[Biblemat] hymn study, "Lord Jesus, Think On Me"

[Wayne S Walker]

Wayne Walker here with another weekly hymn study.

"LORD JESUS, THINK ON ME"
"According to Thy mercy remember Thou me..." (Ps. 25.7)

     INTRO.:  A hymn which asks the Lord in His mercy to remember us is
"Lord Jesus, Think On Me" (#571 in Hymns for Worship Revised).  The text
was written by Synesius of Cyrene, who was born in Cyrene, North Africa,
which is in modern day Libya, around A. D. 375.  Cyrene was the seat of a
Greek colony which became a flourishing center of wealth and learning and
home to philosophers, poets, and artists.  Its apex of glory was around
100 B. C.  Synesius was descended from a wealthy and illustrious family
which, according to the historian Edward Gibbons, could trace its descent
back seventeen centuries to Spartan Kings.  In his youth, he went to
Alexandria and was educated under the celebrated woman Neo-Platonist,
Hypatia.  As an adult, he became wealthy and was known as a sportsman, a
brilliant philosopher, a statesman, an eloquent orator, and a man of
noble character.

     Also, Synesius was a friend of Augustine of Hippo.  When invasions
by the Goths were threatening his country, he sought to persuade Emperor
Arcadius about the imminent danger, but without success.  After marrying
a Christian in 403, he was converted to Christianity and a few years
later was made bishop of Ptolemais by popular demand in 410.  In spite of
his dissent from some of the tenets of the church, his outstanding
character alone made him acceptable.  Around 410, Synesius published a
series of ten hymns in which he set forth Christian doctrine.  They show
the evidences of Semitic influence on classic Greek poetry.  "Lord Jesus,
Think On Me" is the last of the ten.  After having outlived his beloved
wife and lost all his sons to a plague, he died around A. D. 430 in
Ptolemais, although some authorities give the date as early as 414.  The
English translation was made by Allen William Chatfield (1808-1896).

     Chatfield, an Anglican minister in England, first published five
stanzas in his Songs and Hymns of the Earliest Greek Christian Poets. 
Five more stanzas were added shortly afterwards, and the nine stanzas
appeared later that year in his Collected Psalms and Hymns.  The song
became well known as a result of being used in Hymns Ancient and Modern. 
Usually the words are set to a tune (Damon, Southwell, or Northern Tune)
that first appeared in The Psalms of David in English Meter of 1579
published by William Damon (c. 1540-c. 1590).  For those who do not care
for lugubrious minor melodies, the hymn can be sung to any short meter
tune.  I prefer one (Dulce Domum) composed in 1876 by an Englishman who
emigrated to Canada, Robert Steele Ambrose (1824-1908).  It is used in
Hymns for Worship Revised with "One Sweetly Solemn Thought" (#625).

     Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord's church during the
twentieth century for use in churches of Christ, the hymn is found in the
1986 Great Songs Revised edited by Forrest M. McCann; and the 1992 Praise
for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand; in addition to Hymns for Worship
Revised (not in the original edition).  According to Albert Edward Bailey
in The Gospel in Hymns, the song appeared among liturgical denominations
in the 1938 Anglican Hymn Book of Canada, the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal of
the United States, The 1918 United Lutheran Common Service Book, The 1937
Presbyterian Hymnal, the 1931 Anglican Songs of Praise of England, and
the 1930 Hymnary of the United Church of Canada.  It was probably
introduced to evangelical denominations in the 1974 Hymns of the Living
Church edited by Donald P. Hustad and published by Hope Publishing
Company.

     The song asks for various blessings from the remembrance of the
Lord.

I. From stanza 1, we learn that we must seek forgiveness from the Lord
"Lord Jesus, think on me And purge away my sin;
>From earth-born passions set me free And make me pure within."
 A. The Christian who sins must confess his sin to find forgiveness from
the Lord: 1 Jn. 1.9
 B. Then, he must be set free from all earth-born passions by putting to
death his members which are upon the earth: Col. 3.5
 C. This is how the Lord will make him pure within: 1 Jn. 3.3

II. From stanza 2, we learn that we must turn to the Lord to find rest
from care and woe
"Lord Jesus, think on me, With care and woe oppressed;
Let me Thy loving servant be And gain Thy promised rest."
 A. As long as we live on this earth, we shall be oppressed by care and
woe, but we can cast our cares upon the Lord: 1 Pet. 5.7
 B. To do this, we must determine to be His loving servants: Rom. 6.22
 C. When we come to Christ and take His yoke of service, He promises
rest: Matt. 11.28-30

III. From stanza 3, we learn that we must find help from the Lord in the
fight of faith
"Lord Jesus, think on me, Amid the battle's strife;
In all my pain and misery Be Thou my health and life."
 A. The battle's strife involves wrestling with the hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places: Eph. 6.10-12
 B. There will always be much pain, misery and hardship as we strive to
be good soldiers of Christ: 2 Tim. 2.3
 C. However, Jesus came that we might have life and have it more
abundantly: Jn. 10.10 

IV. From stanza 4, we learn that we must go to the Lord for guidance to
keep from straying
"Lord Jesus, think on me, Nor let me go astray;
Through darkness and perplexity Point Thou the heavenly way."
 A. Because we are fallible, it is possible for us to go astray: 1 Cor.
10.12
 B. However, through the darkness and perplexity of this life, God is
able to keep those who obey His will from falling and present them
faultless befoe Him: Jude vs. 24-25
 C. Therefore, He always points us to the strait and narrow way that
leads to heaven: Matt. 7.13-14

V. From stanza 5, we learn that that we must look to the Lord for
strength against our enemies
"Lord Jesus, think on me, When flows the tempest high; 
When on doth rush the enemy, O Savior, be Thou nigh."
 A. The tempest flowing high represents the warfare that we must wage in
Christ's service: 1 Tim. 1.18
 B. The enemy is the devil who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom
he may devour: 1 Pet. 5.8
 C. However, if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us and help us
resist the devil: Jas. 4.7-8

VI. From stanza 6, we learn that we must hold to Jesus in order to
receive eternal joy
"Lord Jesus, think on me, That when the flood is past,
I may th'eternal brightness see And share Thy joy at last."
 A. When the flood is past refers to the time when it is appointed to man
to die: Heb. 9.27
 B. God wants us to have eternal life, but this life is found only in His
Son: 1 Jn. 5.11
 C. Those who are faithful to the Son will enter into the joy of the
Lord: Matt. 25.21

     CONCL.:  Usually, only six of the nine stanzas are used in hymnbooks
today, but here is the concluding one (in early centuries it was common
to end all hymns with a trinitarian doxology):
"Lord Jesus, think on me That I may sing above
To Father, Spirit, and to Thee The strains of praise and love."
It is generally thought that these were the work of a tired man who had
run the entire gamut of life, tasted its power and its joys, its
successes and its failures, and now looked forward to an uncertain future
in which the whole fabric of his society was disintegrating.  Yet he did
so with faith in Christ and hope for the Lord's blessings.  It is amazing
how these universal desires, although expressed 1,500 years ago, make
this hymn relevant to every age.  I, too, live in a wicked and untoward
generation in which I need to ask, "Lord Jesus, Think On Me."

     Brotherly,
Wayne S. Walker
9024 Amona Dr.
Affton, MO  63123
home phone: (314) 638-4710
office phone: (314) 544-1612
e-mail: wswalker310 at juno.com
website: www.defenderoftruth.com
     Notes: Other hymn studies are available at the Defender of Truth
website.  Also, some of my previous hymn studies are now included in book
that I have written entitled Songs of Zion.  It can be ordered from the
publisher by calling 1-800-423-2484 or going to www.faith-facts.com.  And
if you would like to receive a similar daily hymn study by e-mail, you
can join the Hymn of the Day list by sending a blank e-mail to
hymnoftheday-subscribe at yahoogroups.com or subscribing from the Web at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hymnoftheday/ .