These Are a Few of My Favorite Hymns

I went over to the church earlier this week to practice the organ. As I was practicing the song that would be today's closing hymn, I thought, "It's a shame we never sing all the verses of this song. It's one of my favorites."

Today, the speakers ended a little early and I thought for sure the bishop would take a few minutes to kill some time. He stood up, announced the closing song and prayer, and sat down. I was excited at the prospect of singing all the verses of the song. I started to play and thought, "Nah, we won't sing them all. We never do. It's too long." We started to sing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." In the hymn book there are 3 verses of the song written out along with the music. There are 4 more verses typed underneath. At the end of the 3rd verse the chorister leaned over the organ and whispered, "Let's keep going." So, we did.

In the song we sing of a person who meets a stranger. He doesn't know who the stranger is, but he knows that there's something about him that makes him love the stranger. First, the person sees this hungry stranger and gives him all the bread he has, though it isn't much, and he is blessed with an angel's portion in return.

Next we see the stranger is thirsty and too weak to drink from a fountain. The person helps him drink, giving the stranger his own cup, and is then blessed to never thirst again.

Next, a hurricane came and the stranger needed shelter. The person brought the stranger into his home, clothed him and allowed him to sleep on his couch, leaving just the floor for his own bed. He was blessed, mentioning that the floor felt as if it was Eden's garden.

Next the person sees the stranger on the side of the road, stript and beaten and almost dead. The person "roused his pulse, brought back his breath, revived his spirit." He concealed the strangers wound and, in return, was blessed with a healed heart of his own.

Next, the person sees the stranger in prison. The stranger is being held by liars. He is not guilty. The person stands up for the stranger, and is not ashamed of him. When the person is asked if he would die for this stranger he answers, "I will."

Then, the final verse. The stranger reveals himself as the Savior. (Note that the "m" of "Man" is capitalized in the first verse, helping us to know that it was Christ the whole time.) The stranger, the Savior, showing the wounds in his hands, calls the person by name. The Savior says, "Of me thou hast not been ashamed. These deeds shall thy memorial be; fear not, thou didst them unto me."

As a side note, this hymn is especially loved among Latter-day Saints because of the role it played in the last hours before the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. They were in jail in Carthage, Illinois with John Taylor and Willard Richards. John Taylor sang the song to lighten the depressed mood in the jail. When he was finished Hyrum Smith asked Brother Taylor to sing it again. John Taylor said, "I do not feel like singing." Hyrum said, "Oh, never mind; commence singing and you will get the spirit of it." So, John Taylor sang it again. Not long after he finished singing it the second time, the mob attacked the jail, murdering the Prophet and his brother.

The hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" just doesn't come full circle unless you sing all the way to the end. I am so grateful that today our chorister felt inspired to finish the song. I'm not sure if it impacted anyone else, but it helped me to feel the Spirit. It reminded me to serve others because, as found it Matthew 25:40, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." I want to serve others so I can lay claim to blessings just like the person in this song.

Singing all seven verses of this song today also reminded me of my father. This was my dad's favorite hymn. One time our ward sang it as the closing hymn and stopped, as most do, after the 3rd verse. If my dad had a complaint you were going to hear about it. The bishop heard about it. We sang this hymn at my dad's funeral and this same bishop announced that we were going to sing all 7 verses just like my dad would have wanted. Though we couldn't hear him, my dad was probably singing the loudest.