Sabbath Day Thoughts — “A Celebration of National Hymns” Psalm 100, Gal. 5:13-17, 22-25
On this Independence Day weekend, we share the music and stories of some of our most beloved national hymns. These songs remind us of God’s goodness to us and our calling to be a nation grounded in the holy purpose to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
We begin with “My Country “Tis of Thee,” perhaps the first patriotic hymn that many of us learned in grade school. In fact, it served as an unofficial national anthem for a century until the adoption of “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1931. “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was written by the Rev. Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 for an Independence Day celebration at Boston’s Park Street Congregational Church.
Smith was a noted Baptist pastor, language professor, editor, and preacher. He was an enthusiast of world missions, serving the Baptist Missionary Union for more than fifteen years. His travels took him to visit missionary outposts in Europe, Turkey, India, Ceylon, and Burma. Smith never retired. At the age of 87, he died suddenly while on his way by train to preach in the Boston neighborhood of Readville. Let us sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”
“We Gather Together” is perhaps the quintessential Thanksgiving hymn. While we may associate it with the memory of pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a harvest meal, the hymn’s origin is quite different. Written by Adrianus Valerius in 1597, the words celebrate the victory of the Dutch in a war of national liberation against the Catholic King Philip II of Spain.
At the Battle of Turnhout (in modern-day Belgium) allied English and Dutch forces launched a surprise attack that routed the Spanish. The enormity of their victory is revealed in the casualties. Of 4,000 Spanish infantrymen, more than 2,000 were killed or wounded. The allies suffered losses of twelve killed and fifty wounded.
We might anticipate that a hymn written in the wake of such a momentous national event would tout the Dutch and English victory. Instead, the song rejoices in the freedom to worship. Under Spanish rule, Protestants had been forbidden to meet together. Freedom from King Philip II brought religious liberty. Let us sing “We Gather Together.”
The words to “This Is My Song” were written as a poem by American poet Lloyd Stone when he was a student at the University of Southern California. Upon graduation, Stone joined the circus and traveled to Hawaii. When the circus left, Stone stayed, making Hawaii his adopted home. He served as a composer and pianist for Kulamanu Studios, taught school, and wrote and illustrated many books of poetry.
In 1934, Ira B. Wilson of the Lorenz Publishing Company set Stone’s words to the hymn-like portion of “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius. This arrangement was first published under the title “A Song of Peace.” Released in the period between World Wars when tensions were again mounting in Europe, the song struck a national chord of longing for an end to nation lifting up sword against nation.
In 1951, the Hawaii legislature passed a special resolution bestowing upon Stone the honor and title of poet laureate of Hawaii (Ka Haku-Mele O Hawaii). Let us sing “This Is My Song.”
African American author and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson wrote the words to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” for a school assembly in 1990. Booker T. Washington was in attendance and spoke on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The music was written by his younger brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson.
James Weldon Johnson was the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar Exam since the Reconstruction era ended. He was also the first black in Duval County to seek admission to the state bar. In order to be accepted, Johnson had a two-hour oral examination before three attorneys and a judge. He later recalled that one of the examiners, not wanting to see a black man admitted, left the room.
Johnson became a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he started working in 1917. Under his direction, the NAACP launched legal challenges to the Southern states’ disenfranchisement of African Americans by such legal devices as poll taxes, literacy tests, and white primaries. He also conducted a national campaign to raise public awareness about the widespread practice of lynching. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” became widely popular and has been called the “Negro National Anthem,” a title that the NAACP adopted and promoted. Let us sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Originally entitled “God of Our Fathers,” our next hymn features words written by Daniel Crane Roberts in 1876. At the time, the thirty-five-year-old Roberts was serving as the rector of St. Thomas & Grace Episcopal churches in Brandon, Vermont. Rev. Roberts wanted a new song for his church to sing to celebrate the American Centennial.
Later, in 1892, Roberts anonymously sent the hymn to the Episcopal General Convention for consideration by the commission formed to revise the Episcopal hymnal. If approved, he promised to send his name. The commission approved it, printing it anonymously in its report. Rev. Dr. Tucker, who was the editor of the Episcopal Hymnal, and George W. Warren, an organist at St. Thomas Church in New York City, were commissioned to choose a hymn for the celebration of the centennial of the United States Constitution in 1892. They chose this text and Warren wrote a new tune for it, “National Hymn,” including the glorious trumpet fanfare at the beginning of the hymn. Let us sing “God of the Ages, Whose Almighty Hand.”
The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written in 1861 by Julia Ward Howe, a leader in women’s rights and an ardent abolitionist. With America plunged into the depths of Civil War, Howe traveled to Washington and toured a nearby Army camp on the Potomac. She heard soldiers singing a tribute to John Brown, hanged in 1859 for leading an insurrection to free the slaves.
Inspired by what she had seen and heard, Howe returned for the evening to her lodging at the Willard Hotel. She woke in the early dawn with the words of this hymn fully formed in her thoughts. She hastily scrawled them on a scrap of paper and returned to sleep, sensing that something of importance had happened.
Howe’s poem was published in February of 1862. Set to music, Howe’s work became the battle hymn of the Union Army’s efforts to again unite the country and put an end to slavery. Let us sing “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.”
Our final hymn “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” has been adopted as an anthem by the United States Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force. It was written in 1860 by William Whiting, an Anglican churchman from Winchester, England. Whiting grew up near the ocean and at the age of thirty-five had felt his life spared by God when a violent storm nearly claimed the ship he was travelling on, instilling a belief in God’s command over the sea.
Years later, as headmaster of the Winchester College Choristers’ School, Whiting was approached by a student about to travel to the United States, who confided an overwhelming fear of the ocean voyage. Whiting shared his experiences of the sea and wrote this hymn to “anchor the faith” of his student. In writing it, Whiting was inspired by Jesus stilling the storm and Psalm 107, which describes the power of God to preserve us amid the fury of the sea. Let us sing “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.”
Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Joann White 