GUIDE ME O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH

Joyce Voysey

I have come to Hymn 90.  This hymn is famous in Christian Science circles because Mrs. Eddy recited it on her visit to the Original Mother Church.  William McKenzie, in his long article in The Christian Science Journal May, 1940, speaks of her staying in the Mother’s Room for the night, and having visited the auditorium.  To quote from his article:

A MEMORABLE DAY

WILLIAM P. MC KENZIE

From the May 1940 issue of The Christian Science Journal

http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/1940/5/58-2/a-memorable-day

She then asked to have the lights turned on in the auditorium, stood for a while in the center aisle under the dome, then went down the right aisle towards the platform, to which there was a short stairway, and knelt there on the first step for a few moments in silent prayer. Then arising she went to the steps on the left and walked up lightly to the platform, and stood by the desk of the First Reader, where she recited verses of the ninety-first Psalm, making the dome resonant with her rich, vibrant voice. She afterwards stepped to the other desk and repeated the verses of that hymn which is so beautiful a prayer, "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah."

McKenzie then quotes the words of hymn 90 from the 1895 edition of the Hymnal:

 

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah!
Pilgrim through this barren land:
I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven!
Feed me till I want no more.

 

Open is the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing waters flow:
And the fiery cloudy pillar
Leads me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer!
Still Thou art my strength and shield.

Hymnal Notes explain that this hymn was sung by the workers in Mrs. Eddy’s home, and that she changed the third line to its present form – “I am Thine, and Thou art mighty”, and the last line in the first stanza back to its original, found in the Weslyan Hymnal, “Feed me now and evermore.”

I find that the words of this hymn remind me of Mrs. Eddy’s own poem, Feed My Sheep.  Perhaps the students in her home sang “Guide me….” in a similar fashion to the way her later students turn to “Shepherd, show me…” in every kind of situation needing guidance.

It is interesting that the same day I came to this hymn I also came upon this in Prose Works in my daily reading of that precious volume: “Now this self-same God is our helper.  He pities us.  He has mercy upon us, and guides every event of our careers” Unity of Good 3:27-1.  The paragraph continues beautifully: “He is near to them who adore Him.  To understand Him, without a single taint of our mortal, finite sense of sin, sickness, or death, is to approach Him and become like Him.” 

McKenzie’s article also includes a message about Mrs. Eddy’s visit to the then new Christian Science Hall in Concord, New Hampshire.  From the desk Mrs. Eddy recited the 91^st Psalm in a “voice rich, clear, melodious,” as reported by a Concord newspaper.  The report goes on to say that she took the Psalm as her text and explained each passage, bringing out especially the theory of Christian Science as applied to practical life.  The address was pronounced one of the most instructive and ennobling ever delivered in Concord.

Hymnal Notes mentions “a member of her former household” having written about the singing of hymns at Mrs. Eddy’s home.  With the help of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Brisbane’s Reading Room attendant, Elizabeth, I have found it. 

Our Hymnal—An Appreciation

WILLIAM R. RATHVON

From the May 3, 1930 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

http://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1930/5/32-35/our-hymnal-an-appreciation

(Ed: Here is a snippet.  You can click on the link above to read the entire article on jsh-online.com.  I’m sure book club readers will love to do that!)

Those whose great privilege it has been to be with our Leader in her home as members of her household, will remember with gratitude the important place the Hymnal was given in the tutelage of her home. At Chestnut Hill there were three pianos, one in the downstairs sitting room used exclusively by the members of her household, who would gather together in the early evening to sing from the Hymnal; another in the parlor, where occasionally a few of us would assemble to sing; and the third in our Leader's own sitting room, or Rose Room as she frequently called it. There we would gather about her regularly on Sundays, and occasionally at other times at her invitation; and a happy family it was indeed. The value of the instruction, admonition, and loving counsel she gave us on such occasions is above appraisal. But always before we separated, and usually as we assembled, the Hymnals were brought out and our Leader's choice awaited.

(Ed.  I wonder if Ruth and Naomi sang hymns.  I’m sure they did.  And danced too!)