The History of Great Hymns

It’s amazing how God can move to reach a heart in seemingly innocuous ways. The hymn writer Philip P. Bliss knew this very well. Many of his hymns were stirred in their origin by a passing phrase uttered by someone close by to Philip. These brief remarks or statements, Philip would use as a foundation for the creation of many of his lyrical works. 

An example of this can be seen when Philip attended a meeting led by the great 19th century evangelist D.L Moody, in Chicago, USA. He had been to many of Moody’s meetings, and had sung for Moody before on these engagements. The site of the meeting was a grand industrial exhibition, and one of the central attractions was a large water fountain. Such was the grandeur of this fountain; it became a meeting point for visitors to the show. Soon the phrase, “Will you meet me at the fountain?” was heard around the halls of the exhibition, prompting the reply, “Yes, that’s easy to find and a beautiful place to wait.” This commonly spoken interchange sparked the creativity of Philip, who used these words to open one of his hymns which sang:

Will you meet me at he fountain?

I shall long to have you near,

When I meet my loving Saviour, 

When his welcome words I hear.’

This method of musical inspiration was used by Philip repeatedly. One of his most famous hymns, Hold The Fort, was written in the same manner.

In October of 1864, during the American Civil War, General Sherman of the Union Army was ready to launch towards Georgia to support Union troops based there. However, General Hood of the Confederates had taken a strong force to storm the Union Army camp at Altoona Pass in Georgia. The battle was fierce, and the smaller Union Army was close to defeat, when one of the defending Union soldiers saw a signal flag being raised in the distance. Peering closely at the flag, a message that read, ‘Hold the fort! I am coming! W.T Sherman’, could be seen. One of the Union soldiers that day was evangelist D.W. Whittle, who would share the tale at a church service in 1870. Philip Bliss was in attendance that night and was struck by the powerful imagery of the account. He went home and quickly wrote the still loved hymn of Hold the fort.

The Lord certainly does move in mysterious ways. He’ll often take a seemingly small and inconsequential statement to open a once closed heart to His Word. Sometimes, as with Philip Bliss, He will use those apparently innocuous words spoken by others, to begin the crafting of a fine work in His name. Truly the Lord can use anyone, anywhere to spread the good news of the Gospel.