What A Gathering

On that bright and golden morning, when the Son of Man shall come,
And the radiance of His glory we shall see,
When from ev’ry clime and nation He shall call His people home,
What a gath’ring of the ransomed that will be!

Chorus:
What a gath’ring, what a gath’ring,
What a gath’ring of the ransomed in the summer land of love!
What a gath’ring, what a gath’ring,
Of the ransomed in that happy home above!

When the blest, who sleep in Jesus, at His bidding shall arise
From the silence of the grave, and from the sea,
And with bodies all celestial they shall meet Him in the skies,
What a gath’ring and rejoicing there will be!

When our eyes behold the city, with its many mansions bright,
And its river, calm and restful, flowing free,
When the friends that death hath parted shall in bliss again unite,
What a gath’ring and a greeting there will be!

O the King is surely coming, and the time is drawing nigh
When the blessed day of promise we shall see;
Then the changing “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,”
And forever in His presence we shall be.

You are probably wondering why I underlined the words “see” and “eye” in this hymn.  Well, the reason I did this is because of who the author was.  The great American hymn writer, Fanny Crosby.  As most of you know, Fanny Crosby was born with normal eyes, but a botched medical procedure at birth rendered her blind for the rest of her life.  However, she did not allow blindness to be a handicap in our life.  No, she accomplished great things in her life, including the writing of some of my favorite hymns.

I also find it interesting that this lady, who never saw a beautiful sunrise, could paint a beautiful word picture of a bright, radiant, glorious morning.  This lady, who never saw the beauty of a river, could paint a mental picture with words of that river of God, calm and restful, flowing free.  She was able to paint pictures with words of things she had never seen.  What an amazing gift God gave her! 

This great song reminds us that there will one day be a great gathering of the saints.  Young and old.  Sick and whole.  Blind and deaf.  Slave and free  Jew and Gentile.  Oh, what a gathering that will be!!!!

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• From every clime and nation – As many of you know, I love when there are words in old hymns that I don’t know.  Words that make me go to the dictionary.  Clime is one of those words.  Clime is essentially a climate.  From every climate and nation.  Every place on the earth.  Hot, cold.  Wet, dry.  Humid.  Arid.  Desert.  Island.  Mountain.  Valley.  God will bring His children from every clime and every nation.  Every part of the earth will be represented in heaven.  You think the Olympics opening ceremony is cool with athletes from around the world?  Wait until you see God’s procession of saints from every clime and nation.  Oh what a sight that will be!!

• Friends that death hath parted shall in bliss unite again – Think about this.  Every family member, that was a Christian, you will have the opportunity to see again.  No regrets.  No “I wish I could’ve” done this or said that.  Grandparents, parents, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, children. Friends.  Loved ones.  We will blissfully reunite with tears – tears of joy.  We have already cried our tears of sorrow.  At that great gathering, we will shed blissful tears.  I think we will also reunite with people we didn’t know had become Christians.  People that confessed their sin at the 11th hour, and made things right with God and we never even knew about it.  What a wonderful blissful surprise that will be!!!

On SW 59th Street in Oklahoma City, there is a Whataburger restaurant.  I confirmed online that it still exists.  It has been there since I was a kid in the 1970’s and probably even before that.  What is funny is that I don’t ever recall eating a Whataburger.  Roy Rogers – Yes.  Braums’ hamburger – Yes.  Del Rancho – Yes.  Hardees, McDonalds, Burger King – yes, yes, yes.  But I don’t recall ever eating a “Whataburger.”  I have determined that it must not have been that good.  It must not have been a real “what a burger” for my Dad to never have taken me there.

This song remind me of several “what-a” hymns.  “What a friend we have in Jesus.”  “What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms.”  “What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see.”  “What a lovely name the name of Jesus.”  And I could go on.

But the reality is there is one “What-a” song that makes all these other songs possible.  It is “Hallelujah, What a Savior!!  You see without a Savior, we don’t have access to Heaven.  Without a Savior, we don’t have Jesus as our friend.  Without a Savior, we don’t have a glorious day to look forward to.  But I am thankful for a Savior today – O What a Savior!!!!

I pray today that you will pause and praise that Savior today for friendship, fellowship, for a gathering place in Heaven one day, and for His redemption – Hallelujah What a Savior!!!!