Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Psalms 96:1-2, NKJV
Sometimes when we sing an old hymn in church, I find myself wondering what inspired the songwriters to write their particular song. The words reach so deep, if you pay attention to them rather than just singing the words. So--just in case some of you wondered too--I'm going to devote the next few weeks to talking about the writers and the songs. I'll also post a link to where you can hear the song, whenever I can find it.
Today's song is another old one, written by George Croly (1780-1860) while he worked in the slums of London. Mr. Croly helped turn several people around. This hymn fits his belief that redemption doesn't come when our surrounding change but when we yield our lives to God.
Mr. Crowly was an Anglican priest in Ireland, but then he moved to London and began writing. He wrote in several mediums--poetry, novels, histories, and biographies--but this is the only one of his pieces of poetry that became hymns that is known to have survived to this day.
The music was written by someone else (Frederick Atkinson (1841-1897)) for a different song, but the music fit Croly's poetry, and it became a popular song that still touches people's hearts two hundred years later.
Link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWVY4n_-wY
Lord, thank You for songs that pull us to Your side. Amen
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