SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 9 OF 22: MORE HOLINESS GIVE ME

Southeastway Park, Indianapolis

More holiness give me, More strivings within,

More patience in suff'ring, More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior, More sense of His care,

More joy in his service, More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord, 

More zeal in His glory, More hope in His word,

More tears for His sorrows, More pain at His grief,

More meekness in trail, More praise for relief.

More purity give me, More strength to o'ercome,

More freedom from earth stains, More longings for home;

More fit for the kingdom, More useful I'd be,

More blessed and holy, More, Savior, like Thee.

NOTES ON HYMN:

• This hymn was written by Phillip Bliss, whose contributions include lyrics ("I Will Sing Of My Redeemer"), music ("It Is Well With My Soul") or both (this song, "Wonderful Words Of Life). Bliss worked with Moody and Daniel Whittle in the late 1800's. He died in a train wreck in 1876; actually, he was thrown from the train and survived but ran into the fire to rescue his wife. Shortly before that, he had written a letter to his friend James McGranahan encouraging him to minister to the Lord in music rather than having a career in opera; McGranahan wrote the music for "I Will Sing Of My Redeemer" and several songs with evangelist Daniel Whittle (including "Showers of Blessing" and "I Know Whom I Have Believed."
• Becky introduced me to this song from a Church of Christ hymnal, Christian Hymns Vol. 2. Even though Bliss' songs are in the other songbooks we regularly use, this song isn't in most of the others we use.😭

• An exception to the above - We have a hymnal titled Gospel Hymns Nos. 1-6 Complete, published in 1894, and featuring songs from Moody era musicians like Phillip Bliss, Ira Sankey, and James McGranahan. In the Church of Christ hymnal above, it's titled by the first line "More Holiness Give Me;" in the 1894 hymnal, it was titled "My Prayer." 
  
• For those interested, the meter is 6,5,6,5,Doubled. I will mention more about that meter later in the series.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 2 OF 22: CHRIST RETURNETH

Baymont Inn (former Alpine Lodge) parking lot, Cookeville, TN. Photo by Jeff Reynolds

It may be at morn, when the day is awaking,

When sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking,

That Jesus will come in the fullness of glory,

To receive from the world "His own."

It may be at mid-day, it may be at twilight, 

It may be perchance that the blackness of midnight

Will burst into light in the blaze of His glory,

When Jesus receives "His own."

While its hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending,

With glorified saints and the angels attending,

With grace on His brow, like a halo of glory,

Will Jesus receive "His own."

Oh, joy! oh, delight! Should we go without dying,

No sickness, no sadness, no dread and no crying, 

Caught up through the clouds with our Lord into glory,

When Jesus receives "His own."

O. Lord Jesus, how long, how long

Ere we shout the glad song,

Christ returneth! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen;

Hallelujah! Amen.

NOTES ON ABOVE HYMN

• It may be obvious, but the final stanza is the chorus.
  
• I fell in love with this song when I first heard it. I love the music for the song, and I often sing the chorus for personal worship. (Becky and I sing hymns regularly, but I like this song better than she does.)
• James McGranahan composed the music for this song. He's my favorite hymn composer. If I remember correctly, none of his other songs made my list, but he composed the music for "There Will Be Showers of Blessing", "Sing O Sing of My Redeemer," and "I Know Whom I Have Believed," among others.
• If you look at the music signature, it reads 3/4 4/4. What does that mean? It means that the first three measures of the first two lines of each verse (and the rest of the song) are 3/4, and the fourth measure has an extra beat, which is a rest. A former song-leader of the church where I learned this song said the odd measure said it was more difficult because of the signature. However, I find it similar to "The Solid Rock." The difference is that "The Solid Rock" uses a bird's eye, where the singer holds the note for what turns out to be an extra beat instead of the rest McGranahan uses.