Robert's Reflections
May 27, 2001

Archive

Frances Jane "Fanny" Crosby & her songs.

Near the Cross, Praise Him Praise Him Redeemed, Tell Me the Story of Jesus, Rescue the Perishing, Jesus is Calling, When Jesus Comes, To The Work, To God Be the Glory, Sing On Ye Joyful Pilgrims, Meet Me There, Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross, Jesus is Tenderly Calling, I Am Thine O Lord, Hide Me O My Savior, A Wonderful Savior Is Jesus My Lord, Blessed Assurance.

Do you recognize any of these titles? More than 50 songs found in our songbooks were written by this amazing lady. She was Frances Jane "Fanny" Crosby (1820-1915). In all she wrote more than 9000 hymns. Blinded at a very early age by a quack doctor, Fanny J. Crosby could have become bitter and filled with resentment. But she was famous among her friends for her happy attitude toward life. No one every heard her sitting back complaining over the darkness of her days.

A friend in England thought she knew the reason Miss Crosby could be so happy and brave, and she wrote the following:

Sweet blind singer across the sea,
Tuneful and jubilant, how can it be
That the songs of gladness, which float so far,
As if it fell from the evening star,
Are the notes of one who never may see
Visible music of flowers and tree?
How can she sing in the dark like this?
What is her fountain of light and bliss?
Her heart can see, her heart can see!
May long she sing so joyously!
For the Lord himself in his tender grace
Hath shown her the brightness of his face.

Obtaining new songbooks and learning new songs is exciting. But we have to remember that we are singing praises to God. While we can and will be entertained during our singing, it would be wise to remember the admonition of Paul in Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Several years ago a preacher stayed overnight at the home of a young couple. He was awakened the next morning by a soprano voice singing, "Nearer, My God to Thee." At breakfast he mentioned to his hostess how pleased he was to hear that lovely old hymn, but that it seemed to go much faster than he had ever heard it sung before. "Oh," replied the hostess, "I guess that's because I wasn't paying too much attention to the words. You see, it's a song my mother used to sing, and I've found that it's a good one to boil eggs by. I just repeat the first verse five times rapidly for soft-boiled, and eight times for hard.

In order to teach and admonish one another by psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we must be thoughtful and sing from the heart. Otherwise we will not be pleasing the Lord, nor will we be able to communicate the message to others effectively.

Lift up your voice and sing the songs, but pay close attention to the words and meaning of each one, and see whether you really mean what you are singing. The Lord is pleased and honored when we express His praises sincerely and with spiritual understanding.

People like Fanny J. Crosby have blessed us greatly. May we sing both the old and new, but may we do so with the spirit and with the understanding also.