For the last day of January, I wanted to give one last visit to the hymn of the month–Wonderful Words of Life by Philip Bliss, back in 1874. Have to make good on what I said for my NY resolution after all.

Philip Bliss, the composer, started learning the piano after he took notice of the instrument at 11 years old. He made his living as a music teacher and wrote many hymns (including the tune for an arguably more famous hymn, “It is Well with My Soul”). He had ties to DL Moody who encouraged him to go into full-time evangelism as a missionary singer, which he later did. He later died in the Ashtabula Railroad Disaster, trying to rescue his wife. He lived a very short but determined life.

He wrote this hymn as a song to accompany the Chicago-based Sunday school paper, Words of Life, wanting to particularly emphasize the concept of “wonderful words of life.”

What does that mean?

In the context of the hymn, I think it refers mainly to the ever refreshing gospel (Jesus paying the price for our sins, making repentance possible, and giving the call to make disciples) but I think it can also refer to the Word itself. It is very fitting/timely, given my church’s decision to dedicate this month’s devotionals to memorizing Hebrews 11, which emphasizes the importance of both–in the act of storing up God’s Word and how it points to the climax of what the gospel is.

I memorize best by pure repetition, repeating something until it just gets stuck in my brain. A case and point of this is that I’m pretty sure I am able to recite the first eight verses in Hebrews 11 by raw instinct by how many times it has been recited.

If I were a Winter Soldier, that would be in my code word programming. Like if someone walked up to me and ambushed me with, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…”, my mouth would open and recite the first eight verses, way before my brain was able to fully acknowledge it.

Back from that tangential note, why do I bring this up? I think memorization (aka remembrance) actually highlights the power of repetition, which seems to be echoed in this hymn too.

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty.

The appeal of God's words is that it should never grow old, that its power can only grow the more we hear of it, and we learn best by returning to it again and again.

There is power in both memorization and repetition, how it helps embed the Word into my mind and my heart. The repetition and even my own efforts to remember the words of this chapter challenged me to know the passage well. As I tried to know this passage over the course of this month, somehow it became an opportunity for me to marvel over the meaning/implication of these words.

As of writing this, we finally finished memorizing Hebrews 11 (or we should have if we kept up with the memorization). It took me a bit of work and, admittedly I am still a bit shaky at some parts, particularly anything after v.32, but I was able to recite the entirety of Hebrews 11. However, it has been encouraging to remember the lives of faith that people like Abraham or Moses led.

Reading and considering their lives in Hebrews 11 was a comfort and reminded me of the hope that all leads to Jesus and the cross. Both Abraham and Moses, along with the rest of the judges and prophets, were all able to do amazing things as a result of their faith—conquering kingdoms, enforcing justices, obtaining promises, stopping the mouths of lions and much more–and yet, the greatest was still yet to come. The sacrifice of Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith, makes my own faith assured that walking with God will never be in vain, guaranteed.

As it says in the third verse of this hymn,

Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever.

God’s Word points to the gospel call that comes with Jesus, my Savior, whose coming means pardon and peace. I remember the gospel because without it, my life would have no hope and therefore no meaning. With each passing year, as I see my life more and more in retrospect where the gospel shows itself to be more applicable and precious than I expect.

Let these wonderful words of life not grow stale or be something I take for granted and something I can go back to over and over again.