Hymns: It is a Thing Most Wonderful

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.

Today’s song is It is a Thing Most Wonderful.

I don’t know if I ever ranked this one as one of my favourites, but when I underwent believer’s baptism in Cork Baptist Church in 1981, I was asked to choose a hymn. And that’s the one I chose. Perhaps, I hadn’t got acquainted with many hymns. I loved the simple, clear lyrics. We used to sing it to the Brookfield tune, which features in the lyric video that I added.

Here are some facts about the hymn.

• It was written by William Walsham How (1823–1897), an English Anglican priest who later became a bishop.
• It was originally composed as a children’s poem.
• The writer was widely known as the “Poor Man’s Bishop” for his humility and dedication to industrial workers and the poor.

One verse that I found a bit peculiar at the time was this:

6 It is most wonderful to know
His love for me so free and sure;
but 'tis more wonderful to see
my love for Him so faint and poor.

But when I thought about it, I realized that the word “wonderful” didn’t mean “fantastic”. It meant something like “amazing”. So, we wonder how God can love us, given that our love for him is so faint and poor. One of my favourite parables is the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Proud people were self sufficient and didn’t really feel the need of a Saviour. And they would balk at the notion of seeing themselves as sinners.

But those who are honest and humble are the ones that reach out to the Saviour and are saved, and safe.

Luke 18:9-14
¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

7 And yet I want to love Thee, Lord;
O light the flame within my heart,
and I will love Thee more and more,
until I see Thee as Thou art.

Here are some other interesting versions of the hymn: