Line by Line

A few mornings ago I was listening to music by a choral group and heard the director change from the planned program into an extemporaneous number. As he led the group, he “lined” the hymn for them. He spoke the beginning phrase of each line, and the singers followed without the benefit of books or printed cue cards.

I knew this practice of "lining" hymns was old, but I did not realize what a long history it had. In America, the tradition goes back as far as the 1640s when few hymnals were available, and many worshippers were unable to read. A church elder or minister would recite the text of a hymn line by line, and the congregation would respond by singing the words to a tune that was either suggested in the hymn book or agreed upon beforehand. The “Great Awakening,” the first large-scale religious revival in North America beginning about 1734, had a profound impact on New England and the South. The religious fervor of the movement demanded new, livelier hymns than those being used at the time. (If you want to see what “lively” music consisted of, get a hymnal and look up the hymns of Isaac Watts, John and Charles Wesley, and other 18th century writers! Some of these were sung to familiar tunes, but probably not, as we often suppose, tavern songs.) Hymn-singing became an expected part of “true” Christian experience, and leaders continued to "line out" or "raise a hymn."

Listening to the director lining out the hymn for his singers reminded me that there is much in the Christian life that is “lined out” for us. It doesn’t come all at once; there’s just too much! “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” (Isaiah 28:10 NKJV)

Guidance comes “line by line.” We do not receive a road map at the beginning of the journey, clearly marked and without detours. Instead, we depend on God to help us; we search out the wisdom of those who have gone before us; we learn by our own experiences. Step by step, we find our way.

Provision comes “line by line.” Much of the time, our resources—both spiritual and physical—are given to us as we require them, not notably in advance of the need. After all, Jesus did not teach His followers to pray, “Give us this day our annual supply of bread”!

Christian virtues come “line by line.” Growth takes time. While the fruit of the Spirit is not defective at any stage, yet many times it takes awhile to “ripen”! The Apostle Peter writes, “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 1:5-8 NIV)

Learn to walk and wait and work “line by line.”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NIV taken from the New International Bible; used by permission.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com