3 Hymn Writers

Augustus Montague Toplady was one of the finest hymn writers who ever lived. His name stands along side those of the Wesleys, Cowper and Watts, to name just a few. He was born at Farnham in Surrey in 1740 and was educated at Westminster School in London. When his family moved to Ireland he became an undergraduate at Trinity College in Dublin where he graduated a Master of Arts. He regarded his conversion in Ireland as rather remarkable due to the fact that he heard the gospel in a small 'out of the way' barn, under the ministry of a preacher who could hardly spell his name. He said this about his conversion. "The excellency of such power must be of God and cannot be of man. The regenerating Spirit breathes not only on whom, but likewise when and where He listeth".

Toplady's great hymn, 'Rock of Ages' makes it plain that salvation is of the Lord.  

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Not the labours of my hands,

Can fulfil Thy laws demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears for ever flow,

All for sin could not atone,

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress;

Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

When my eyelids close in death,

When I soar through tracts unknown,

See Thee on Thy judgment throne;

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), Scottish divine, youngest son of Adam McCheyne, writer to the signet, was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813. At the age of four he knew the characters of the Greek alphabet, and was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered the high school in his eighth year, and matriculated in November 1827 at Edinburgh University, where he showed very versatile powers, and distinguished himself especially in poetical exercises, being awarded a special prize by Professor Wilson for a poem on 'The Covenanters.' In the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall, under Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh; and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July 1835. In the following November he was appointed assistant to the Rev. John Bonar of Larbert and Dunipace, Stirlingshire. His health, which had never been robust, broke down under the strain of his new office; but his fame as a preacher spread through Scotland, and on 24 November 1836 he was ordained to the pastorate of St. Peter's Church, Dundee, which had been erected into a quoad sacra parish in the preceding May. The congregation numbered eleven hundred hearers, and McCheyne addressed himself to the work of the ministry with so much ardour that his health again gave way, and in December 1838 he was compelled to desist from all public duty. At this time the general assembly of the church of Scotland decided to send a committee to Palestine to collect information respecting the Jews, and McCheyne was included in the number who set sail on 12 April 1839. The record of this journey was written jointly by McCheyne and his companion Andrew Bonar (died 1892), and was published in 1842. After his return at the end of 1839 McCheyne resumed his ministerial duties in Dundee with renewed energy. In the autumn of 1842 he visited the north of England on an evangelical mission, and made similar journeys to London and Aberdeenshire. On his return from the latter place he was seized with sudden illness, and died on Saturday, 25 March 1843. He was buried beside St. Peter's Church, Dundee, where an imposing tombstone marks his grave.

McCheyne devoted all his energies to preaching; and although he was an accomplished Hebrew scholar, he left few permanent proofs of his erudition. He had refined musical taste, and was one of the first of the Scottish ministers to take an active part in the improvement of the congregational service of praise. Long after his death he was constantly referred to as 'the saintly McCheyne.' Several hymns by him — notably that entitled 'When this passing World is done' — are in constant use in the Scottish churches.

Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843)

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,

I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;

Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,

Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,

Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;

But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,

I wept when the waters went over His soul;

Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree

Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,

Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;

No refuge, no safety in self could I see—

Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;

My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came

To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—

Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,

This “watchword” shall rally my faltering breath;

For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,

Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

When this passing world is done,

When has sunk yon glaring sun,

When we stand with Christ on high,

Looking o’er life’s history,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

When I stand before the throne,

Dressed in beauty not my own,

When I see Thee as Thou art,

Love Thee with unsinning heart,

Then Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

When the praise of Heav’n I hear,

Loud as thunders to the ear,

Loud as many waters’ noise,

Sweet as harp’s melodious voice,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know—

Not till then—how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me,

Wakened up from wrath to flee,

Hidden in the Savior’s side,

By the Spirit sanctified,

Teach me, Lord, on earth to show,

By my love, how much I owe.

Hark, my soul, it is the Lord!

’Tis thy Savior, hear His Word;

Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,

“Say, poor, sinner, lovest thou Me?”

“I delivered thee when bound,

And, when bleeding, healed thy wound;

Sought thee wandering, set thee right,

Turned thy darkness into light.

“Can a woman’s tender care

Cease toward the child she bare?

Yes, she may forgetful be,

Yet will I remember thee.

“Mine is an unchanging love,

Higher than the heights above,

Deeper than the depths beneath,

Free and faithful, strong as death.

“Thou shalt see My glory soon,

When the work of grace is done;

Partner of My throne shalt be:

Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me?”

Lord, it is my chief complaint

That my love is weak and faint;

Yet I love Thee, and adore:

O for grace to love Thee more!