Ten

I've mentioned before that I love old hymns, the kind we sang at home and in worship services when I was a boy. Over the years, I've purchased several books which give the background stories of how many great hymns and Gospel songs came to be. Several days ago, I was skimming through one and I came across one of the greats, Ashamed of Jesus, which also goes by the first line title of Jesus And Shall It Ever Be. It told the circumstances of Joseph Grigg penning the lyrics which have been set to music. Grigg had just listened to a sermon based on Mark 8:38 where Jesus states:
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (KJV)

The young Grigg could not believe that anyone could ever be ashamed of our Savior! And when I say young, I mean really young. Grigg wrote the original verses when he was TEN YEARS OLD!!! Later, the wording was cleaned up some but the thoughts were intact and  some verses have almost no modification. (I found verification of the story from other sources so I do not doubt the authenticity.) Guess what I was thinking about when I was at the decade mark? The next ball game and the next cheeseburger. I wrote a blog several years ago how John Milton authored the equally wonderful Let Us With A Gladsome Mind in his youth but Milton was a relative codger at the age of fifteen! Here is Grigg's ten year old Ashamed followed by the standard hymn:

Jesus! and shall it ever be!
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Scorned be the thought by rich and poor;
O may I scorn it more and more!

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star.
Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon
Let midnight blush to think of noon.

’Tis evening with my soul till He,
That Morning Star, bids darkness flee;
He sheds the beam of noon divine
O’er all this midnight soul of mine.

Ashamed of Jesus! shall yon field
Blush when it think who bids it yield?
Yet blush I must, while I adore,
I blush to think I yield no more.

Ashamed of Jesus! of that Friend
On whom for heaven my hopes depend!
It must not be! be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name.

Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may,
When I’ve no crimes to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no joy to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.

Till then (nor is the boasting vain),
Till then I boast a Saviour slain:
And, oh, may this my portion be,
That Saviour not ashamed of me!

Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let night disown each radiant star!
’Tis midnight with my soul, till He,
Bright morning star, bid darkness flee.

Ashamed of Jesus! O as soon
Let morning blush to own the sun!
He sheds the beams of light divine
O’er this benighted soul of mine.

Ashamed of Jesus! that dear friend
On whom my hopes of Heav’n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name.

Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I’ve no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.

Ashamed of Jesus! empty pride!
I’ll boast a Savior crucified,
And O may this my portion be,
My Savior not ashamed of me!

I only wish I could someday write something like that. Praise God for children!

Applicable quote of the day:
As soon as I could write with a little pencil, I was writing these little hymns and illustrating them, and I thought they should be sung in church, but they never were.
 W. S. Merwin

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

    E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org