Heritage Sabbath, October 20, 2001
Story of Hymn-1
ON JORDAN'S STORMY BANKS
The first printing of this hymn was in John Rippon's Selection of
Hymns, London, 1787, under the heading "Heaven Anticipated." The original
had eight four-line stanzas. The refrain was added much later.
This figure of crossing the swelling, stormy river of Jordan before
death and entering the heavenly Canaan to enjoy eternal life is not strictly
Biblical. It is parallel to the experience of the Israelites in Joshua's time,
who came to cross the Jordan River and found the banks flooded (see Joshua 3).
The Lord caused the waters to stop flowing so that the Israelites could pass
over into Canaan's land. Another incident associated with the Jordan and with
death and eternal life concerns the translation of the prophet Elijah. He was
crossing the Jordan in the other direction, from Jericho eastward. Again a
miracle occurred, for Elijah smote the waters with his mantle and he and Elisha
went over on dry ground (2 Kings 2:8). In neither case was there a struggle
against Jordan's waves. We owe this figure to John Bunyan's usage in
Pilgrim's Progress, when all the trumpets sounded for Christian from the
other side as he made a triumphant crossing of the watery barrier between him
and the Delectable Country.
John Rippon (1751-1836) was born at Tiverton, Devon, England, and
prepared for the ministry at Baptist College, Bristol. He was the pastor of
Carter Lane Baptist Church in London for 63 years! His most significant
contribution to hymnody was a collection of hymns he put together in 1787, A
Selection of Hymns From the Best Authors, Intended as an Appendix to Dr.
Watts's Psalms and Hymns.
Samuel Stennett, born at Exeter, England, in 1727, also was a Baptist
minister. He succeeded his father as pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist Church
in Little Wild Street, London, in 1758, and served there until his death.
Holding a prominent position among the "dissenting" ministers of London, he was
respected by the statesmen of his time for his stand on religious liberty, a
tenet strongly held by Baptists, who were considered heretics by the
established Church of England. He was a personal friend of King George III, and
not only preached regularly on seventh-day Sabbaths, but also for the other
Baptists on Sundays. His published works include sermons, pamphlets, and 38
hymns in Rippon's book. In 1763 he was honored with a D. D. degree by the
University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He died in London August 25, 1795.
It is undoubtedly the delightful music of "Promised Land" that has made
this hymn so popular since it first appeared in William Walker's Southern
Harmony, 1835, where credit is given to Miss M. Durham. Nothing about her
is known. William "Singing Billy" Walker (1809-1875) was a Baptist layman and
singing-school teacher of South Carolina, who wrote some 25 tunes for his
successful book, of which 600,000 copies were sold in 30 years. An all-day
"sing" that started in 1884, using this book, is still carried on in Benton,
Kentucky, every fourth Sunday in May.
Adapted from Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White, Companion to the
Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, Review and Herald Publishing Association,
1988, pp. 570, 571. Used by permission.
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