a Hymn Devotion for 22 July 2025, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (Genesis 13:12-13)
F.E. Belden (1858-1945) was a talented American hymnist who was able to condense sermons to poetry and put them to music simultaneously as they were being preached. Just as Holy Scripture contrasts light and darkness, this hymn plays on that theme by the contrasting the decision of Lot with the Narrow Way that leads up to Paradise. The tune is also by Belden entitled, Are You Tenting on the Lowlands.
KEEP TENTING TOWARD THE HIGHLANDS
1 Are you tenting on the lowlands
Of the fated, flow’ry plain?
Are you nearing life’s high mountains,
As the night comes on again?
Chorus:
Keep tenting toward the highlands,
Each evening nearer home,
Keep tenting toward the highlands,
Keep tenting nearer home.
2 Does fair Sodom in her glory
Beckon you with ease or gain?
Heed her awful judgment story;
Linger not, her joys are vain. [Chorus]
3 To the mountains of salvation!
Hear the angel, Mercy, call;
Do not tarry! look not backward!
Hasten on ere vengeance fall. [Chorus]
1 Are you tenting on the lowlands Of the fated, flow’ry plain? Are you nearing life’s high mountains, As the night comes on again? The contrast is entirely illustrative of Lot and Abrahm in their separation. Lot chose the fertile valley plains over against Sodom with total disregard to the wicked influences to which he and his family would be subjected. Abraham chose the high ground which the choice of all righteous followers of our Lord. The term, tenting, relates to the nature of the Christian believer in the world. A tent is a temporary structure much like the tabernacles of Abraham. We seek a better city and are as strangers and pilgrims in the wilderness of this world. The shiny attributes of the world appeal to the worldly-minded professors of the loose and promiscuous gospel.
2 Does fair Sodom in her glory Beckon you with ease or gain? Heed her awful judgment story; Linger not, her joys are vain. For the pilgrim who is distracted by the gossamer charms of Sodom, there must, of necessity, be a trade-off in values; but any compromise of the righteous with the unrighteous entails an immediate and total separation for God for He condones no scent of sin which is the end of every compromise. Lot chose to pitch his tent TOWARD Sodom. Next, we find him sitting in the gate as an authority of the city. His compromise with evil led to the death of his wife and sons in law. He himself was exiled from the wicked city and dwelt in nether regions. “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise” Hebrews 11:9
3 To the mountains of salvation! Hear the angel, Mercy, call; Do not tarry! look not backward! Hasten on ere vengeance fall. Sodom was located at the southern limit of the Dead Sea – the lowest of places on the earth (in more ways than one.) It was sinful beyond measure, and its sinful tendencies have survived the centuries even to our present day. Its carnally focused lifestyle perverted the Holy estate of matrimony which God had first instituted at Eden. When Lot was led out of the city with his wife and two daughters, he fled to the mountain beyond the skirts of the plain of Sodom. The angels who led Lot and his family out of Sodom, gave clear warning not to look back. Lot’s wife could scarcely resist looking back to the luxuriant life she had led in Sodom – the wealth, the social circles, and the culture of fleshly desires. There is therein a lesson for the modern Church. Once we have been saved by God’s redeeming grace, let us avoid looking back with pleasure or interest in our past lives of sin and disobedience. We must flee the shores of Sodom, and all she represents, and not look back in envy or pride.
Chorus:
Keep tenting toward the highlands, Each evening nearer home, Keep tenting toward the highlands, Keep tenting nearer home. Every night of the pilgrim brings them closer to their desired destination if they continue in the footsteps of Christ bearing their crosses daily. We must keep our chins up and focused on the distant horizon of God’s favor. There is nothing behind us worth our interests.
