The song Is Thy Heart
Right With God? was published in 1899.
Both the words and music are credited to E. A. Hoffman. Hoffman
has been credited with publishing 50 hymnbooks and composing some 2,000
hymns. Some of these are very familiar
to us: Are You Washed In the Blood?, Glory
To His Name, I Must Tell Jesus, Is Thy Heart Right With God?, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, and To Christ Be Loyal And Be True. According to Hymnary.org, Is Thy Heart Right With God? is the
fifth most popular song in their database of over 5,000 hymnals.
Elisha Albright
Hoffman (1839-1929), Lyricist & Composer
Elisha Albright Hoffman was born May 7, 1839 in Orwigsburg,
PA to parents of German descent. He was
reared in a Presbyterian home, and he attended Union Seminary in New Berlin,
PA. His father was a Presbyterian
minister, and Elisha followed that example becoming an ordained Presbyterian
minister in 1868. He never attended
music school, but he did learn from his parents the art of music. He held the opinion that singing was to the
soul what breathing was to the body. Incidentally,
I have found no record of his using an instrument in worship but reference to
“sacred music” when researching about his life.
The term a capella is often referred
to as “sacred music” by early sources because the term means “in the style of
the chapel (or church)”. Not all Presbyterians
used instruments in worship, and some still do not do so today. The earliest record of acceptance of the
instrument in worship in the Presbyterian Church is 1863. Even to this day, there are several religious
groups which do not use instruments in worship, including some branches of the
Presbyterian Church; e.g., the Reformed
Presbyterian. Hoffman did a lot of
publishing work in Cleveland, Ohio with the Evangelical Association (also known
as Albright Brethren), and he preached for congregations around Cleveland and
Grafton, Ohio. He also worked with
Presbyterians in Michigan, but then finished up his life in Illinois. His first wife’s name was Susan, and they had
three boys. She died at the age of
34. He remarried to a woman named Emma
and he had an additional son from this marriage. Elisha Albright Hoffman died on November 25,
1929 in Chicago, IL at the age of 89. He was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery.
Is Thy Heart Right
With God?
The wise man wrote “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring
the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23, NKJV.) The wisest man said “…Are you also still without
understanding? Do you not yet understand
that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the
mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but
to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man” (Matthew 15:16-20, NKJV.) We must examine the matters of the
heart! Too many are too careless in
these matters!
One wonders if people ever give thought to whether or not
their hearts are truly right with God’s will?
Take music in worship for example.
The introduction to instrumental music was not until the 10th
to 12th century, hundreds of years after the first century church;
but the Protestants rejected such in the early days of the Reformation. How did the Protestants come to reject
mechanical instruments in making music to the Lord? They recognized that the early church not only
did not use them in worship, but later historical works show great opposition
to their use. For example, consider this
statement from the 4th century: “"[I]n
blowing on the tibia [pipes] they puff out their cheeks … they lead obscene
songs … they raise a great din with the clapping of scabella [a type of foot
percussion]; under the influence of which a multitude of other lascivious souls
abandon themselves to bizarre movements of the body" (As quoted by
Elesha Coffman, “When did churches start using instrumental music?” www.christianitytoday.com,
8 August, 2008.). So statements from one
of the founders of Presbyterianism, John Calvin, such as this one are of no
surprise:
“For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves with musical
instruments, they should, I think, make it their object not to dissever their
cheerfulness from the praises of God. But when they frequent their sacred
assemblies, musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no
more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the
restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papists, therefore, have
foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews.” Protestants, as their name suggested,
“protested” the departures of the modern church of their day from the primitive
church of the apostles’ day. Their
hearts were determined to follow the teaching of the Bible much as we do
today. Whose hearts are being followed
when churches decide to introduce instruments into worship? Are such innovations to warm their hearts or
God’s heart?
For one to have his heart right with God means his heart’s
desire is to follow God’s will. David
was a man after God’s own heart because he sought to follow God and have God’s
heart. He was not perfect, but to be a
person after God’s own heart is the highest of endeavors. Are you following God’s heart or your own? Some may say they are satisfied with their
salvation, but have they given any thought to whether or not God will be
satisfied with them? If they have not
been immersed into Christ, then they have not put on Christ; cf. Galatians 3:27. How can anyone possibly believe their heart
without being clothed with Christ through baptism will please God’s heart who
gave His Son that they may be saved in Christ through baptism? Is your heart truly right with God?
--------------------------------------------
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Hoffman
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/h/o/f/hoffman_ea.htm
http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bhoffman.html
V. E. Howard, Editor, and Broadus E. Smith, Associate
Editor, Church Gospel Songs & Hymns,
Texarkana, TX:
Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
John P. Wiegand, Editor, Praise
for the Lord, Nashville, TN: Praise
Press, 1997.
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