CELEBRATING A PROLIFIC HYMN WRITER

When I come downstairs in the morning, the first thing I usually do is switch on the radio and Radio 4 is my preferred station in the early morning.  On Sundays, I am usually up and about by the time the Sunday morning service comes on at 8.10 and today was no exception.  

In our Church, we don’t sing many of what are probably termed “old-fashioned hymns” - but we did sing “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at the end of our service this morning, written by Charles Wesley.  This followed a great sermon entitled “The Love Bug strikes”, which was about spreading the love bug, which we were all encouraged to do, wherever we go.

However, back to the service I listened to on Radio 4 - which was to celebrate the 350th Anniversary of the birth of Isaac Watts, who was an English Congregational Minister, hymn writer, theologian and logician.  He is credited with writing about 750 hymns, which include, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, “Joy to the World” and “We’re Marching to Zion”, which I never knew was written by Isaac Watts!

I found out that Isaac Watts began learning Latin at the age of 4, Greek when he was 9 and Hebrew at 13 - I learned Latin when I was 11, but not sure I would have been good enough to learn it at the age of 4!

Rather than translating God’s word in the Bible, he paraphrased and related the Old Testament, and particularly the Psalms, with the Gospel message of love, which is about the forgiveness of sins and salvation through the Cross.

Probably one of his most famous hymns is “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, which was sung during the service on the radio, so when I saw the cross at the front of the Church this morning and having heard a wonderful sermon about love, I decided that this would be my Blip for today.  This hymn reminds us that what Jesus did - all his suffering and sacrifice - He did for love.

The last hymn in the service on the radio this morning, “Our God, our Help in Ages Past...” was sung at the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill on 30th January 1965, and written by Isaac Watts as a paraphrase of Psalm 90, which begins : “Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another.”

So, an interesting start to the morning and a great service at Church - we just need to keep praying for good weather tomorrow for our Church Fun Day - wish you could all be there - everything is free - inflatables, Toddler Zone, Prayer Tent and perhaps even a Fire Engine and some firefighters - not forgetting the burgers and hot dogs - lots of them!

Be blessed this week whatever you do.  M xx