Sing tot he Lord

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. (Psalm 96:1-4 ESV). There are many stories surrounding some of the great hymns of the faith. They always encourage me; I hope they will do so for you as well. After all, what better way to praise the Lord than with the singing of some of our favorite hymns. The psalmist certainly knew that and encourages us to sing to the Lord! One of the great hymnists of the 17th century was Isaac Watts (1674 - 1748). He wrote as many as 600 hymns, including Joy to the World and Alas and Did My Savior Bleed. While there aren’t many stories surrounding his songs, there are two that stand out. The first of these is from the writings of John Vassar. He was a lay pastor and missionary in the late 1800’s. He had the habit of going from house to house to distribute tracts and tell people about Jesus. At one particular house, when a woman slammed the door in his face, Vasser wearily sat down on her doorstep and began to sing the Isaac Watts song, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed. Upon hearing the beautiful words of the hymn, the woman opened the door, opened her home to the evangelist, and listened to him explain the grace of God in Christ ultimately leading to her redemption that day! The second story was during the lifetime of Fanny Crosby. She lived from 1820-1915, and was one of the best known women in America of her time. She is still well known today as the blind woman who wrote more than 8,000 hymns, including Draw Me Nearer, Blessed Assurance, and Take the World but Give Me Jesus. In 1851, when Fanny Crosby was 31, she attended a Methodist revival meeting. It was there while the congregation sang the last line of Isaac Watt's song, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed, that Fanny prayed the words of the hymn "There Lord, I give myself away..." and found herself a changed woman. Just one of her hymns is a favorite of mine; perhaps it is one of yours as well: Blessed Assurance. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long; This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.