Hymn of the Week, a Lenten Journey: February 28, 2022
Hymn of the Week: He Leadeth Me
This Lenten Season:
The devotion has been reprinted with permission of the author, James C. Howell, from his book entitled: Unrevealed Until Its Season: a Lenten Journey with Hymns. Published by Upper Room Books 2021. The book can be found here: https://upperroombooks.com/book/unrevealed-until-its-season/
The next several week’s devotions come to us from a new book that takes us on a Lenten journey, using hymns of our faith. Each day of Lent is represented with a beloved hymn in the book. I will be sharing music and approximately 6 of the many devotionals available in the book.
Text Joseph H. Gilmore 1862
Music William Bradbury 1862
He Leadeth Me
He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
Refrain:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me;
by his own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
for by His hand, He leadeth me.
Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
sometimes where Eden's flowers bloom,
by waters calm, o'er troubled sea,
still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me;
by his own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
for by His hand, He leadeth me.
Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see,
since 'tis my God that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me;
by his own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
for by His hand, He leadeth me.
And when my task on earth is done,
when, by thy grace, the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
since God through Jordan leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me;
by his own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
for by His hand, He leadeth me.
Psalter Hymnal, (Gray)
His Faithful Follower I Would Be
“He Leadeth Me” is sung to such a cheerful tune of major chords with not a hint of dissonance that it would be easy to get lulled into feeling that God’s leading is indeed a “blessed thought…..with heavenly comfort fraught.” Indeed, when God leads us, it is blessed, and there is comfort. And yet, as disciples and saints through history would be happy to remind us, being led by God can and will hurl you into conflicts, confrontations, grief, sacrifice, and even martyrdom.
And so we hesitate. We fantasize that God will lead us into green pastures, beside still waters, and to a banquet of fulfillment. Joseph Henry Gilmore composed this great hymn minutes after concluding a prayer meeting focused on Psalm 23. We yearn to be cute and soft little lambs led to flowing streams by the Good Shepherd! But what is shepherding like? And what are sheep like? The first shepherd I ever saw in the Holy Land was wearing an Elvis t-shirt, slogging around in the mud in green galoshes, swatting his sheep on their hind ends with a switch, and hollering what I assumed were Arabic expletives. The Lord is my shepherd.
Sheep really are dumb. They nibble here, they nibble there…and then they’re lost. Our grave spiritual peril, one we labor to escape during Lent, is that we will dupe ourselves into believing “I’m being led by the Lord” when really we’re just enjoying life, doing nice things with nice people, basking in our health, and success. With some earnestness, we do want to do God’s will, but then we have a hunch, a quivering emotion inside; something appeals to us, and we think This must be God’s leading! But is it really God, the holy and awesome God who led Abraham? Is it God who led Moses into the forge of Pharoah’s anger, who led Elijah into a near-death mountaintop experience while Jezebel was trying to kill him, who led Paul into prison, who led Civil Right’s protestors into beatings and jail, and who led Jesus to the cross?
Gilmore got carried away with his rhymes. He paired “deepest gloom” with “where Eden’s bowers bloom.” Oh my. But there we have it. Adam and Eve were the holiest people ever, free to delight in all the delicacies of God’s Garden. Yet they let themselves be led into disaster, to one of the blooming bowers, the one forbidden tree. Genesis 3 exposes human flaws we all suffer. We have an itch to be like God, to be God.
How do we discern God’s leading? God asks us to do things that are hard, that require courage, sacrifice, and an unflagging zeal no matter the cost. God leads us into the troubles of the world, precisely where Jesus walked every day. God leads us into the dark. We reach for God’s hand. It feels not so much comforting as firm, maybe a bit dirty and bloody: Jesus’ hand stretched out for our salvation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggested that most of us prefer our goodness to doing God’s will. But doesn’t God want us to be good? If we dare to sing “He Leadeth Me,” we dare to realize that God doesn’t ask us to behave or stay out of trouble. Congressman John Lewis always said we should get into some “good trouble.” I wonder if he knew Bonhoeffer’s thought that our goodness can actually block us from God’s will. It’s not about keeping our hands clean. It’s about getting them dirty for God in the real world to work for change on God’s good earth. Being led in this way really is a “blessed thought.” Indeed “and when my task on earth is done,” I want to have stuck closely behind Jesus for days and years, having stumbled and gotten scraped up and bruised countless times. We start now. “His faithful follower I would be.”
Today’s video is presented by our very own Chancel Choir recorded on February 24, 2022, after a great rehearsal Thursday night. Special thanks to Dave Rinehart for recording us!
