Hymns Project
We've a Story to Tell to the Nations
softly and tenderly
Softly and Tenderly
Softly and Tenderly is a sweet hymn written by Will. L Thompson in 1880. Thompson was born in East Liverpool, Ohio and studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music and later in Germany. He was a well known composer and lyricist. He started his career writing secular music. He would write music about his home town or his own personal life-lessons he's learned. While he was successful in writing this kind of music, he decided to start his own publishing company to make him one of the most successful music businessmen in America during the 1880s. Soon after he started W. L. Thompson Music Company, he started writing hymns for his church.
Thompson was a part of Church of Christ and started writing for the churches in that denomination. Out of all the hymns he wrote, Softly and Tenderly is his most sung hymn. It is sung in churches outside of the Church of Christ denomination, was sung at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, and has inspired many pastors like Dwight L. Moody.
One of the reasons this hymn speaks so powerfully to people is because of its sweetness, softness, friendliness, and realness. It is a hymn of encouragement. Calling us to realign ourselves with the reality of Jesus and all that he does for us. This hymn was inspired by Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Jesus calling to us, us sinners, and wanting to give us rest. Wanting to give us peace. Thompson is encouraging us to see Jesus in his compassion and care and realize that he so earnestly wants us to come to him with out burdens.
The verses of the hymn speak to our realities as sinful humans and our relationship with Jesus because of it. Because we have sinned "time is fleeting," and "death's night is coming," but Jesus, who has, "mercy and pardon," is calling us home to him. The hymn ends with our cry of praise because of the, "wonderful love he has promised." That we no longer have to live in fear, anxiousness, stress, sadness, but can live in mercy and tenderness of Jesus' love!
That is why I was so moved when I read through this hymn for the first time. I was touched by the image of Jesus' love being soft and tender, wholesome and caring. I loved how the verses progressed from a reminder of what Jesus has done for us, the reality of our sins and burdens, and the praise that comes when we give it to Jesus and come running home to him. In my version of the hymn I wanted to highlight all of that through the soft piano and voices into the gentle build of the last chorus. I hope that when you listen to it, you would be met by Jesus' soft and tender love that so desperately wants you close to him!
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.
Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.
We've a Story to Tell to the Nations
We've a Story to Tell to the Nations is an encouraging song written by H. Ernest Nichol in 1896. Nichol was born in Yorkshire England and attended Oxford University originally planning to study engineering. However, his plans changed when he realized the beauty, impact, and natural talent he had for composing music. He changed his major to Music and graduated from Oxford. Not much else is known about Nichol other than he began to write hymns for his Sunday school and that his how his work became known. He wrote around 44 hymns that describe the story of Jesus, his personal faith, and challenging the Church to fulfill their mission.
In this hymn, Nichol encourages the Church to live out the Great Commission. This hymn is a story of the Church and its mission to go out and "make disciples of all nations." Nichol frames the song through verses that tell a part of the Gospel story. Starting with the simple truth that the Gospel is life-changing, then goes into more details about the goodness of our God and Savior who loves the whole world.
An interesting detail about this hymn is that the mission of the Gospel is introduced differently at the start of each verse. First it starts with a story, then a song, then a message, and then a Savior. All these different aspects show a different joy of the Gospel. He draws our attention to the different ways we can bring the Gospel to the nations, the reasons why, and who we are talking about. The first verse talking about how the nations will respond to this Good News. The second, how the Lord is for the nations. Third, how a God of love rules over every nation. And lastly, the truth of Jesus' sacrifice to be the Savior of the World.
In the chorus, Nichol focuses on the goal of the Great Commission: to see God's Kingdom here on earth as in Heaven. That when we share the love of God, the kingdom of darkness is pushed back and "Christ's great kingdom shall come to the earth." To see God reign over the world should be the heart's desire of the Church because Jesus is worthy of every nation.
The reason this hymn stood out to me was because we do not sing many songs about commission. We dont't often find ourselves singing words of encouragement for the Church to go out and preach, teach, and make disciples. This is something I am very excited by and wanted to make this hymn exciting as well. The way I played it reminded me of a summer camp campfire worship session that hypes all the kids up. I want that to happen when we hear this song. That we would be excited as a Church to spread God's love and Gospel to the nations and see all the world know him as their Lord and Savior!
We’ve a story to tell to the nations,
That shall turn their hearts to the right,
A story of truth and mercy,
A story of peace and light,
A story of peace and light.
For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
We’ve a song to be sung to the nations,
That shall lift their hearts to the Lord,
A song that shall conquer evil
And shatter the spear and sword,
And shatter the spear and sword.
We’ve a message to give to the nations,
That the Lord who reigns up above
Has sent us His Son to save us
And show us that God is love,
And show us that God is love.
We’ve a Savior to show to the nations,
Who the path of sorrow has trod,
That all of the world’s great peoples
Might come to the truth of God,
Might come to the truth of God.