The Old, Old Story

A double feature today as we look at two hymns inspired by Katherine Hankey's lovely poem about "The old old story of Jesus and His love". Perhaps you are familiar with "Tell Me the Old Old Story" or perhaps you know "I Love To Tell the Story". Both come from her writing, written in the worst period of her life.

Today's Friday Classic is actually a double feature: two hymns that are very closely related. I'd love to know which one you know, if you sing them both, or if you're only familiar with one. But it's all based around this phrase about the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I remember my minister growing up, Derek Wilson, used to talk about the old, old story of Jesus and His love. We never really sang this hymn - we'd moved past the hymns at that point - but he'd say this phrase about “the old, old story”. In fact, when I was training for the ministry, I was fortunate enough to spend four years at eMseni Methodist Church - Derek had retired, but I could spend a lot of time with him and really be mentored by him for this role.

One of the things I remember was I would often attend the funerals that he conducted. Either I was playing the songs, doing the music, or doing the tech. I would sit and do the sound, and I would observe how he conducted funerals. I remember how often at a funeral, Derek would say that he wanted to tell “the old, old story of Jesus and His love”. So this phrase has been in my mind for a long time, and learning about this hymn - or these two hymns that it relates to - has been special.

The two hymns are "I Love to Tell the Story" and "Tell Me the Old, Old Story". Which one do you know? Are you familiar with them both, or only one? What stories can you share in the comments below of these hymns being part of your life? Please share those - I'd love to read your thoughts and reflections.

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The Story Behind "The Old Old Story"

Arabella Catherine Hankey was born in 1834 in England, and she was born into a wealthy family who were faithful Anglicans. But unlike some of the Anglicans of the day, they were quite evangelical and quite passionate about Jesus being part of your everyday life. It was more common in those days in the Anglican Church for Anglicans to be more concerned about sacraments and church rituals than taking Jesus to the world. But Hankey's family was part of what was known as the Clapham Sect, a group of Anglicans in one part of London that really had the zeal for the Lord and for spreading His gospel that was unusual for their time.

Members of the Clapham Sect were often quite high-standing members of society, and they took the message of Jesus to their workplaces, to society, in all sorts of different ways. Kate Hankey, as she was known, was one who did this once she caught on to this enthusiastic faith that her parents had. She began to live it out in the same way. In particular, she would teach Bible studies to the ladies of her age in London who were working in different places. She wanted to teach them about this Jesus and the life that He offered.

She also published some books and ended up using the royalties from those books to support the work of foreign missions. Her love for mission work came about when she came to South Africa - my home country! She came out here to take care of her brother, apparently, who wasn't doing well. It's said that she travelled South Africa in ox wagons - the most common mode of transport at the time. She travelled around and experienced some of the hard life here in South Africa in those times, and developed this love not only for missions and spreading the gospel to remote places, but also for reaching out to people who were struggling and who were going through difficult times in their lives.

In later years, she would spend a lot of time visiting with the sick and hospitalised, and it was this love that she learnt in these harsh circumstances that compelled her to do that.

Not only that, but it was her own sickness that compelled her to do that. That's where the story of these two hymns comes in - you see, at the age of 30, Kate became extremely sick. Nobody quite knows what sickness it was, but she was down and out on her bed for a long, long time. It was during this time that she was recovering from the sickness, and she couldn't really do anything else, that she wrote two beautiful poems - or perhaps you might think of it as one poem in two sections.

The first section was called "The Story Wanted", and it talks about how she's longing to hear the old, old story and to hear it in a simple way as a child. This became the hymn "Tell Me the Old, Old Story", which has become a children's classic.

The second part of her poem was a long 50 verses or so, which walks you through the Bible and tells you the story of Jesus. It's beautiful to read this whole poem of hers. You can find it online, and I'll put a link here for you to see how she tells it. It was published as "The Story Told".

So she had "The Story Wanted" and "The Story Told". The second half, "The Story Told", became the basis for "I Love to Tell the Story". Various lines from those 50 verses were taken out and pieced together to form a singable hymn.

So out of her sickness came this beautiful poem and two beautiful hymns. The first one, "Tell Me the Old, Old Story", is really a children's song. It became a children's classic, and the tune for this one was written by William Howard Doane. He was attending a YMCA meeting, and the man who was speaking gave this passionate plea for the gospel and story of the gospel, and ended it with some of the words from this poem of Kate Hankey's. Doane was so overcome with emotion by what he'd heard that he got hold of those words and wrote this beautiful tune that very night. He and a bunch of people sang it, and it became a very popular hymn. In fact, Doane has written about how surprised he was at how popular it became.

But perhaps you know the other one: "I Love to Tell the Story". This tune was written by William Fischer, who was a musician in Philadelphia and a piano dealer. He wrote a beautiful tune, and that one also became very popular. It was used a lot in evangelical crusades and those sorts of events in the years to come.

Let's take a look at the words, shall we, of these two hymns? Let's see why they're so popular.

What Do the Lyrics of "The Old Old Story" Mean?

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" comes from her original poem, "The Story Wanted". It was eight verses, which we typically sing doubled up. So we sing four verses with one and two, three and four, five and six, and so on. So let's look at the first verse that she wrote.

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" - Verse 1

Tell me the old, old story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and His glory,
of Jesus and His love.

"Unseen things above" - this makes me think of Paul's words in Colossians about fixing our minds on things above, not on earthly things. He wanted the Christians of his day to not be so concerned about earthly things that would pass away, but to remember their eternal home. Of course, you don't want to be, as they say, so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good. The Gospels and the New Testament do present a faith that is plugged into the world around us, transforming the earth by the grace of God. But of course, there are these unseen things above that are the basis of our faith: Christ's ascension on the throne and who God is. These are visible in a sense, but of course, in the fullness of reality, they're unseen, out of our sight for now.

Tell me the story simply,
as to a little child,
for I am weak and weary
and helpless and defiled.

She wants to hear it in a simple way. That's interesting. A lot of people today want to hear the gospel in a complicated way - the kind of deep, philosophical understanding. But maybe that's not always what we need. Maybe sometimes we need to be put back into a child-like position and hear it simply. The hymn goes on:

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" - Refrain

Tell me the old, old story,
tell me the old, old story,
tell me the old, old story
of Jesus and His love.

That's the refrain that's repeated after each of these verses. We all need to hear this old, old story, and Hankey's talking about the fact that Christ's message is an old message. It's a message that's stood the test of time.

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" - Verse 2

Tell me the story slowly,
that I may take it in -
that wonderful redemption,
God's remedy for sin.

She wants to slow down and hear it, because the story of redemption is the remedy for sin. We all need that remedy for our sin.

Tell me the story often,
for I forget so soon.
The early dew of morning
has passed away at noon.

This is such beautiful imagery - that the freshness of the morning, when you remember what God's done, can pass away by noontime if you don't keep remembering it, keep recalling it to your mind. She talks about how she forgets so soon, which is why we need to keep reminding ourselves of this story. That's why we sing hymns like this and talk about Jesus, because we all have this tendency to forget who He is and what He's done.

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" - Verse 3

Tell me the story softly,
with earnest tones and grave.
Remember I'm the sinner
whom Jesus came to save.

She's reminding the teller of the story to remember who she is - a sinner whom Jesus came to save. That's who we all are. We are sinners, and Jesus has come to save us. We're not good people trying to do better. We're sinners desperately needing a Saviour, and we need to remember that.

Tell me that story always,
if you would really be
in any time of trouble
a comforter to me.

The story itself is the comfort. We don't need platitudes or nice words. What we need in our trouble is to hear again the story of Jesus and His love.

"Tell Me the Old, Old Story" - Verse 4

Tell me the same old story
when you have cause to fear
that this world's empty glory
is costing me too dear.

She wants to be reminded when worldly things are taking hold of her heart - when the glory of this world is costing her too much. That's when we need to hear the old, old story again.

Yes, and when that world's glory
is dawning on my soul,
tell me the old, old story:
Christ Jesus makes me whole.

When the world's glory is dawning on her soul and she's being tempted by it, she needs to hear that Christ Jesus makes her whole. Not the world's glory, but Christ.

"I Love to Tell the Story" - Verse 1

Now let's look at "I Love to Tell the Story", which comes from the second part of her poem. This is more of an evangelistic hymn, where the singer is the one sharing the story rather than requesting to hear it.

I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and His glory,
of Jesus and His love.

It's interesting that this verse is almost identical to the first verse of "Tell Me the Old, Old Story". She's taken those same words and made them about telling the story rather than hearing it.

I love to tell the story
because I know it's true.
It satisfies my longings
as nothing else can do.

Why does she love to tell the story? Because she knows it's true. That's the foundation - the truth of the gospel. It satisfies her longings in a way that nothing else can. Have you found that to be true? Does the gospel satisfy your longings? It should, because it's the answer to the deepest longings of our hearts.

"I Love to Tell the Story" - Refrain

I love to tell the story;
it will be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and His love.

This is the refrain that William Fischer added. Apparently Hankey didn't like that at all, but this is the refrain he wrote. One day when we're in glory, this will be our theme - to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

"I Love to Tell the Story" - Verse 2

I love to tell the story;
more wonderful it seems
than all the golden fancies
of all our golden dreams.

Anything we can think of or dream up - the story of Jesus is just greater still. It's more wonderful than anything we can imagine.

I love to tell the story,
it did so much for me,
and that is just the reason
I tell it now to thee.

Why does she tell the story? Because it did so much for her. She can't help but share it, because if it did so much for her, it can do so much for anyone.

"I Love to Tell the Story" - Verse 3

I love to tell the story;
'tis pleasant to repeat.

Maybe some Christians don't feel this. It feels strenuous and stressful to repeat it to some of us, but it shouldn't be. It should be our joy to tell of the love of Jesus. Of course, we need to do it in kind and thoughtful and appropriate ways. But is it pleasant to tell of Jesus in your life? I hope so.

What seems each time I tell it
more wonderfully sweet.

I think this is true. The more you tell the story and the more used to it you get, the more pleasant and sweet it gets. Just start telling your story, and it'll get easier the more you do it.

I love to tell the story,
for some have never heard
the message of salvation
from God's own holy Word.

There's our motivation. Some have never heard the story of what Jesus can do, so we tell it. I'm amazed how often I speak to people who don't quite understand the gospel. They call themselves Christians, even, but they've never quite understood what Jesus did. Despite being in church and hearing all sorts about Jesus, I think all the different things that are said of Jesus get mixed up, but they don't understand that Jesus's death is what reconciles us to God. They don't know what that means.

Sometimes you have to tell the message of salvation from the Holy Word to people who think they already know it. Maybe you need to make sure you know what the real gospel is - that Christ's death on the cross has made a bridge between us and God. Our sin made a big gap between us and God, but what Christ did on the cross bridged that gap, so we can be reconciled to God by His love. Tell that story, because so many people don't know it.

"I Love to Tell the Story" - Verse 4

I love to tell the story,
for those who know it best
seem hungering and thirsting
to hear it like the rest.

Even if you've heard it 100,000 times, if this is your life - you're saved by Christ and He is your everything - oh, you're hungry and thirsty to hear it again and again. I love how she ends it here:

And when, in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song,
'twill be the old, old story
that I have loved so long.

Isn't that awesome? The new song that we see in the book of Revelation that the saints are singing in heaven is actually the old story. New song, but old story, because all it's about is the love of Jesus and our glorifying Him because of it.

Conclusion

Two beautiful hymns come out of the same poem, and I hope you can read the poem. We're going to sing them both, and I hope you'll sing along.

I just want to say thank you to those who support me on Patreon. Just a reminder that free downloads of all the music I release are available on my Patreon. You're welcome to check that out. So many of you support me on PayPal as well. I'm so grateful that you support the work I do so kindly. Thank you.

References

Sources I used for this video:
- Mclelland, J. 1994 The Ambassador Book of Great Hymn Stories. Ambassador Productions Ltd: Belfast
- Bradley, I. 1989. The Penguin Book of Hymns. Penguin Group: London
- Osbeck, K.W. 1985. 101 Hymn Stories. Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids