The Melody

There is much to be said about the music of yesteryear.....most were written by true life lessons....good or bad situations brought forth songs of praise, of pain or  worship....many came as poems or poetry and later set to music and some came completely together.

I love our praise and worship music...it moves me deeply...but songs from the church hymnal ( and some of you do not know what that is...lol) has a depth that takes me back to my roots....my beginning this long wondrous walk with my Jesus, my Savior & Lord.

I think about the song " Sweet hour of Prayer " and sing it often. It was written by a blind uneducated evangelist in England,W.W. Walford and sent over to the New York Observer newspaper by Rev Thomas Salmon because he thought it something worth preserving....W.W. Walford could recite the Psalms like no one could believe and quote the scriptures & bring them to life. It was sent as a form of poetry later set to music by William B. Bradbury and published in the Methodist Hymnal in 1878....the words that say ' Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer that draws me from a world of care" rings in my spirit many times and brings me to the place that I can lay aside thing of this world & spend sweet time with my Lord in prayer.

Another song that is from hymnal from years ago and seldom found in the hymnal's of today....." The Ninety and Nine ". written as a poem by Elizabeth
 Clephane in the late 1800's. It is based on the scriptures in Matthew 18: 10 - 14 & Luke 15: 1 - 7.Ira Sankey worked for Dwight L. Moody, the world renown evangelist . While preaching in Scotland Ms Clephane gave the poem to Mr Sankey, who was the music leader for the crusades...that night he could night find the right song for the sermon "  The Good Shepherd "...then he remember the poem in his pocket, pulled it out and the musical melody just came to him by the Spirit...after he played the first verse he was wondering if he could remember it to get through the other four verses, but God intervened and the song was birthed....this reminds me that if we stray or have loved ones stray, we are assured that He will do whatever it takes to find that one lost sheep and keep them safe in the fold.

Melodies of old stand firm in the Word and give us hope for life and strength to face whatever comes our way.....music is healing for our souls, our spirits and our life. They are there and always will be there for us.....Just remember to draw on  the melodies that the Lord sent as a blessing

Blessings Always

Mary