Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

The Hymnology of the Church
"I have examined with a good deal of interest, Charles Wesley's hymns on consecration and
sanctification, as given in the Methodist Hymnal--about sixty of them. Their teaching is very clear
in reference to the doctrine of entire sanctification. Over and over is repeated the deep, impassioned
cry, the promise of God, and the way to enter in. That men are to enter now, by faith, is plainly
taught. These hymns give rare, little glimpses of experience which comes after one has entered, but
viewed more as a hope.
"One of these hymns, 'Wrestling Jacob,' thought by some to be the greatest ever written, not only
delineates the way, but dwells upon the glory and triumph of the obtained experience. But why the
fact that all, or nearly all, of those hymns deal only with the transitional period, if it be not that this
was the place where the church at that day largely lived?
"The hymnology of the worship of holy hearts is scarce. The great hymns--those most familiar to
us, which the fathers and mothers have sung--are mostly a cry out of the darkness, a cry for help, the
cry of need. 'Rock of Ages,' 'Jesus Lover of My Soul,' and among another class of singers, 'Nearer
My God to Thee,' and 'Lead, Kindly Light,' are all prized, but are they not chiefly a cry out of the
darkness for light and help?
"I hardly know where to turn for singable hymns of real devotion. We have what is called a rich
hymnology. But the hymns are so largely, simply sentimental, or descriptive, or the cry of an
imprisoned soul for deliverance, or an endangered one for help! I admit, good in their places, but
hardly the songs to be sung by holy hearts at the feet of Him whom we love better than all else. The
songs of worship and adoration--where shall we find them? Now, why this scarcity, except it be from
the scarcity of soil out of which such hymns spring? Much longing, hunger, struggle, theology, but
little real adoration.
"This is why we delight in such songs as that of Mrs. James:
"And that other little chorus, 'Hallelujah, Amen:'
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all beside
So enchained my spirit's vision
Looking at the crucified.
How oft In holy converse
With Christ my Lord alone;
I seem to hear the millions
That sing around His throne.
"We have but little triumphant literature. It is true that we have more of this than we have of
hymnology, in the same way that there is more of life than of genius. We have biographies which
burn and glow, not alone with service, but with red-hot devotion of soul to God. And now and then