Nothing But...

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As I've been playing and singing my way through Grandma's hymnal, I've noticed a thing or two.  First of all, those songwriters way back then, a hundred years ago or more, seemed to be obsessed with death.  It seems like nearly every hymn has a verse in it about leaving this earth and going to heaven; a significant number of songs have death and eternal life as their whole theme.  Perhaps this is evidence of how sheltered and spoiled we have become in the twenty-first century.

The average life span in the U.S. is nearly eighty now; in 1930, the average life expectancy was less than 60; one hundred fifty years ago, the average life lasted just thirty-five or forty years.  It's easy to understand why people were once so concerned about death and eternal life when many children didn't live past infancy and many mothers died in childbirth.  In nineteenth century America, a diagnosis of tuberculosis or cancer was always a death sentence, and it wasn't unusual for whole communities to be nearly wiped out by some epidemic.

Readily-available medical care and modern safety practices have worked together to decrease the number of tragic deaths that used to plague even young people.  It is easy to dismiss the thought of death when people live so much longer than they used to.  In recent years, death has been sanitized for us.  People rarely die at home now, but when they do, hospice workers and coroners, morticians, and sometimes even pastors, arrive immediately to take care of the details that used to be handled by family.  No longer do family members bathe their loved ones' bodies and lay them out in state on the dining room table.  We no longer build caskets or dig graves for those we love.  If we consider it at all, we think of death as a necessary part of life that will hopefully happen far in the future. 

Thankfully, I noticed another theme that was present throughout Grandma's hymnal.  Many hymns stress our need for Jesus, and his blood.  We don't talk too much about blood these days.  However, Jesus' blood is essential for our salvation.  As strange as it may seem, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1: 7) and provides the perfect antidote for death.  It's no wonder that there are so many old hymns about Jesus and his blood, death, and resurrection, to balance out the hymns with a theme of earthly death.  Jesus gives hope to people who are dying because He offers the one thing they desire most of all:  life.

Since I've had lots of recovery time at home during the last three months, I've been able to put three timeless songs together into an instrumental medley.  Really, though, the lyrics are much more meaningful than the music alone:

There is Power in the Blood     (L. E. Jones, 1899) 

There is power, power, Wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, Wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.

Oh, the Blood of Jesus     (Author Unknown) 

Oh, the blood of Jesus, Oh, the blood of Jesus,
Oh, the blood of Jesus, It washes white as snow.

Nothing But the Blood     (Robert Lowry, 1876) 

What can wash away my sin?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! Precious is the flow That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.


 Click on the arrow below to hear this Jesus' Blood Medley:



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