| "A Charge to Keep I Have" | |
|---|---|
| Hymn | |
 Wesley preaching | |
| Text | Charles Wesley |
| Language | English |
| Based on | Leviticus8:35 |
| Meter | double short meter |
| Melody | Boylston by Lowell Mason |
| Composed | 1832 |
| Published | 1762 |
"A Charge to Keep I Have" is a hymn written by Charles Wesley. It was first published in 1762 in Wesley's Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures. The words are based on Leviticus 8:35. It is most commonly sung to the hymn tune Boylston by Lowell Mason.
"A Charge to Keep I Have" was first published as hymn number 188 in Charles Wesley's 1762 anthology, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures. This collection included various hymns on each book of the Bible. The hymn is one of 21 inspired by verses from the Book of Leviticus. [1] "A Charge to Keep I Have" was later included in A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists, published in 1780 by Charles's brother John Wesley. It was, though, removed from the second edition of Short Hymns in 1794. [2]
The words were inspired by Leviticus 8:35, in which God, through Moses, gives instructions to Aaron and his sons, for their service as priests. He commands them to "keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not." [1] Other Bible verses reflected in the words include Hosea 6:2, Matthew 25:30, 1 Corinthians 4:2 and 2 Peter 1:10. [3]
Wesley's words draw closely on Matthew Henry's commentary on Leviticus 8:31–36, first published in 1706: [1]
We have every one of us a charge to keep, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, needful duty to be done, our generation to serve; and it must be our daily care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will shortly call us to an account about it, and it is at our peril if we neglect it. Keep it ‘that ye die not’; it is death, eternal death, to betray the trust we are charged with. [4]
Hymnologist Erik Routley described Wesley's use of Henry's commentary as "a very unusual manner of treating Scripture," asserting: "I cannot recall any other example of a hymn writer taking down a commentary and putting its contents into verse." [5]
In its original form, the hymn has two stanzas, each containing eight lines, written in double short meter (66.86 D). [1]
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky;
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfil:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!
Arm me with jealous care,
As in thy sight to live,
And O! thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give:
Help me to watch and pray,
And on thyself rely,
Assur’d, if I my trust betray,
I shall for ever die.
In most hymnals, the stanzas are divided into two, to create two verses with four lines each. [6] [7]
The final two lines are changed in several hymnbooks, to remove the reference to eternal death for apostasy ("I shall for ever die"). [1] [8] In the 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern , the lines were changed to:
And let me ne’er my trust betray
But press to realms on high. [1]
In the 1983 Methodist hymn book Hymns and Psalms , they were changed to:
So shall I not my trust betray,
Nor love within me die. [1]
The verse has also been changed to read:
So shall I not my trust betray
nor shall I ever die. [9]
The hymn is most commonly sung to the tune Boylston, composed in 1832 by Lowell Mason. [6] This tune was originally published in The Choir or Union Collection of Church Music, as music for a hymn entitled "Our Days are as Grass". [3] In Methodist hymnals, "A Charge to Keep I Have" has sometimes been paired with St Thomas, written by Aaron Williams, [10] or Cambridge, by Ralph Harrison, [11] both composed in the 18th century.
The hymn remains popular, [1] and is included in several hymnals across different denominations, including The Song Book of the Salvation Army (1986), The United MethodistHymnal (1989), The Baptist Hymnal (1991) and Singing the Faith (2011). [6] It has often been used at the end of conferences, to inspire attendees for service. [3]
"A Charge to Keep I Have" became popular in Black churches in America in the 19th and 20th centuries. [12] [13] As with other traditional hymns, the music was significantly altered; Eddie Glaude has described such hymns as being "radically transformed by haunting and beautiful arrangements." [12]
The hymn has been influential for George W. Bush, who based the title of his 1999 autobiography A Charge to Keep on this hymn. [3] [14] It was also played at the service marking his inauguration as Governor of Texas in 1995. [15] Bush said he was "particularly impressed" by the lines: "To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill / O may it all my powers engage to do my Master's will." He saw these words as summarising his mission. [16] A painting with the same name, by W.H.D. Koerner, was loaned to Bush when he became Governor. In a memo to staff, Bush wrote:
When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves. [16]
An a capella arrangement of the hymn, sung by gospel singer Marion Williams, appears on the soundtrack for the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes. [17]
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns.
Charles Wesley was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending".
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook. They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts ; written melodies are extra, and more recently harmony parts have also been provided.
"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" is a Christian hymn by Charles Wesley on Christian perfection. Judging by general repute, it is among Wesley's finest. Judging by its distribution, it is also among his most successful.
"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. The hymn was placed first in John Wesley's A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists published in 1780. It was the first hymn in every (Wesleyan) Methodist hymnal from that time until the publication of Hymns and Psalms in 1983.
Erik Reginald Routley was an English Congregational churchman, theologian and musician and prominent hymnologist.
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A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm, with or without refrain or chorus.
Hymnology is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be more or less clearly distinguished from hymnody, the creation and practice of such song. Hymnologists, such as Erik Routley, may study the history and origins of hymns and of traditions of sung worship, the biographies of the women and men who have written hymns that have passed into choral or congregational use, the interrelationships between text and tune, the historical processes, both folk and redactional, that have changed hymn texts and hymn tunes over time, and the sociopolitical, theological and aesthetic arguments concerning various styles of sung worship.
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"[Immortal, Invisible] should give the reader a moment's pause. Most readers will think they know this hymn, the work of another Free Kirk minister. But it never now appears as its author wrote it, and a closer look at it in its fuller form shows that it was by no means designed to be one of those general hymns of praise that the parson slams into the praise-list when he is in too much of a hurry to think of anything else but a hymn about the reading of Scripture. Just occasionally editorial tinkering changes the whole personality of a hymn; it has certainly done so here."
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