Jimmy
on November 1, 2025
7 views
Charles Wesley, who was one of the greatest hymn-writers, had written over six thousand hymns. One of those several thousand hymns, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” was specially written by him in 1739 to celebrate the first anniversary of his conversion. Wesley wanted to celebrate each of his spiritual birthdays by writing a hymn of praise to God, and the first one seems to have performed well in its role. The original poem consisted of 18 stanzas while most hymnals use only some of them, such as stanzas 7 through 12. Wesley, as far as is known, gleaned the title of this texts from Peter Boehler, who was a Moravian and said to Wesley, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise God with them all.” Also, the text of this hymn includes his own spiritual experience. When he had been ill in bed fearing of death, his brother and some friends visited him and sang a hymn. After they left, one beautiful phrase stuck him to the heart, which has been woven into the third verse of the hymn: Jesus! The name that charms our fears that bids our sorrows cease. With this autobiographical text partly and many biblical allusions such as Psalm 145, Luke 4, Isaiah 61, and Acts 3, to name a few, this hymn has been known as great favorite hymn.
Dimension: 640 x 942
File Size: 113.01 Kb