How the Hymns Were Written

Do you know how those solid hymns of the faith were written? Do you know what situations caused the writer to pen those mighty words? The hymns are just songs to us, but did you know they were often the fruit of suffering or great joy? Most hymns are loaded with history.

You can research that history in various books or online. I want to share some of that history with you. I've picked some of the most touching stories to share with you. There are countless more, this is just a selection. I didn't write these short stories, the sources have been given a link to the originating page.


It is Well With My Soul (Bible Study Charts)
Horatio Spafford decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic.

Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."

Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.


Amazing Grace (Workers for Jesus)
During the first 30 years of his life, Newton was certainly a miserable, unhappy, and mean person--in other words, "a wretch." As a child he was rebellious and constantly in trouble. As a young man he used profanity, drank excessively, and went through periods of violent, angry behavior.
When Newton was in his early twenties, he became involved in the slave trade: living in Africa, hunting down slaves, and managing a "slave factory" (where the unfortunate captives were held for sale). Later he was the captain of a slave ship which made three voyages from Great Britain to Africa (where he loaded a cargo of slaves) and finally to America to sell them.

Three years earlier, Newton had acknowledged God for the first time. The ship on which he was serving, traveling in the Atlantic Ocean to England, was caught in a terrible storm off the coast of Newfoundland. As they fought the winds and rain, Newton asked God for help ("Lord, have mercy upon us!"), something he had not done since childhood.

Miraculously, the storm ended; and the ship managed to reach Ireland safely. There, as Newton later wrote: "...I began to know that there is a God who hears every prayer." Despite this experience, Newton continued to work at buying and selling slaves.

"I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home."

It wasn't until later in life that Newton became ashamed of his activities in buying and selling slaves. He believed that the death of his wife and his daughter's illness were part of a punishment.

Eventually he became convinced that slavery was unlawful and morally wrong. He spent a lot of time arguing for its abolition (putting an end to it) in England, convincing a lot of important people in London that he was right.

Newton died at the age of 82, twelve years before slavery was outlawed in his country.


Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (Bible Study Charts)
The idea for this song came from Anthony Showalter, principal of the Southern Normal Music Institute in Dalton, Georgia.  Showalter, a Presbyterian elder, was a well-known advocate of gospel music.  He published over 130 music books with combined sales of two million copies, and he became known through the South for his singing schools in local churches.

Showalter took a personal interest in his students and enjoyed keeping up with them as the years passed. One evening in 1887, he was leading a singing school in a local church in Hartselle, Alabama. After dismissing the class for the evening, he gathered his materials and returned to his boardinghouse.

Two letters had arrived, both from former pupils.  Each of the young men was heartbroken, having just lost his wife. Professor Showalter went to the Bible, looking for a verse to comfort them.  He selected Deuteronomy 33:27 - "The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms..."

As he pondered that verse, these words came to mind:

Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;

Leaning, Leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

He scribbled replies to his bereaved friends, then, reaching for another piece of paper, he wrote his friend, hymnist Elisha Hoffman. "Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27,"  his letter said, "but I can't come up with any verses."  Hoffman wrote 3 stanzas and sent them back. Showalter set it all to music, and ever since, these words have sheered us in adversity.

What have I to dread, what have I fear, leaning on the everlasting arms.

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms. 

I know this was a long post. And if you read it all, congratulations! I hope you were encouraged and touched by some great hymns and their heart-wrenching stories. Share these with your congregation. Use them as sermon illustrations. Or just read them in your service for the sake of reading them. Let's educate our folk on why we sing the songs we do and what circumstances caused their penning.

Can you think of some other great hymn stories? Let us know about them. Do you have a favorite song you'd like me to research the story behind? Ask about it and I'll do my best to find information on it for you. Just leave your comments in the box below.

Posted in: Church Music