Songs Of Our Faith Part 5
Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior
Scriptures: Job 2:7-10;
Introduction:
The song that I have selected for this week is “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior.” As before, I learned some things about how this song came to be written and even more about its author. As I meditated on this song this week I was reminded of times when I have felt I was separated from God’s presence. During those times there seemed to be darkness around me and even though I knew God was there, because of my situation I struggled feeling His presence. I have also had many conversations with others who have felt this way at some point in their past. As I researched this song, I was surprised when I read the history of this song and discovered the circumstances of how it came to be written. Let me share a little history about the author and how she came to write the words to this very popular song.
I. About The Author
The lyrics of this song were written by Frances Jane Crosby. She was born on March 24, 1820 and died on February 12, 1915 at the age of 94. She was an American Methodist rescue mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was well-known throughout the United States and by the end of the 19th century she was "a household name" and "one of the most prominent figures in American evangelical life". When she was six weeks old, Crosby caught a cold and developed inflammation of the eyes and became blind. In 1835, just before her 15th birthday, Crosby enrolled at the New York Institution for the Blind (NYIB), a state-financed school. She remained there for eight years as a student, and another two years as a graduate pupil, during which she learned to play the piano, organ, harp, and guitar, and became a good soprano singer.
Crosby described her hymn-writing process in this manner: “It may seem a little old-fashioned, always to begin one's work with prayer, but I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration.” Her capacity for work was incredible and often she would compose six or seven hymns a day. Ms. Crosby’s poems and hymns were composed entirely in her mind before she dictated them. She is best known for her Protestant Christian hymns and gospel songs. She was "the premier hymnist of the gospel song period", and one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 songs with over 100 million copies of her songs printed. Crosby was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1975 and was known as the "Queen of Gospel Song Writers", and as the "Mother of modern congregational singing in America." Some of Crosby's best-known songs include "Blessed Assurance", "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior", "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home", "Praise Him, Praise Him", "Rescue the Perishing", and "To God Be the Glory". Because some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals, Crosby used nearly 200 different pseudonyms during her career.
She wrote the lyrics to “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” after speaking at a service at the Manhattan prison in spring 1868. While visiting the prison some of the prisoners expressed their desire for the Lord not to pass them by. Dr. William Doane wrote the music for the song and published it in Songs of Devotion in 1870. "Pass Me Not" became her first hymn to have global appeal.
This song was written by a blind woman who chose to live a life not as some affluent, wealthy song writer, but as a servant in a rescue mission. She was the polar opposite of what we see in the world today; individuals demanding great wealth for their talents. Instead of demanding great wealth, she took her wealth and gave it to those she believed were less fortunate than her. This is the author of the song we will review this morning. I want to set the biblical stage for this song by directing your attention to the book of Job. Please turn with me to Job the second chapter.
II. Job’s Wife
We all know the story of Job. Most often when we hear this story we examine Job and how he walked through his situation. When we look at his wife, we only have one instance when she is mentioned in the story. This morning I want to focus solely on Job’s wife and ask the question: “What if?” Let’s begin reading at verse seven. “Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Vss. 7-10)
When we read about Job’s wife, we talk about how she encouraged her husband to curse God and die. On the surface this request comes across as a cruel, heartless, selfish request. How could you love someone and then tell then to curse God so they could die? Many have looked upon her as a heartless wife who, like his three friends, turned her back on him. But is this an accurate assessment of her? What if she really cared for him? What if she too was in pain because of what he was dealing with? Before she made this request, she too had suffered loss. Where was Job’s wife when his servants were slain and his cattle were taken? Where was Job’s wife when fire rained from heaven and consumed his servants and his sheep? Where was Job’s wife when his camels were stolen and the servants guarding them were slain? Where was Job’s wife when all of their children were killed after the house they were in fell upon them? Where was Job’s wife when he cried out, tore his robe, shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshiped God? Where was Job’s wife when the boils appeared on his body and he suffered greatly? Where was Job’s wife when all of these things were happening? She was right there with Job. The cattle and servants were shared with her also. She too lost her children. Then she had to watch her husband suffer. What if her request to Job was made out of love for him versus her own selfish desires? As we walk through the lyrics of this song, I want you to think about Job’s wife – not as the woman who asked her husband to curse God and die, but as a woman who followed her husband and witnessed him (and her) losing everything. In the midst of her seeing all of this, can you see her privately crying out, “Pass me not O gentle Savior, while on others thou art calling, do not pass me by?” Let’s begin with the first verse of the song.
III. Verse One
The first verse says: “Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry; while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.” If you can imagine the author visiting a prison in 1868 and seeing men in prison you can understand the cry of these prisoners. The prisons of that time does not compare to what we have today. The worse prisons today are far better than what existed in 1868. Imagine if you will that you were in prison because of something you did. You committed a crime and you were paying your debt to society. You deserved to be there so you could not complain. Just as society has placed you in a cell and turned its back on you, it is not hard to imagine God doing the same thing. These prisoners probably accepted the fact that they were receiving their just due based on their crimes. I can imagine that they could envision God skipping over them when He visited others because they were not deserving. How untrue this is. Consider again Job’s wife.
Let me describe to you what Job’s wife saw as she looked at her husband and before she asked him to curse God and die. Job exhibited several symptoms of his sickness which included the following: the skin covering his entire body was affected (Vs. 7); he itched intensely (Vs. 8) and was in acute pain (Vs. 13); His flesh attracted worms and became crusty and hard (7:5); his skin oozed serum and turned darker in color (7:5; 30:30); and he experienced fever and aching bones (30:17, 30). He took a potsherd (a piece of broken pottery) to scrape himself. Job was not only sick, but his sickness made him unclean and therefore a social outcast. This had to be a very humbling experience for one who was a judge at the city gate (29:7). This is what Job’s wife witnessed. She saw her husband suffering. But here is the important part of this story; she possibly thought that maybe Job had done something to deserve what he was dealing with. Just as his friends accused him of sinning against God, she possibly thought the same thing even though she loved her husband. If your spouse was suffering as Job was would you not want them to be relieved of their suffering? Can you see her thinking Job deserved this and would justify God turning His back on them? Just as the prisoners Ms. Crosby visited at the prison felt God could skip them, I can see Job’s wife thinking he had done something to make God turn his back on him. She was suffering right beside her husband and I can see her crying out to the Lord, “while on others thou are calling, please do not pass me by!” Let’s move on to verse two.
IV. Verse Two
Verse two says: “Let me at Thy throne of mercy find a sweet relief, kneeling there in deep contrition; help my unbelief.” When Job’s friends came to visit him I am sure that they spent some time talking with his wife. I am sure they expressed their concern for Job and whatever sin he had committed against God. I am sure that they decided that they would do whatever they could to get Job to confess to God and thus end his suffering. Can you see his wife thanking them for coming and at least trying to get Job to “do the right thing” before it was too late?
This verse reminds me of David when he cried out to God after sinning with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 records how he cried out to God while confessing what he had done. This verse asks God to allow us at His throne of mercy where we can find relief. When we go before His throne seeking mercy, we are asking God for something that we do not deserve. We are asking Him to look beyond our faults; our failures; our sins; and grant us mercy and relief. When we kneel before Him with such remorse and contrition, we ask Him to help us believe that the mercy has been given because our enemy (and ourselves) continues to tell us that it hasn’t been granted. In this song we find that phrase “kneeling there in deep contrition; help my unbelief!” Whatever you’ve done, there is mercy available for you and for me. Believe it and receive it!
V. Verses Three and Four
Because of the content of these verses, I want to discuss them together. Verse three and four says: “Trusting only in Thy merit, would I seek Thy face; Heal my wounded, broken spirit, save me by Thy grace. Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me, Whom have I on earth beside thee? Whom in heaven but thee?”
I want you to imagine Job’s wife and everything that she has lost with Job. She too had lost cattle and servants. She too lost her children. Now she was witnessing what she could have believed to be her husband. If he was going to suffer until he died, why not go ahead and curse God and get it over with? Why suffer longer than needed? I think Job’s wife loved him and I think she was hurting also. She too had suffered loss, but the physical attack was not on her, but on Job. Whereas she needed comforting, there was none as most of the servant was dead and gone and her husband was suffering much more than she. Whom could she turn to? The song tells us.
The song speaks of trusting only in God’s and seeking only His face. Once that is done the request is made for God to heal our wounded, broken spirit and to save us by His grace. As you know, grace is defined as unmerited favor. It is receiving kindness when we do not deserve it. In the final verse comes the full recognition of what God is to us. It says “Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me, Whom have I on earth beside thee? Whom in heaven but thee?”
You know what a spring is? It is fresh water that continues to flow. I remember years ago that we would visit our grandmother out in the country and we had to walk to the spring to “fetch” water for her. This spring was underwater the ground and you had to know where it came out. We would go there with buckets and fill them up and then walk back to her home with the fresh water. The idea of a spring gives the thought of something that continues to flow. In this case it is the comfort that I receive from my Savior. The last part of verse four asks the question “Whom do I have one earth besides thee?” Can you see Job’s wife asking this question not knowing if God had truly turned His back on them? She did not know what was happening all around her so she had to go with her limited knowledge. Do you believe that this morning?
My Thoughts
This song is one of those songs that you sing out of an understanding that you’re not alone. The song is a request for God not to pass us by while also offering up an acknowledgement that he is our only true source. This is crucial when we believe that the situation we’re in is of our own doing. We blame ourselves and allow Satan to take up down the road that says that since we got into this mess we must get ourselves out of it. During these times we find ourselves asking “How much longer Lord must I fight this battle?” You have friends around you that tell you it is going to be okay but they are not going through what you’re going through. Where do you draw the line? If you’re feeling this way this morning, reflect on the words that Ms. Crosby wrote in this song.
As I close I want to offer up one last note about the author of this song. After she was married, Ms. Crosby gave birth to a baby that died not long after birth. Few people during her lifetime knew that she had ever given birth. After the baby died her husband withdrew and was never the same. Through all of this she continued for the rest of her life writing songs that we sing today and reaching out to those less fortunate than herself. She could have easily gone the other way in the midst of her grief. I guess it can be stated that she lost both her baby and her husband at the same time based on how the baby’s death affected him.
I want to encourage you this morning that God has not forsaken you and He will not pass you by. While on others He is calling, he will hear your humble cry.
May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Pass Me Not
By: Fanny J. Crosby
Verse 1
Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Refrain:
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Verse 2
Let me at Thy throne of mercy find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition; help my unbelief.
Verse 3
Trusting only in Thy merit, would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit, save me by Thy grace.
Verse 4
Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside thee? Whom in heaven but thee?
