"WHEN I CAN READ MY TITLE CLEAR"
"In My Father's house are many mansions..." (Jn. 14.2)
INTRO.: A hymn which points us to the Father's house where there are many mansions is "When I Can Read My Title Clear." The text was written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748). It was first published under the heading "The Hopes of Heaven our Support under Trials on Earth" in his 1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book II. The most commonly used tune (Pisgah, Christian Triumph, or Covenanters) is a traditional American melody attributed to Joseph C. Lowry (19th c.). It first appeared in either the 1816 or 1817 (more likely the second) edition of Kentucky Harmony published by Ananias Davisson. It was also found in the 1819 Tennessee Harmony where it is credited to the publisher Alexander Johnson, who may have arranged it.
William J. Reynolds notes that Lowry is identified as one of the "gentleman teachers" of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. It is possible that Lowry was acquainted with Johnson, who was also a singing school teacher in Tennessee in the early part of the nineteenth century. One theory is that Johnson may have learned the tune from Lowry or from the Kentucky Harmony, appropriated it for his own collection, and claimed it as his own, a common practice in those days. Another theory is that Lowry may have learned the tune from Johnson in Tennessee and carried it to Kentucky where Davisson inserted it in his collection and credited it to Lowry. Still another theory is that both men may have independently transcribed a genuine folk tune.
Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord's church during the twentieth century for use in churches of Christ, the text appeared in the 1937 Great Songs of the Church No. 2 edited by E. L. Jorgenson using a different tune arranged by Tullius Clinton O'Kane and beginning "Since I can read my title clear." It is not known whether Jorgenson had some specific objection that caused him to change "When" to "Since" or whether he just needed a song beginning with the word "Since" to fit his alphabetical arrangement. The song appeared in the 1948 Christian Hymns No. 2 and the 1966 Christian Hymns No. 3 both edited by L. O. Sanderson. The text is found with still another tune (Ninety-Fifth, attributed to Colton, also from Davisson's Kentucky Harmony of 1816, arranged in 1964 by Roland Green for The Old School Hymnal) in the 1975 edition of the 1971 Songs of the Church edited by Alton H. Howard. The song is found in the 1994 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand with all three tunes, as well as with the traditional tune in the 2007 Sacred Songs of the Church edited by William D. Jeffcoat.
The hymn is evidently designed to give assurance of heaven to the saint as an anchor to the soul.
I. Stanza 1 refers to our mansions in the skies
"When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes."
A. The means by which we read our title clear is through the assurance that comes in that which is written: 1 Jn. 5.14
B. The "mansions in the skies" simply refer to the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens": 2 Cor. 5.1
C. Those who have this assurance can bid farewell to every fear: 2 Tim. 1.7, 1 Jn. 4.18
II. Stanza 2 refers to the fiery darts of Satan
"Should earth against my soul engage, And fiery darts be hurled
Then I can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world."
A. This earth will against our souls engage resulting we must not be conformed to this world nor love the world: Rom. 12.1-2, 1 Jn. 2.15-17
B. The ruler of this world will hurl his fiery darts at us: Eph. 6.16
C. However, those who have the assurance of God's love can smile at Satan's rage knowing that we can resist the devil and he will flee from us: Jas. 4.7
III. Stanza 3 refers to the cares and sorrows of this life
"Let cares, like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall!
May I but safely reach my home, My God, my heaven, my all."
A. The cares of this life may come like a wild deluge against us: Mk. 4.19
B. The sorrows of this life may fall like storms upon us: Ps. 90.10
C. However, those who have assurance from God receive the living hope through Christ of an inheritance in heaven: 1 Pet. 1.3-5
IV. Stanza 4 refers to the rest of heaven
"There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast."
A. As we travel through this life, our souls become weary: Gal. 6.9
B. Jesus offers rest to the weary from the burden of sin, and death brings rest to those who die in the Lord: Matt. 11.28-30, Rev. 14.13
C. However, when the righteous achieve their eternal reward, the final rest will be won where not a wave of trouble will roll across their peaceful breasts: 2 Thess. 1.7, Heb. 4.9
CONCL.: In many older books, this short song was a little longer because the tune was doubled with a repetition of the third and fourth lines of each stanza, similar to that done with "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood," as follows for the first stanza:
"And wipe my weeping eyes, And wipe my weeping eyes;
I'll bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes."
In the twentieth century, a large number of gospel songs written, perhaps even a majority, seem to be about heaven, and it is interesting to compare them with some of the previous ones. The newer ones usually emphasize the figurative language of streets paved with gold, rare jewels, gates of pearl, etc., whereas those which are older emphasize more the peacefulness of being a home with God. Whatever God has planned for His people in heaven, I am sure that I will rejoice in it "When I Can Read My Title Clear."