Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
A famous Quaker poet, who disliked too much emotion in worship, wrote a poem about it. Before long it became a classic! Here’s the story behind John Greenleaf Whittier’s hymn.
Welcome to another Friday Classic Hymn. Today's hymn is unusual in that the author probably would not like that we're doing this video about it. So stay tuned for more.
What do you know about "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind"? Some people seem to think this is one of the most popular hymns out there, but I've never heard it before, although that doesn't say much. I haven't heard most of these Friday classics that I do, but even so, it was only in a few of the hymnbooks that I usually use for research. What is your knowledge of the song? If you know it, if you love it, if you've sung it, share all those types of things in the comments below. Please, I'd love to hear your stories, your memories of this song.
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The Story Behind "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind"
Let's talk about the interesting history behind this hymn. It was John Greenleaf Whittier, an American poet who lived in the 1800s, who wrote the song. He wrote this at about the age of 65.
He was born and raised on a farm in Massachusetts, working until the age of 20. He was born into a Quaker family. The Quakers were a religious group who very much valued silence and quiet meditation. They didn't believe in traditional church with its hierarchies, its songs, its priests and all of that sort of thing. They were very much more into silent contemplation and a different form of spirituality in that way.
He quickly developed a great skill for poetry. When his sister sent one of his poems to the editor of a local publication, he was so impressed that he began to publish his work. This man actually ended up encouraging Whittier to pursue an education in journalism, which he did and ended up having quite a successful career in that field.
Shortly before the Civil War, Whittier was involved in a publication called The Atlantic Monthly, and he would publish poems and other writings of his in this magazine. Being a passionate abolitionist, his writing often had that sort of a bent to it, and he was widely respected for his writings of this nature.
It was a poem of his published in this magazine that we know as "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind", although that's not what he titled the poem. The poem was actually called "The Brewing of Soma", and this is very interesting. This poem was all about this substance called soma that Hindu priests used to take to get themselves into a frenzy. It was a hallucinogenic type of substance. They would brew this in a drink and they would go off their minds as part of their religious experience - going into a kind of frenzy to try and connect with gods.
Now, Whittier, being a Quaker who didn't like noise and emotion in worship, compared Christian worship of the day, especially with its camp meetings and revival meetings in the late 1800s in America, to the brewing of soma by the Hindu priests. He felt that they were using music to stir up and whip up the emotions of the people. He wrote in this poem how he disagreed with that. You’ll see that some of his words are talking against a kind of enthusiasm or overly emotional way of worship. Again, this comes back to his Quaker background - it makes me think he would probably hate what we're doing here and most Christian music of the day! He'd probably think I was doing the same thing - creating a kind of frenzy that shouldn't be there.
The great irony is that, while he had never intended to write any hymns, his poems were used in many hymns. In fact, it's said that of all the American writers, he's probably the most prolific because so many of his poems were used in hymns.
He died in 1892, an old man buried with a simple Quaker funeral. Today there is actually a house called the Amesbury House, which is kind of a shrine left in His honour in that part of the world.
Just before he died, I think it was about five years before, a man named Frederick Maker put this tune to his words. So it became a popular hymn. Many people still sing it today. These were his words, words that we sing today as a beautiful hymn. Even though his intention was to come against emotionalism in Christian worship, these words still speak to us today, as we shall see.
What Do the Lyrics of "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" Mean?
Let's have a look at what he wrote.
Verse 1
"Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways."
He's addressing God as the Lord and as our Father, very much like Jesus did in the Lord's Prayer, of course. "Forgive our foolish ways." Now, what he apparently actually wrote was "forgive our feverish ways". So that again applies to this whole concern of his that Christian worship is too emotional, too frenzied.
"Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives Thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise."
He's saying there's no need to go over the top and to go crazy when, in quiet, rightful thinking, we can worship God with deeper reverence. This reminds me of how in my Rock of Ages video, which I encourage you to go watch. I sing two versions of the hymn - one is the traditional version, very gentle, and then I play a version that my friend Rich wrote, which is a 12-bar blues rock type of thing. It's interesting to see the comments! A lot of people take a very Whittier-like approach and say, "This is terrible, how could you do this to such a hymn? It's awful." Others say, "But this is great. It's giving us the passion to worship gladly with."
I always watch those comments with a smile. He would have hated it! He would have hated "Rock of Ages" rocked up. But I hear other people saying, "I can't get into the words with this type of music, and I respect it." For other people, that type of music helps them get into the words. But for some of us, we need the quiet and more gentle ways and more gentle music to get into the depth of these words and to praise in deeper reverence. Maybe that's you. Maybe you like this channel because I just sit at the piano and play stuff gently most of the time. That helps you to get into a deeper reverence and praise of God. That's great, but maybe we should allow for people who like to express things more passionately.
Verse 2
"In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian Sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word,
rise up and follow Thee."
Jesus, beside the Sea of Galilee, or the Syrian Sea as he called it, calls the disciples to follow Him. He says it's simple faith and simple trust. We hear God's call, and without a word even, we drop our nets and follow. Remember how they just dropped their nets and followed Jesus? He's saying we shouldn't have to use lots of words in our worship, but we can keep it simple and just simply trust Him and follow Him.
Some people would agree, and some people especially dislike some of the modern worship where we go on and on. I did sing a song that's a verse, a chorus, a verse and another chorus, and it takes us ten minutes because we keep pushing into the same words. I agree that sort of stuff drives me nuts. I want to just take in the words for what they are, sing them, receive them and go on, and perhaps use a little bit more silence here and there. But I don't know if he is quite correct in saying we need to just follow Jesus without a word. I see the disciples engaging with Jesus, talking to Him, and I think we do that in our worship. Yes, we rise up and follow Him in simple obedience, but it's okay to, in unity, sing to Him.
Verse 3
"O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!"
He's painting a picture now of Jesus kneeling in the hills in a Sabbath rest there in Galilee. Again, he's trying to evoke this kind of peaceful Sabbath where we don't say much. We just, in the quiet, listen for God. That was the Quaker way. I can appreciate that. I think we don't do that enough. I think we don't stay silent long enough, but perhaps we should do more silent Sabbaths and restful retreats in this way, like Jesus who knelt down in the quiet and withdrew so that He could pray and spend time with God. Maybe we need to do that.
But once again, I agree only in part, because I see that. But I also see Paul saying, "Sing songs of praise and thanksgiving and build each other up by singing spiritual songs." I think that there's a time to be quiet and a time to make a bit of noise.
Verse 4
"Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace."
"Ordered lives" - that's what strikes me there. In this case, I agree with him. I've always struggled when I go to churches where there's chaos and where people are going berserk and running around and laughing and falling on the floor. I remember how Paul in the Bible, in his letters, had to say to the early churches, "People come into your meetings and I don't know what's going on. You need to order things, and you need to keep things simple and not go over the top." Maybe that's what he's alluding to here. A type of worship that is too over the top and without any order doesn't really help.
I always say that the Spirit leads us in our preparation more than anything else, and if we're not prepared, we just walk in and say, "Spirit, lead me." That's a recipe for disaster. But if you take the time to prepare and say, "Spirit, lead me," He will do that. So he is favouring a quiet type of worship here, where the beauty of His peace and a sense of order comes about. That's great. There's a time to be quiet and to receive the dews of quietness in God's presence. Maybe we don't do it enough.
When we do, I like how it says here, "Take from our souls the strain and stress." Maybe in the quiet, in the gentleness of worship, God does that. As we meet Jesus in that place, He lifts our burdens. But again, I think there's a time to make a bit of noise. I'll say it again.
Verse 5
"Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!"
He's calling to mind the famous story of Elijah on the mountain and how God wanted to speak to him. In the earthquake, the wind and the fire, God wasn't there, but it was in the still, small voice that God spoke. Beautiful story in the Bible of how God speaks in the quiet. Sometimes we can turn off all the noise and get into a silent space where we can hear Him speak. The Quakers were very good at this. They favoured that type of thing. So, of course, Whittier wanted that.
"Breathe through the heats of our desire" - we don't want to be all aflame with desires. Instead, be cool and calm in God's presence. So there's a balance here. There's a balance. God is going to speak in a voice of calm. But, you know, remember, there were also psalms where God's voice thunders. Go and have a look and read Psalms for how many times the psalmist talks about God's voice thundering in the heavens and that sort of thing. It has to be both. There's a time for one and a time for another.
Conclusion
Looking at this, I can see the song being used in worship in quiet moments so that we can gather our thoughts, prepare ourselves to hear from God. I can see the worth of singing a song like this and reflecting on that sort of thing - of being quiet so that God can speak. But I also feel that the Scriptures are filled with making joyful noise, praising God with clanging cymbals and stuff like that. So I think it's got to be both. I think you've got to be able to worship in both quiet reverence and in joyful, loud praise.
But he has a point. He has a point. Certainly there is a call for times of quiet, times of simplicity in worship, moments of gentleness, and I hope that a song like this will help us get there.
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References
Bradley, I. (1989). The Penguin Book of Hymns. Penguin Group: London
Colquhoun, F. (1986). More Preaching on Favourite Hymns. Mowbray: London
Osbeck, K.W. (1985). 101 More Hymn Stories. Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids
United Methodist Discipleship Ministries: "History of Hymns: 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind'"
Hymnary.org: "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind"
