Page 28 - C:\Users\Jim\AppData\Local\Temp\mso5041.tmp

A great number of hymns began life as a
poem. For instance: “There were

ninety and nine, that safely lay in the
shelter of the fold,” was written by
Elizabeth Clephane for The Children’s
Hour magazine 1868. Ira Sankey came across it while passing time
waiting at a train station. Sankey liked it, so tore it out and put it in
his note-book. At the conclusion of the Campaign service where
D. L. Moody had been preaching he suddenly asked Sankey to sing
a song. Because he didn’t expect this, and had nothing prepared
Sankey was immediately non-plussed but remembered the poem in
his note-book. He took it out and there and then made up the tune
as he went along. It had people in tears - and was an instant
success.

But it was Isaac Watts (The Father of English Hymnody) who wrote
poems for singing straight away; and his hymns set the trend. The
story goes like this: Watts regularly complained to his father about
(what he called) ‘the dreary old psalms’ they sang in church. His
father, fed-up with his son’s moaning challenged his son to ‘write
better if you can!’ So Watts did!

And here is his delightful, joyful Christmas hymn, but it suitable for
any occasion:

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare Him room
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
your sweetest songs employ
while fields and streams and He rules the world with truth and
grace,
hills and plains and makes the nations prove
repeat the sounding joy, the glories of His righteousness,
repeat the sounding joy, the wonders of His love,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
the wonders of His love,
Graham Neads the wonders, wonders of His
love.

28