SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
THE HYMN STORY
Some people build grand mansions in the world that everyone can see and admire. Some build grand mansions in their souls that can only be glimpsed if we get a chance to see into their inner life. These great inner edifices often result from the outer world being somehow cut off. Such was the case with William Walford of Coleshill, Warwickshire, England. Like the renowned hymn writer Fanny Crosby, he was blind, and also like Fanny Crosby, he had absorbed an extensive inner knowledge of the Kingdom of God.
This would not have been obvious to the casual observer. He was reported to have been ‘of obscure birth and no education’, and tended to sit off in the chimney corner of his little shop, quietly whittling, shaping and polishing bones to make shoe horns and other useful items to sell. But he had become known for his extensive knowledge of the Scripture as well as his communion with the Lord, so he was often asked to fill the pulpit in his Congregational church. His blindness had led him to develop a powerful mind and memory. He could unerringly quote from every part of the Bible, and had a reputation with some folks for knowing the whole Bible by heart.
A friend and neighbor stopped by to visit him once. Thomas Salmon was a Congregational pastor who lived in the area until he left for the United States in 1842. During his visit, the blind man asked him if he would mind copying down some verses he had composed and committed to memory. Salmon obliged and, upon returning to New York, submitted them for publishing to the New York Observer along with the story of how he obtained them. The Observer published these verses in 1845.
About fifteen years later, William Bradbury, who was a New York resident and composer came across this poem. Bradbury composed tunes for a number of hymns still very familiar today --- “Jesus Loves Me”, “He Leadeth Me”, “Just As I Am”, “Jesus Like a Savior Lead Us”, and “The Solid Rock”. When he discovered these words, he put the tune to them that made it the hymn we know today as “Sweet Hour of Prayer”.
While the words convey what must have been William Walford’s inner sense of devotion to His Lord, one observer has noted that the word ‘sweet’, used so prominently here, has an older meaning which may have been on Walford’s mind. At one time it had the connotation of respected, indicating that the hour of prayer is considered esteemed and held in high honor.
William Walford probably never knew that his words had been published, and Thomas Salmon did not live to see the tune added to the words --- a good reminder that we often, maybe almost always, have no idea how God may take our efforts and turn them into a fruitful legacy for His Kingdom.
HYMN LYRICS
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!
There is also a fourth stanza to this hymn, though you rarely see more than three of the four published in any hymnal. It is included here:
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
SOURCES
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/h/o/shop.htm
https://wordwisehymns.com/2012/04/18/sweet-hour-of-prayer/
https://hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/quotsweet-hour-of-prayerquot/
https://hymnary.org/person/Walford_WW
https://sermonwriter.com/hymn-stories/sweet-hour-prayer/
http://www.limerickcitychurch.com/blog/hymn-history-sweet-hour-of-prayer
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-sweet-hour-of-prayer
http://www.homecomingmagazine.com/article/sweet-hour-of-prayer/
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