Song of Jupiter
Nathanael Devlin on the Hymn That Turned His World Around
I was raised in a Christian home; my parents were former Roman Catholics who came to know the Lord during the Charismatic renewal of the 1970s. When my parents moved from Long Island, New York, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they joined a growing charismatic church full of young, enthusiastic, Spirit-filled men and women who were eager to worship in a style that was consistent with the charismatic renewal. In those days, the musical aspect of this style was folksy, populist, and usually guitar-driven.
We did not sing many traditional hymns at church when I was young, but were well stocked with the newly written "praise choruses" of that time; indeed, our worship services rose on the same wave as did the burgeoning contemporary Christian music industry. Thus, I remember often singing Steffi Geiser Rubin and Stuart Dauermann's "The Trees of the Field" (based on Isaiah 55:12), Jack Hayford's "Majesty," Twila Paris's "He Is Exalted," and Pete Sanchez's "I Exalt Thee." My exposure to contemporary Christian music continued through the years, both within and outside of church. I attended 2nd Chapter of Acts and Petra rock concerts along the way and, in my late teen years, made two pilgrimages to the Jesus People U.S.A.'s Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois.
I have many fond memories of that church of my youth: the domed building in which we worshiped, which had belonged to the local water authority before the church purchased it and converted it into a worship space; the mustard-colored carpets, brown walls, dark woods, and brown vinyl chairs of the interior, a style of décor popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the dancing in the sanctuary, the tambourines, the band, and even the pastor pulling out his old trumpet once in a while and joining the worship leader in a chorus or two. I suspect that my experiences in that congregation have, for good and ill, powerfully shaped the person I am today. In the end, it was a congregation that introduced me to Jesus, and I will always be grateful to my parents for committing themselves to taking me to church when I was very young.
Enraptured by Thaxted
This upbringing meant that, when I first came to serve at Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh in 2004, I was largely ignorant of the music that the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church has been familiar with for hundreds, even thousands, of years. At Beverly Heights, however, I quickly became exposed to more traditional hymns. My first exposure to one particular hymn is especially memorable. It happened one Sunday when I was participating in our second worship service, the traditional one.
As we began to sing one particular hymn, unfamiliar to me at the time, I felt a deep resonance within me, partly because there was so much bass in the music that when the organ played, I could feel the sound waves in my chest. But there was more. The hymn exuded such majesty and glory, such weightiness and royalty, that I felt drenched in it. The whole experience was wonderful, and in the following weeks, I continued to reflect on the effect this sublime hymn had had on me.
Some time later, our Senior Pastor needed to travel, and I was called upon to put together the traditional morning worship service. I knew I wanted to include that sublime hymn; the only problem was, I had no idea what its name was. I had forgotten to take note of the name of the hymn and couldn't remember any of the verses.
I went to our organist for help, but, having had no musical training, I could only describe the hymn by sharing my experience of it and mimicking some peculiar sounds. Somehow, she made sense of my guttural noises and suggested we try hymn no. 660, "O God Beyond All Praising." As soon as she began to play, I knew that was the hymn I was looking for, and I included it in the worship service.
Afterwards, I learned that the music of this hymn is known as "Thaxted." But the most significant things I learned about it, things that have caused my affection for this hymn to grow all the more, came from an unlikely source: the C. S. Lewis scholar Michael Ward.
The Glory of Jupiter
Nathanael Devlin is the Associate Pastor at Beverly Heights Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. He and his wife have three children and live in Mt. Lebanon.
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