339. See how great a flame aspires
Charles Wesley, 1707-88
A rousing missionary hymn which Wesley wrote after preaching to the coal miners at Newcastle. The imagery of the great flame was suggested by the night scene—the glow in the sky from the blazing fires connected with the mines. The climax of the hymn, stanza 4, was inspired by an incident in the life of Elijah. When his servant returned the seventh time from looking toward the sea from the housetop, he reported: “Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a man’s hand!... And it came to pass in the meantime that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain” (I Kings 18:41-45).
For comments on Charles Wesley see [Hymn 6].
MUSIC. BENEVENTO is an adaptation from a motet on the words, “Tibi omnes angeli” by Samuel Webbe, 1740-1816, a London organist and composer.