Then Sings My Soul

Pam Rhodes

Description

Pam Rhodes is a passionate advocate for our heritage of splendid hymns. Hymns, she explains, help us respond to God: they are "prayers in our pockets". With her warm personal touch she describes how these hymns came to be written, and considers the perceptions they contain. This book is a treasury of fascinating detail, but it is also a source of devotion: as you consider each hymn and the story behind it you will be drawn into worship. Each reflection concludes with a short prayer.

Sujets

• Christian worship
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780857217219
• Langue: English

Extrait

Packed full of fascinating facts, intertwined with inspirational thoughts, Then Sings My Soul is a rich treasure and a riveting read.
Catherine Campbell, author of Rainbows for Rainy Days
I simply love this book! Pam brings our precious old hymns back to life by telling us about the people who wrote them and why. Totally fascinating!
Jennifer Rees Larcombe, author
By the same author, published by Lion Hudson:
Non-fiction
Love So Amazing
Colours for the Soul
As Time Goes By
Love Bites
Fiction
With Hearts and Hymns and Voices
Fisher of Men (Dunbridge Chronicles 1)
Casting the Net (Dunbridge Chronicles 2)
If You Follow Me (Dunbridge Chronicles 3)
Saints and Sailors (Dunbridge Chronicles 4)
Then Sings My Soul
40 reflections on my favourite hymns
Pam Rhodes

Oxford, UK & Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Text copyright 2016 Pam Rhodes This edition copyright 2016 Lion Hudson
The right of Pam Rhodes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Monarch Books an imprint of Lion Hudson plc Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Email: [e-mail] www.lionhudson.com/monarch
ISBN 978 0 85721 720 2 e-ISBN 978 0 85721 721 9
First edition 2016
Acknowledgments Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Cover Image Pam Rhodes Background Image Alan Bedding
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Agent: Lili Panagi, Panmedia ( www.panmediauk.co.uk )
Contents

Introduction

All Creatures of Our God and King

All Glory, Laud and Honour

All My Hope on God is Founded

Angel Voices, Ever Singing

As with Gladness Men of Old

Be Thou My Guardian and My Guide

Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

Day by Day

Father, Lead Me Day by Day

Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Hail to the Lord s Anointed

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Holy, Holy, Holy

I Need Thee Every Hour

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

If Any Little Word of Mine

In Full and Glad Surrender

Jesu, Lover of My Soul

Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead Us

Little Drops of Water

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

My Jesus, I Love Thee

New Every Morning is the Love

Now the Day is Over

O Jesus, I Have Promised

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O Worship the King

Rock of Ages

Shall We Gather at the River?

Teach Me, My God and King

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

The God of Abraham Praise

Through All the Changing Scenes of Life

We Plough the Fields, and Scatter

Ye Holy Angels Bright
Introduction

To sing is to pray twice!

That s how the old saying goes - apparently a long-ago quote from St Augustine - and what a lovely thought it is! My years of presenting BBC Television s Songs of Praise have provided me with many unforgettable moments of singing much-loved hymns in glorious cathedrals full of Christians. That s the stuff to have the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end! And it makes all the difference in the world when we re not just singing but singing together in praise of God. Hymns are our prayers expressed with love - and for me that adds an extra dimension of feeling and experience that is beyond human explanation.
In fairness, that wonderful quote is not quite what St Augustine meant to say. The line is probably a delightful misquote taken from these words of his which, roughly translated, are:

For he who sings praise does not only praise, but also praises joyfully. He who sings praise not only sings, but also loves him to whom he is singing. In the song of the lover, there is love.
What I think he meant is that when God is praised in song, then something happens that takes the song beyond the ordinary, as if the love with which it is sung is a manifestation of the love of God himself.
Martin Luther, the sixteenth-century German reformer and priest whose views formed the basic ethos of the new Protestant movement that swept across the world from the start of the sixteenth century, was one of the first to realize the value of music in worship. We have Luther to thank for introducing the whole idea of congregational singing in our churches, even writing around forty verses to create his own hymnbook. He had long felt that art, especially music, came from God and should be used in his service. He wrote:

Music is a fair and glorious gift of God. Music makes people kinder, gentler, more staid and reasonable. I am strongly persuaded that after theology, there is no art that can be placed on a level with music; for besides theology, music is the only art capable of affording peace and joy of the heart. The devil flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God.
I think he s right - and I also think that, just as music can lift the soul, so too can poetry. Most hymn texts start life as poems in which the writers pour out their humanity - their fears, pain and worry along with their joy, praise and love - and once their words are partnered with just the right melody, the individual elements fade in the brilliance of the glorious whole. With both words and music forged from love, the result is surely a touching reflection of God s own love for us.
So, in compiling this collection of forty more favourite hymns to follow on from my previous book, Love So Amazing , I hope that as you read, your feelings are both of being loved and loving. Most of all, my hope is that you enjoy this storybook about the hymn writers themselves, as well as reading about instances when their hymns have made a deep impact on the hearts of those who found a personal connection with their words, brought alive by music that has added just the right mood and meaning.
And whether St Augustine s quote is correct or not, when it comes to great hymns, I do feel that to sing is to pray twice . So sing your heart out - in praise and love!
All Creatures of Our God and King

All creatures of our God and king,
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia, alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam:
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
(Based on Canticle of the Sun by St Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226)

You d be unlikely to find anyone less like a saint than Francesco Bernardone, whose father was a wealthy merchant who had high hopes of his son taking over his successful business. The spoilt young man loved the trappings of wealth and enjoyed wild parties, but was always aware of his abilities and ambitions to achieve more. He wanted to become a knight, bringing glory and nobility, and finally a call for knights for the Fourth Crusade gave him a chance to realize his dream. Watched by his proud father as he rode off in a suit of armour decorated with gold and a magnificent cloak, Francis got no further than one day s ride from Assisi. There he dreamed that God told him of his disapproval, and said he must immediately return home. Imagine the shame of going back without ever making it to battle. He was laughed at and called a coward, which was acutely embarrassing for his father.
Francis was uncertain what God wanted of him, so he found a cave in which to pray and to weep for his sins. It wasn t until the young man, who had always led such a protected and cosseted life, met a leper and kissed his hand, even though both his appearance and smell repelled him, that it occurred to Francis that he was being tested by God.
It was when Francis found himself near the ancient church of San Damiano that he heard Christ say, Repair my church. Taking this literally, Francis took cloth from his father s shop, and sold it to pay for the repairs. Deeply disappointed in his son, his father accused him of theft, publicly demanding that he return the money and renounce all rights as heir to the family fortune.
Francis gave back the money, then stripped off his clothes down to his hair shirt. Wearing nothing but rags, he went off singing. He had nothing and everything. He intended to live by the gospel, in complete simplicity, selling all his possessions, giving all he had to the poor and taking nothing on the journey except the cross. He lived by his belief that poverty was holy. He never intended to found a religious order, but before long he had more than 5,000 followers, celebrating life and serving God by serving others.
We always think of Francis loving creation and nature, and he certainly did. There s a famous story of him preaching to hundreds of birds, that they should be thankful for their beautiful clothes, their freedom and God s care. Another tale is told of him persuading a wolf that had been killing villagers that he should become tame enough to be their pet. But his love was broader than just for nature and animals, because he felt in fellowship with all God s creation. The sparrow was as much his brother as any king or pope.
Just before he died at the age of forty-five, he began to go blind. Blindness was treated at that time by hot irons cauterizing the face. Before the procedure, he asked Brother Fire to be kind to him, and reported that he felt nothing at all. However, it was in his blindness that Francis wrote the much loved Canti