ‘Shall We Gather at the River?’, ‘Throw Out the Life Line,’ and similar haunting airs stand out in my memory. I loved every note of them and yelled them out most lustily. The old Scottish psalm tunes we occasionally sang at the Band of Hope, and also at the Sunday School I attended, likewise made an extraordinary appeal to me. ‘All People That On Earth Do Dwell,’ to the tune of the ‘Old Hundred;’ ‘O, God of Bethel by Whose Hand’ to the tune of ‘St. Kilda,’ were among my favorites. The last mentioned melody is in a most unusual minor key. It was written by a young Scottish musician named Bloomfield, who died early in life and whose body, I have been told, is lying in an ancient cemetery in Aberdeen.”[25]

These words recall an experience of Captain John Lauder in France, which led him to declare he was

Glad He Learned the Hymn in Sunday School

While convalescing in the hospital he went one day to the piano and began playing very softly. One of the nurses then came up to him and said a Captain Webster of the Gordon Highlanders who knew his father, Sir Harry, wanted to see him. What followed had best be stated in his own words, quoted in A Minstrel in France[26] by Harry Lauder:

“This man had gone through ten operations in less than a week. I thought perhaps my playing had disturbed him, but when I went to his bedside, he grasped my hand, pressed it with what little strength he had left, and thanked me. He asked me if I could play a hymn. He said he would like to hear ‘Lead, Kindly Light.’ So I went back to the piano and played it as softly and as gently as I could. It was his last request. He died an hour later. I was very glad I was able to soothe his last moments a little. I am very glad that I learned the hymn at Sunday School as a boy.”

Dr. R. J. Campbell tells a touching story about a mother and her only child whose request was

“Sing, Muzzer, Sing”

This young English mother made a living for herself and child by singing in the concert halls of London, and so at night she was compelled to leave him while meeting her engagements. One night she had a foreboding of evil but she had to keep her appointment. The rapture of the crowds and the encores were nothing to her as on this night she hurried back to the lad. She took him up in her arms and held him as if he could never slip away. But he was dying, and his broken words were, “Sing, muzzer, sing.” What an ordeal! But she responded. Her clear sweet voice broke upon the hush of that tenement room in the words of the matchless hymn of the children:

“I think when I read that sweet story of old,

When Jesus was here among men;

How He called little children like lambs to His fold,

I should like to have been with Him then.”

Another hymn made a moving impression upon a large congregation when

Children Sang of the Love of Jesus

A group of fresh-air children from New York City were being entertained at East Northfield, the home of the schools established by D. L. Moody. One Sunday, sitting in a body in the great auditorium, they were presented to the audience, and then invited to the platform to sing for the assembled company. The little folks marched to the front of the building, faced the many hundreds of people, and gleefully sang:

“I am so glad that our Father in heaven

Tells of His love in the Book He has given,

Wonderful things in the Bible I see;

This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.”

Children of parents who came from many different nations across the Atlantic, living amid hard conditions in the great city of New York, life had not afforded them much in the form of pleasure. But their faces fairly radiated happiness as they lustily sang:

“I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me,

I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves even me.”

This incident is given in Through Jade Gate, by M. Cable and F. French, about

A Youthful Daniel

In our city-visiting we soon discovered that the first difficult plowing of the ground was being done for us by the children. Everywhere we were welcomed, and mothers, whom we had never seen, repeated Scripture texts, hymns, and sentences of prayer with surprising accuracy. One little fellow, unconscious that he was being watched, walked down the street singing at the top of his voice, “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone,” then coming to a stop before a peanut vendor and looking him in the face, said, “Did you know that there is only one God, and one Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Why, no,” said the man bewildered.

“Well, it is true,” answered the child, and passed on singing, “‘Dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known.’”

Here is a suggestive story quoted from The Sunday School Times about

Jazz and Sacred Music

A Christian mother recently found no little difficulty in leading her ’teen-age girls to overcome the habit of singing jazz. It is what they heard over the neighbor’s radio, in school, on the street, everywhere. And in order to cure the habit there seemed to be need for something more than the negative command, “Don’t sing such songs, girls!” At length she hit upon a solution to the problem. When the girls burst into “Carolina moon, keep shining,” the mother would begin, very quietly and with apparent lack of purpose,

“He leadeth me! oh! blessed thought!

Oh, words with heavenly comfort fraught.”

And it was not long until the singing voices began to follow her.

The central message of the Gospel is well illustrated in this

Spiritual Experience in Song

At a world’s convention of Christian Endeavor Societies, the various delegations went to their respective places in the tent, singing different hymns. The New Zealand deputation marched in singing,

“O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumph of His grace!”

They were listened to in silence, until they reached the stanza:

“He breaks the power of canceled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean;

His blood availed for me.”

Then the vast audience could no longer refrain from joining them, for the verse truthfully expressed the spiritual experience of all the company.

It was an impressive experience which strengthened the bond of unity when a group joined in this

Evening Prayer of Young Campers

The young people who had spent the evening together were about to separate and go to their several tents and cottages. “Why not a song-prayer together?” asked one. The suggestion was favorably received. These were the words they sang just before they retired:

“Glory to Thee, my God, this night,

For all the blessings of the light:

Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,

Beneath the shadow of Thy Wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son,

The ill which I this day have done;

That with the world, myself, and Thee,

I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

. . . . . . . . .

O let my soul on Thee repose,

And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close;

Sleep which shall me more vigorous make,

To serve my God, when I awake.”

The culminating moment at a missionary meeting was reached when the assembly sang a hymn,

Acknowledging God’s Claims

It was at one of the anniversaries of the London Missionary Society at Queen’s Hall, London. There were present a number of young men and women who were about to leave for their several mission fields. Instead of some modern hymns which are convicted of false sentiment, there was selected Doddridge’s hymn for this notable occasion. The first verse is:

“My gracious Lord, I own Thy right

To every service I can pay,

And call it my supreme delight

To hear Thy dictates and obey.”

One can imagine the enthusiasm of those prospective missionaries as they sang:

“’Tis to my Saviour I would live

To Him who for my ransom died;

Nor could all worldly honor give

Such bliss as crowns me at His side.”

The courage of conviction was strikingly exhibited in connection with a well-known chorus,

“Can the Lord Depend on You?”

Three thousand people had gathered in a beautiful grove for the annual reunion of one of the State societies of Los Angeles. The musical program consisted of old sacred melodies with variations and they were received with enthusiasm. The president then announced that three young ladies would perform a special dance and he requested the pianist to play for the dancers. Much to his surprise and chagrin a polite negative reply was given. “But there is no one else here to play for the dance,” said the president.

The pianist insisted on refusal, declaring that he had never used his talent in that connection and never so intended. The president then threatened to expose him to the vast audience, and no sooner had he done so than the pianist took the platform and said: “My reason for not playing for the dance is that my talent is not my own. It is dedicated to a far higher and nobler service. It is devoted wholly to the service of Christ.” The impression produced upon the gathering had an effect different from that of the president of this state society. On adjournment, several got into conversation with the pianist, which led to complete decisions for Christ.

The great heart of the nation was heard on a notable occasion when, in a spirit of unity,

Young America Made Music

This took place during the sessions of the National Education Association at Dallas, Texas. It was on the last evening of the convention, which for five days had engaged in earnest discussion on the education of children in the United States.

Five thousand persons applauded when the curtain rose; and the spectators were thrilled when they saw on the stage eight hundred boys and girls dressed in pure white. These were the best singers in the Dallas elementary schools. For an hour they sang, never missing a word or a note, without a scrap of paper before their eyes. The last third of the program was the cantata of “Rip Van Winkle,” which was rendered with a sweetness possible only to the unspoiled voices of children who sing because they love to sing.

The curtain rose the second time, and the scene changed. The National High School Orchestra appeared for the first time in history before the National Education Association. Two hundred and sixty-six boys and girls from thirty-nine states sat there “with their handsome instruments.” They were selected from six hundred who were competent and anxious to attend. It was a thrilling sight to watch these young people who sat together regardless of the states from which they came, and whose faces had “the features of every nation under heaven.” The program was arranged to recreate the moods of life—of play, heroism, questioning, hope, despair, fantasy, and religious fervor. The musical selections were from the masters, and they were rendered with perfect harmony.

For two hours these young people stirred the depths of their vast audience. It was like a glimpse of the great scene described in the Bible, “of the company out of every nation and kindred and tribe before the throne of God, whose anthem of praise is like the sound of the sea.”

The closing number was most impressive. Led by the youthful orchestra, the audience sang the evening hymn of Sabine Baring Gould:

“Now the day is over,

Night is drawing nigh,

Shadows of the evening

Steal across the sky.”

So the music swept on until the closing stanza was reached:

“When the morning wakens,

Then may I arise

Pure, and fresh, and sinless

In Thy holy eyes.”

This incident is fully described in Yankee Notions, by Henry T. Bailey.[27] He concludes his account with an impressive sentence: “I heard the great heart of my country singing as never before, and the harmony was as rich and deep as human brotherhood itself.”

Here is a testimony to faith and hope suggested by

Hymns Used at the Dedication of a College Chapel

Hendricks Memorial Chapel of Syracuse University was dedicated on June 8, 1930. It is the third in size of all college chapels in the United States and is to be the center for the religious guidance of the students.

The hymns used on this occasion were full of significance. The first had a national application and was written by a physician, Dr. Alfred A. Woodhull. Six thousand voices blended in singing:

“Great God of nations, now to Thee

Our hymn of gratitude we raise;

With humble heart and bending knee

We offer Thee our song of praise.”

This was followed by “Faith of Our Fathers.” The closing hymn was written by Dr. M. W. Stryker, one of the distinguished presidents of Hamilton College:

“Almighty Lord, with one accord,

We offer Thee our youth.”

At the afternoon service of dedication the first hymn was

“Glorious things of Thee are spoken

Zion, City of our God.”

The next was Professor Caleb T. Winchester’s striking hymn:

“The Lord our God alone is strong,

His hands build not for one brief day;

His wondrous works, through ages long,

His wisdom and His power display.”

Deeply prayerful was the last stanza:

“And let those learn, who here shall meet,

True wisdom is with reverence crowned,

And science walks with humble feet

To seek the God that faith hath found.”

The hymn of dedication was most appropriate. It was written by William Cullen Bryant, who was a student in Williams College. And it was from occasional summer afternoons of meditation in the chapel of this college that Senator Francis Hendricks conceived the idea of providing this memorial chapel for Syracuse University. Here are two stanzas:

“Thou, whose unmeasured temple stands,

Built over earth and sea,

Accept the walls that human hands

Have raised, O God, to Thee.

. . . . . . . . .

May faith grow firm, and love grow warm,

And pure devotion rise,

While round these hallowed walls the storm

Of earthborn passion dies.”

At night was held the installation service of the Dean of Hendricks Chapel. It began with the immortal hymn of Isaac Watts:

“O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home!”

The last hymn on that eventful day was one which came from Dr. Washington Gladden, a man who exercised a large influence in our national religious life. The desires and hopes of all were thus deeply expressed as they sang:

“O Master, let me walk with Thee,

In lowly paths of service free;

Tell me Thy secret; help me bear

The strain of toil, the fret of care.

. . . . . . . . .

In hope that sends a shining ray

Far down the future’s broadening way;

In peace that only Thou canst give,

With Thee, O Master, let me live.”

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