One of the great 19th century hymn writers was Horatius Bonar, who died on this day in 1889.
Bonar was born and educated in Edinburgh, one of 11 children, and like two of his brothers entered the ministry of the Church of Scotland. He was one of many who left it for the Free Church of Scotland during the Disruption of 1843, which turned on whether private patrons had the right to appoint ministers to congregations against their will.
He and his wife Jane knew much sorrow. Five of their young children died in succession and his daughter's husband, also a minister, died leaving her a widow with five young children; she came to live with him and Jane and they regarded this as a blessing.
He was a popular author who edited The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy from 1848-73 and The Christian Treasury from 1859-79. He was also a keen evangelist, preaching in villages and farmhouses as well as in church, but he was not preoccupied with numbers. 'We think if we can but get men converted, it does not much matter how,' he once wrote. 'Our whole anxiety is, not "How shall we secure the glory of Jehovah?" but "How shall we multiply conversions?"' For Bonar, it was God first.
He wrote many hymns, including some that are still sung today including the communion hymn:
Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face, O love of God, how strong and true and Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God.
The latter, with its reference to
Praise in the common things of life,
Its goings out and in;
Praise in each duty and each deed,
However small and mean
reminds us of the disconnection between our 'spiritual' life and what we think of as our 'real' life. But every part of our life is to be given to God; our home, family, work and leisure are all to be consecrated.
