August 16, 2005

Have faith in God –
Who blessed the Virgin Mother;
Have faith in God –
And Christ, our Elder Brother;
Have faith in God –
He saves, and not another.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, 1805-1848

    Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8.

    This well-loved hymn was written by a talented and charming English woman who lived only 43 years. In spite of her delicate health, Sarah Flower Adams had an active and productive life. After a successful career on the London stage as Shakespeare's Lady MacBeth, she began to write and became widely known for her literary accomplishments. The cross mentioned in the first stanza of her hymn text may have been the physical handicaps that limited her many ambitions.
    Sarah's sister Eliza was gifted musically and often composed melodies for her sister's poems. Together they contributed 13 texts and 62 new tunes for a hymnal that was being compiled by their pastor. One day the Rev. William J. Fox asked for a new hymn to accompany his sermon on the story of Jacob and Esau. Sarah spent much time studying Genesis 28:10-22 and within a short time completed all of the stanzas of Nearer, My God, to Thee. Since that day in 1840, this hymn has had an unusual history of ministering spiritual comfort to hurting people everywhere.
    These lines picturing Jacob sleeping on a stone, dreaming of angels, and naming the place Bethel, meaning "the house of God", seem to reflect the common yearning--especially in times of deep need--to experience God's nearness and presence in a very real way.
    Nearer, My God, to Thee is sung at the end of the 1936 movie San Francisco, which was nominated for several Academy Awards. It is also played by the ship’s band in Titanic, winner of the Academy Award for best picture of 1997.
    There are also many inspiring true life stories associated with this hymn. Some Titanic survivors said it was played by the ship’s orchestra as the ocean liner went down (though other survivors said it was a different song).
    Another story concerns the death of American president William McKinley, assassinated in 1901. Dr. Mann, the attending physician, reported that among McKinley’s last words were “‘Nearer, my God, to Thee, e’en though it be a cross,’ has been my constant prayer.” On the afternoon of September 13, 1901, after five minutes of silence across the nation, bands in Union and Madison Squares in New York City played the hymn in memory of the fallen president. It was also played at a memorial service for him in Westminster Abbey, London.
    The hymn was also played as the body of assassinated American President James Garfield was interred at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission