SHOWERS OF BLESSING, a Hymn for Devotion for 7 August 2018 Anno Domini
St. Andrews Anglican Parish Church
“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
(Ezekiel 34:26-27; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.”
(Psalm 72:6)
This hymn was born out of the hardships of the War Between the States. At the opening of hostilities between the North and the South, Daniel Whittle was a teenage cashier for Wells Fargo. He immediately enlisted in the Union Army under General U.S. Grant. Before his farewell, his mother placed a New Testament in his kitbag along with the lingering fruits of many prayers. Whittle was wounded outside the walls of Vicksburg and was taken prisoner by the Confederate Army. His arm had to be amputated. While recovering, he took out the previously unread New Testament and began to study it. Once as he was reading the Gospels, an orderly approached and informed him that a fellow soldier was approaching death and requesting prayer. Whittle had never prayed before, but he could not refuse such a desperate request. The soldier asked that Whittle pray for him and to ask God to forgive him. Whittle prayed according to that request and also asked God to forgive him (Whittle) as well. He prayed over the dying soldier and, when he finished, the orderly advised him that the soldier had died during his prayer. From that moment on, Major Daniel Whittle was a committed Christian and became an evangelist. He wrote many popular Gospel songs including “I know Whom I Have Believed” and this one today. The musical score is the composition of James McGranahan. (1880)
SHOWERS OF BLESSING
- There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
o Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
- There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
- There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.
- There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
- There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.
“There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above” God has promised ‘showers of blessing’ to the faithful; but constant torrents of water would not be efficacious. So He sends His showers sparingly enough to cause the green earth to bloom and prosper. The same is true of the blessings that He sends in our lives. If they were all too common, we would cease to appreciate them. The refreshing seasons of God for His people are interludes between rain and sunshine, and between blessings and the digesting of those blessings for full meaning and understanding of His people.
Refrain: “Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need: Mercy-drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.” We may not always DESIRE showers on our happy days, but we must have them in order to enjoy the blessings that follow. Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb are both referred to as the Mountains of the Lord. Mt. Horeb is that at which Moses struck the Rock (which symbolizes Christ) and out gushed an over-flowing fountain. Mt. Horeb stands just before Sinai – the Mountain where the Law was given. So Mt. Horeb symbolizes the mercy of God – and it stands BEFORE Sinai. All of life is made up of showers of blessing and mercy. The rainy day comes first, then the sunshine and flowers.
“There shall be showers of blessing, Precious reviving again; Over the hills and the valleys, Sound of abundance of rain.” The desert sands and dunes never lack life even if that life lies dormant beneath the surface. But when the unseasonable rain showers do appear, suddenly the landscape is awash with beautiful flowers and animal life. Biblical revival has nothing to do with preaching salvation. Salvation is for the awakening of the dead to the new life in Christ. This is the same awakening to life that the author of this hymn experienced in praying for another and having the blessing flood back on himself. Revival is awakening the sleeping soul (as the dormant life of the desert), not the dead soul, to a new commitment to perform our duties to God and man.
“There shall be showers of blessing; Send them upon us, O Lord; Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.” When God sends showers of blessing, not only the green grass, but the soul of man as well are replenished. It is always God who sends the rain and the sunshine. When we are refreshed as the rose of the garden with the water of life, we are embued with a greater awe and reverence for God. One of the main things missing in the modern church is reverence for God. Our reverence is more directed to the entertainers and the preacher who preaches for itching ears than to God. “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:9)
“There shall be showers of blessing: Oh, that today they might fall, Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!” Why confess and call upon the Lord only during times of draught? Nevertheless, the Lord stands at the ready to hear our prayers of faith.
“There shall be showers of blessing, If we but trust and obey; There shall be seasons refreshing, If we let God have His way.” Trust and obey – for there’s no other way. God’s blessings come in seasons. We have no right to want to hoard them constantly. If we worry not about what we shall eat, or what we shall wear, but trust the Lord for the day’s provision; why should we feel that we “let God has He way?” Believe me, God is going to have His way regardless of what we allow. We only can truly have OUR way when OUR Way conforms to HIS!
“Prenez en Gré”
In Christ Alone
in TRINITY SEASON
,
† Jerry L. Ogles , D.D.
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide & Chancellor, Faith Theological Seminary
“Metus improbo compescit, non clementia.” – Syrus, MAXIMS: Fear, not kindness, restrains the wicked!
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer – HOLY SCRIPTURE:
“If there were any word of God beside the Scripture, we could never be certain of God’s Word; and if we be uncertain of God’s Word, the devil might bring in among us a new word, a new doctrine, a new faith, a new church, a new god, yea himself to be a god. If the Church and the Christian faith did not stay itself upon the Word of God certain, as upon a sure and strong foundation, no man could know whether he had a right faith, and whether he were in the true Church of Christ, or a synagogue of Satan.”
