Eight Time-Tested Hymns Penned by Women

Catherine Winkworth was a frail, delicate child and prone to frequent illness. While her friend, Anne Brontë grew up enjoying the wild and idyllic Yorkshire moors made famous in her family’s writings, Catherine was often bed-bound and inactive. She also suffered the loss of her mother at an early age, a grief compounded when a stepmother entered the picture, complicating the relationship between Catherine and her father. In spite of these many limitations, Catherine possessed a voracious appetite for learning. Tutored by Rev. William Gaskell, husband of novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, Catherine gained tremendous aptitude for language—both English and German. Catherine found great encouragement in hymnody and found her linguistic abilities unlocked access to many German language hymns. While her translation of these hymns began as a personal practice of devotion, she bestowed four hundred beloved hymns on the English-speaking world before her death in 1878.

Despite her societal limitations as a chronically ill woman, her words wove a tremendous legacy and served as a conduit for encouragement and praise to countless weary saints. Her life provides an example of something that is often true: some of the richest gems of faith are often born out of intense suffering. Take, for example, a verse of a hymn that Catherine translated from seventeenth-century German pastor Samual Rodigast​​.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
yet am I not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
he holds me that I shall not fall:
and so to him I leave it all.

(Read the full text here or listen to this beautiful adaptation by Sandra McCracken.)

The experience of the comforting sufficiency of God in the midst of suffering produces an overflow of praise, which then comforts others in their suffering. Hymns sung repeatedly throughout our lives take deep root, providing an arsenal of truth and encouragement when we need it most.

As he so often does, God redeems seasons of suffering, weakness, grief, and even marginalization to create beauty from ashes. Catherine experienced physical and relational suffering throughout her life. She also never married at a time when women had very little autonomy, and singleness meant great uncertainty. Yet, she was not alone.

Our hymnals are filled with hymns written, or translated in this case, by women whose lives demonstrated great faith in a God who comforted, sustained, and cherished them. Below is a small sample of some time-tested hymns penned by women, along with a link to listen to a setting of the piece. (This is nowhere near exhaustive or comprehensive. Some of these women produced a body of work so prolific that choosing just one excerpt is a difficult task.)

Of these the women highlighted, five were disabled or chronically ill, six never married, and many suffered family tragedy. All of them lived in the nineteenth century at a time when their role in society was quite limited. Just as Christ took the women marginalized in his society to be some of his very closest and cherished disciples, God has used the circumstances of these women and countless like them to create a legacy of praise and an abundant harvest of blessing to many.

1. Fanny Crosby (1820–1915) — “To God Be the Glory”

Fanny Crosby believed that her lack of sight amplified her capacity to memorize. Blinded as a baby after a bout of illness, she had memorized the first four books of both the Old and New Testament by the time she was ten, and she added passages to her repertoire throughout her life. As it turns out, all that Scripture memorization did quite a bit of percolating, informing the many hymns that she would produce throughout her life. “To God be the Glory” is one of her best-known hymns and exemplifies the attitude of contentment and joy that characterized her life from an early age.

This jubilant, celebratory hymn joyously recounts the deeds of the Lord. Uplifting in both melody and tone, the verses extol the work of redemption, culminating in:

Great things he has taught us, great things he has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer and higher and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

At the end of each verse is the much-loved refrain:

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thro’ Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he has done!

For a truly stunning rendition with choirs and orchestra, enjoy this recording from Royal Albert Hall.

2. Cecil F. Alexander (1818–1895) — “All Things Bright and Beautiful”

“From one poor house to another, from one sickbed to another, she went. Christ was with her and all felt her influence” (E. E. Ryden in Great Christian Hymn Writers). These words describe the mercy ministries of Cecil F. Alexander. She served alongside her minister husband in an impoverished area of Ireland, but she had a particular heart for children, co-founding a school for the deaf with her sister. Many of her hymns were written with beautiful simplicity, accessible and instructive to children. “All Things Bright and Beautiful” is a delightful celebration of both creation and creator.

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.

The middle verses describe poetically the variety and wonder in creation from the “purple-headed mountains” to the “tiny wings” of the butterfly, before reminding the singer who is behind it all.

He gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty, who has made all things well.

This setting by English composer John Rutter captures the playful yet tender tone of the hymn text.

3. Elizabeth Clephane (1830–1869) — “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”

When Elizabeth Clephane died at 39, she had no idea that her poems would be set to music and sung for years to come. Several years after her death, a song leader who was touring with D.L. Moody noted one of her hymns in a Glasgow newspaper and slipped it into his pocket. The next day, he hastily set it to music after the sermon at an evangelistic response meeting in Edinburgh, not knowing that Clephane’s sister was in attendance at the meeting. Several of Clephane’s hymns became beloved over the years, notably “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” the final verse of which is below:

I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place:
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss;
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.

Indelible Grace has set this piece in duet form. It appears in their Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) Hymnal and is sung here.

4. Elvina Hall (1820–1889) — “Jesus Paid It All”

Elvina Hall was a woman well acquainted with grief and loss. She was widowed in her 30s and lost two children as infants. Considering her circumstances makes the opening words to her now-famous hymn all the more poignant:

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”

Elvina Hall reportedly penned these words on a blank page at the front of a hymnal in her Baltimore church. Later set to music by an organist, these words have become ubiquitous in both contemporary and traditional worship spaces alike. The verses, second of which are below, express the sufficiency of Christ.

Lord, now indeed I find thy power, and thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots, and melt the heart of stone.

Each verse is interspersed with the rousing refrain:

Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

You can listen to the full song here, sung by Kristian Stanfill.

5. Frances Havergal (1836–1879) — “Like a River Glorious”

As 11-year-old Frances Havergal’s mother lay dying, she reportedly encouraged her daughter to “Pray God to prepare you for all He is preparing for you” (Smith and Carlson, Great Christian Hymn Writers). The road ahead would not be an easy one, and yet her impact would be great. She suffered chronic illness and relational pain in her life of forty-two years, but the strength of her faith is evident in her body of work. “Like a River Glorious” is one such example, included below along with this exquisite choral arrangement.

Like a river glorious is God’s perfect peace,
over all victorious in its bright increase;
perfect, yet it floweth fuller ev’ry day,
perfect, yet it groweth deeper all the way.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest,
finding, as he promised, perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand,
never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
not a blast of hurry, touch the spirit there.

Ev’ry joy or trial falleth from above,
traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love.
We may trust him fully all for us to do;
they who trust him wholly find him wholly true.

6. Lidie H. Edmunds / E.E. Hewitt (1851–1920) — “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place”

Eliza Edmunds Hewitt, who wrote under the pseudonym Lidie Edmunds, considered writing poetry to be a calling of ministry for her church. Homebound for many years with a spinal condition, she studied English literature. Her tested faith and literary prowess combined to create a vast body of hymns. “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” speaks to the trust of a life cast completely on her Savior and is intensified by the repetition of the refrain.

I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
it is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me.

The final verse reflects some of the battles she was facing in her life:

My great Physician heals the sick, the lost he came to save;
For me his precious blood he shed, for me his life he gave.

To listen to all of the lyrics, enjoy this setting by Indelible Grace.
 

7. Caroline M. Noel (1817–1877) — “At the Name of Jesus”

Caroline M. Noel was another influential hymn writer whose work grew from a prolonged period of illness and isolation. Seeking to use the time to encourage others like her, she wrote a collection of poems which were then published called The Name of Jesus, and Other Verses, for the Sick and Lonely. “At the Name of Jesus” has anywhere from 5–7 verses listed, depending on the hymnal. The first verse looks ahead to the scene described in Philippians 2:10:

At the name of Jesus ev’ry knee shall bow,
ev’ry tongue confess him King of Glory now.
’Tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord,
who from the beginning was the mighty Word.

The subsequent verses travel back to creation, the death and resurrection of Christ, before looking ahead to his second coming.

For words so grand, we turn to the mighty organ and the hymn tune King’s Weston by composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

8. Anna Bartlett Warner (1824–1915) — “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know”

This final selection may be surprising, as this hymn has too often been relegated to Sunday school. It’s worth remembering the picture of Jesus from Matthew 18, holding a child tenderly, while calling his disciples to become like little children. How often do our weary, anxious hearts need the simple meditative encouragement “Yes, Jesus loves me!”

While the first verse and the refrain are probably best known and most often sung, there are more verses to follow. For example:

Jesus loves me, he who died, heaven’s gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin, let his little child come in.

To experience the beauty and profundity in this simple hymn on a deeper level, enjoy this beautiful arrangement by John Ferguson.

Sources:
     Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul (W. Publishing Group, 2011)
     Jane Stuart Smith, Betty Carlson, Great Christian Hymn Writers (Crossway, 2017)
     www.hymnary.org