Hi

This is a little project, that as you can see, has been in a stack of notes for 10 years.

Don’t Skip the Third Verse!

Hymns With a Verse about Death and Dying…and Life Eternal

 

Curated and Commented by Chaplain O. Kris Widmer

There was no attempt to make this an exhaustive list.

Idea:  12/18/2014       Typed Here:  June 2024.

 

There are many hymns that warn us that death is coming and sorrow is common.  These same hymns encourage us with the peace of the resurrection hope and the assurance of eternal life through Jesus. (some are oblique or in metaphor (ie: the river (Jordan)

 

Including ideas of death and sorrow and even one's own mortality is in keeping with Ecclesiastes 7:2-4:  

            2It is better to enter a house of mourning 

than a house of feasting, 

  since death is the end of every man, 

and the living should take this to heart.

3Sorrow is better than laughter, 

for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, 

but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

 

However, in the interest of time, congregations often don’t sing but the first and last verses at the close of a service, especially if the parson has ignored the clock.  But such verses ought not to be skipped, as they contain the reality of death and the hope of life.

 

Many such references are in the third verse (thus the title of this list), but some are in other verses, of course.

 

Please consider the following songs.

The Numbers are from my church’s hymnal from 1985: Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, however many of them are found in the other great hymnals of Christendom.

 

In numerical order.

 

1.   181   Does Jesus Care vs 3

a.   Does Jesus care when I’ve said goodbye to the dearest on earth to me?/ And my said heart aches till it nearly breaks – Does Jesus care?  Does He see?

2.   185   Jesus is All The World To Me. Vs 4

a.   Jesus is all the world to me / I want no better friend / I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when / Life’s fleeting days shall end. / Beautiful life with such a friend; / Beautiful life that has no end; / Eternal life, eternal joy / He’s my Friends.

3.   186   I’ve Found a Friend vs 4

a.   From Him, who loveth me so well, What power my soul can sever?  Shall life or death or earth or hell?  No. I am His forever.

4.   187   Jesus.  What a Friend of Sinners vs 3

a.   Jesus! What a Help in sorrow!  / While the billows (of Jordan) o’er me roll, / Even when my heart is breaking,/ He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

5.   205   Gleams of the Golden Morning vs 4

a.   There those loved ones who have long been parted will all meet that day;/ the tears of those who are broken hearted will be wiped away.

6.   253   There’s No Other Name vs 2 & 5

a.   There’s no other name like Jesus / When the heart with grief is sad. / There’s no other name like Jesus / When the heart is free and glad.

b.   If He wills that death’s cold finger / Touch my feeble, mortal clay / Then ‘tis well if only Jesus / Is my dying trust and stay.

7.   300   Rock of Ages vs 3

a.   While I draw this fleeting breath / when mine eyes shall close in death / when I soar to worlds unknown / see thee on thy judgment throne…

b.   When my pilgrimage I close / Victor o’er the last of foes / When I soar to worlds unknown, 

8.   301   Nearer, Still Nearer vs 4

a.   Nearer, still nearer / while life shall last / ‘Till safe in glory my anchor is cast; through endless ages ever to be (or not to be)

9.   305   Give Me Jesus vs 4

a.   Oh, when I come to die / Oh, when I come to die ‘ O when I come to die / Give me Jesus.

10.                 308  Wholly Thine vs 3

a.   As I cast earth’s transient joys behind, / Come Thou near, Come Thou near / In Thy presence all in all I find, / ‘Tis my comfort here.

11.                 312   Near The Cross vs 4

a.   Near the cross I’ll watch and wait,  / hoping, trusting, ever, / ‘Till I reach the golden strange, just beyond the (Jordan) river.

12.                 321   My Jesus I Love Thee vs 3 & 4

a.   I’ll love thee in life, I will love thee ‘til/in death, / And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; / And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow / If ever I loved Thee, My Jesus ‘tis now.

b.   In mansions of glory and endless delight. / I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright / I’ll sing with a glittering crown on my brow / If Ever I loved Thee, My Jesus ‘tis now.

13.                 328 Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone vs 2

a.   The consecrated cross I’ll bear, / ‘Till He shall set me free (in death); / And then go home my crown to wear / For there’s a crown for me.

14.                 419   Soon Shall The Trump of God vs All

a.   Soon shall the trump of God give out the welcome sound / that shakes death’s silent chamber walls, and breaks the turf-sealed ground.

b.   You dwellers in the dust, Awake, come forth and sing; / Sharp has your frost of winter been, but bright shall be your spring.

c.    ‘Twas sown in weakness here; ‘Twill then be raised in power; / That which was sown an earthly seed shall rise a heavenly flower.

15.                 442   How Sweet Are The Tidings vs 2 and 3

a.   The mossy old graves where the pilgrims sleep / shall be open as wide as before / and the millions that sleep in the mighty deep / Shall live on this earth once more.

b.   There we’ll meet ne’er to part / in our happy Eden home / Sweet songs of redemption we’ll sing….

16.                 478   Sweet Hour of Prayer vs 3

a.   Sweet hour of prayer!  Sweet hour of prayer!  May I thy consolation share / Till from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height I view my home and take my flight. / In my immortal flesh I’ll rise To seize the everlasting prize / and shout while passing through the air “Farewell, Farewell…Sweet hour of prayer!”

b.   Mount Pisgah is where Moses died and was resurrected and taken to heaven, according to a common Christian understanding of the Bible record.

17.                 508   Anywhere With Jesus vs 3

a.   Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep (death = a sleep) / When the gloomy shadows (Ps 23: the valley of the shadow of death) ‘round about me creep, / knowing I shall waken never more to roam / Anywhere with Jesus will be home sweet home.

18.                 511   I Know Whom I Have Believed vs 4

a.   I know not when my Lord may come, / At night or noon-day fair / Nor if I walk the vale (the valley of the shadow of death Psalm 23) with Him, / Or meet Him in the air.

19.                 516   All The Way My Savior Leads Me vs 3

a.   All the way my Savior leads me; O the fullness of his love! / Perfect rest to me is promised In my Father’s house above/ When I wake (I know I’ll die first) to life immortal, Wing my flight to realms of day, / This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way.

20.                 529   Under His Wings  vs 2

a.   Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow! / How the heart yearningly turns to its rest! / Often when earth has no balm for my healing / There I find comfort and there I am blest.

21.                 530   It Well With My Soul vs 1

a.   When peace like a river attendeth my way. / When sorros like sea billows roll – whatever my lot, though hast taught me to say, it is well – it is well with my soul.

b.   Vs 3 – The resurrection is promised.

22.                 534   Will You Anchor Hold? Vs 4

a.   It will surely hold in the floods of death, / when the waters cold chill our latest breath; / on the rising tide it can never fail, / while our hopes abide within the veil.

b.   Vs 5 is the resurrection hope.

23.                 537   He Leadeth Me vs 4

a.   And when my task on earth is done; when, by Thy grace, the victory’s won / E’en death’s cold waves (the river Jordan) I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me.

24.                 538   Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah v3

a.   When I tread the verge (edge) of Jordan / Bid my anxious fears subside; / Death of death and hell’s destruction / Land me safe on Canaan’s side

25.                 590   Trust and Obey vs 3

a.   Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow we share / but our toil He doth richly repay / Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, / but is blest if we trust and obey.

26.                 620   On Jordan’s Stormy Banks vs 1 and 4, but all factor in.

a.   On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye / to Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possessions lie.

b.   Filled with delight, my raptured soul would here no longer stay; Though Jordan’s waves around me roll, fearless I’d launch away. 

27.                 623   I Will Follow Thee vs 5

a.   Though to Jordan’s rolling billows, cold and deep, Thou leadest me / Thou hast crossed the waves before me, and I still will follow Thee. 

28.                 624   I Want Jesus To Walk With Me vs 2

a.   In my trials, Lord, walk with me.  In my trials, Lord, walk with me; When the shades of life are falling, I want Jesus to walk with me.

29.                 626   In a Little While We’re Going Home vs 4

a.   There’s a rest beyond, there’s relief from every care, in a little while we’re going home; and no tears shall fall in that city – bright and fair. In a little while we’re going home.

30.                 632   Until Then vs 1 and 2

a.   My heart can sing when I pause to remember: “A heartache here is but a stepping stone along a trail that’s winding always upward, this troubled world is not my final home.”

b.   The things of earth will dim and loose their value, if we recall they’re borrowed for a while; And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble; remembered there will only bring a smile.

c.    But until then, my hear will go on singing.  Until then, with joy I’ll carry one.  Until the day my eyes behold the city.  Until the day God calls me home.

31.                 633   When We All Get To Heaven vs 2

a.   While we walk the pilgrim pathway, clouds will overspread the sky.  But when traveling days are over, not a shadow (the valley of the shadow), not a sigh.

32.                 Not in Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal

33.                 Stand By Me  

a.   When I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me; / When I’m growing old and feeble, stand by me;/ When my life becomes a burden, and I’m nearing chilly Jordan,/ O thou Lily of the Valley, stand by me.

34.                 Apologies for any typographical errors.

How the Devil Tells the Story of the Prodigal Son

 

How the Devil tells the story of “The Prodigal Son”.

“This is what God is like.”      (Remember, he is a liar)

In the spirit of “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis

 

By Rev. O. Kris Widmer

Written April 1 and 2, 2024

 

There was once a rich and righteous farmer that had two sons. 

 

The younger son said to his father, “I need to get away from you! I’m tired of that boarding school with all the rules.” Well, his father said “Well then.  Leave.  You are cut off.  Give me back the bank card, because it is mine.”

 

Not long after that, that younger son packed up everything he owned, he grabbed the cash he had earned from his working at Togos and left, going to a town far away.  There he couched surfed with a few school friends for a month or two, but soon they stopped taking his calls.  He found work in an “Adult Store” for a while, until one of his customers told him he could make more money faster as a prostitute. “I thought only women did that?” He asked.  “Oh please! You know nothing, Honey.  There are lots of men – both straight and gay that would be happy to spend some time with you.   You have the body for it.”  

 

He thought about the gay feelings he had experienced for many years. He thought about how his father wouldn’t approve…but he’d already burned that bridge. His friend showed him the web sites to set up his profiles, and soon the calls started coming on his burner phone.  And he got a steady boyfriend.

 

But, soon he got sick and got tested.  AIDS, even though he had always used condoms.   The calls stopped coming.  He was left begging on the street with a cardboard sign to support his drug habit and give him a bite to eat occasionally.

 

One day, as he shivered in the median at a stop light, he got to thinking…about home.  “My father's workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving…and shivering to death! (He had slept that night beside the dumpster behind Walmart.) I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your field hands.’  (And I know it is risky, but I’m going to ask my boyfriend to come with me.)

 

So…The younger son went back to their camp, told his boyfriend his plan and they started back to his father.

 

When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. (He was watching the road through binoculars!) His father became angry and he muttered under his breath; “I knew he’d come crawling back to me some day.”  He grabbed his shotgun – always loaded and always on the porch rail – and ran down the steps and down the road to intercept him, so he would come no closer.

 

His son sputtered out his confession “Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your field hands.’  His father let him finish, for he loved it when sinners groveled at his feet.

 

There were no other family around, or farm hands for they had run too…in the opposite direction.  They avoided this holy man when he was going to deliver one of his righteous rants.

 

The father said “Listen boy. (He points the shotgun in his son’s direction) The day you left you became dead to me.  I said to myself ‘If my son is going to abandon the straight and narrow way that I’ve taught him; well then, he will never have a home with us again.  You’re on your own, boy.”

 

“Is…is…is that a tattoo on your arm?  Didn’t I read you Deuteronomy about that!  And I can only guess (Looking at his boyfriend) how defiled your once holy circumcised privy member is.   Now listen to me, boy.  Go back the way you came. I don’t want your mama to see you like…(looking at his boyfriend again and clicking off the gun’s safety) this.  Now get!”

 

And his younger son and his boyfriend turned around and walked sadly away.

 

The older son had been out in the field hoeing the cantaloupes. But when he saw, from a distance, what had happened at the end of their long driveway, he too came running. 

 

He came over to his father and put his arm around his shoulder in solidarity. “You did the right thing, Dad.  It serves him right for all he’s done.  As you know, I married Miss Purity, and we were both virgins when we wed.  At least I have served you faithfully as a righteous son should. He’s got a lot of hutzpah coming back here, especially hand and hand…with a man. He knows the story of Adam and Eve!  I hope I never see him again.

 

 “You’re right, my son, and you won’t” his father replied, pulling is righteous and obedient son closer in their one armed hug. “I’m so glad you have never strayed.  You know what will happen if you do, right?  He’s gone now, and we should be glad and celebrate…maybe I’ll even dance.  He’d dead to us.  Now let’s go into the house.  I think I smell some of that tender tri-tip your Mama makes.  Call your friends.”