Mark 9:30-37
Text: Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944) Tune: Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944)
1. There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.
R/ O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God;
Hold us, who wait before Thee,
Near to the heart of God.
2. There is a place of comfort sweet,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where we our Savior meet,
Near to the heart of God.
R/
3. There is a place of full release,
Near to the heart of God;
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God.
R/
REFLECTION
Many of the hymns we love most were written by faithful Christians who were facing some existential crisis filled with great suffering. Emily Dickinsen wrote once, “I like a look of agony/because I know ‘tis true.” This hymn was written in a moment of agony. The author was deeply distressed by the diphtheria that proved fatal for two of his nieces. He wrote this hymn to find comfort not only for himself but also for the others. It is said that friends and family gathered outside the house and sang it for the girls and their family inside because the home was under strict quarantine.
The anxiety, fear and despair of the author are not noted or expressed in the hymn. All we can know is that these words of great wisdom, faith and comfort came out of and spoke to such an awful situation. They are immensely healing. We cannot expect to live a Christian life without suffering—Martin Luther counts it as one of the marks of the church. According to Jordan Peterson, the current spiritual and biblical guru, suffering is what life is and is what causes us to grow. Only by facing our suffering do we truly live. The strife we go through, if we live truthfully and wisely, gives us the faith and serenity to sing this hymn with cheer.
Jesus speaks to his disciples about his coming death and it obviously baffles and terrifies them. It is also disappointing to hear them arguing just after he says this. about who will be the greatest in his kingdom. They still think that Jesus is going to set up an earthly government and they want place in the bureaucracy. Jesus upbraids them with the truth that his is a different kind of kingdom than they are imagining, one where the first shall be last and the last first. He then points to a little child in their midst whose faith is the model he holds up for them.
That is the kind of faith one hears in this sweet hymn for children and their suffering parents. Jesus is the one who brings us “near to the heart of God.” There can be no fear there.
At present we are an anxious and fearful people, very worried about the future. I find it as difficult as any to be serene and calm in the midst of it. so I need hymns like this one. It doe not simply tell me about peace and quiet, and help me through my suffering, it actually gives me "joy and rest/Near to the heart of God.” Peace.
HYMN INFO
Born in Missouri to a father who founded Park College in Parkville, Missouri, McAfee went to Union Theological Seminary and returned to the college to teach philosophy, and serve as choir director, pastor and dean. He left in 1901 to become pastor of First Presbyterian of the Lafayette Avenue Church of Brooklyn. Later, he taught at McCormick Theological Seminary from 1912-1930.
He was moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States for some time.
LINKS
Kaoma Chende Gospel
Fountainview Academy
Greg Howlett/Piano and instrumental
Erin Bates/piano