HYMN OF THE MONTH:
On Jordan's Stormy Banks
by Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795
Samuel Stennett was born in Exeter, England, in 1727, into a remarkable family of Baptist pastors. His great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and older brother were all ministers, and Samuel followed them into ministry.
As Baptists, the Stennetts worshiped outside the established Church of England and did not always enjoy the same opportunities as those within it. Yet Samuel became a respected pastor and scholar—and even a friend of King George III.
In 1787, at about sixty years old, Stennett wrote “The Promised Land,” later known as “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.” Published under the heading “Heaven Anticipated,” the hymn uses Israel’s journey across the Jordan into Canaan as a picture of the Christian anticipating heaven. Stennett pictured a beautiful country where Christ reigns and sickness, sorrow, pain, and death are gone forever.
Stennett’s original hymn contained seven stanzas and no refrain. After crossing the Atlantic, it became especially popular in America and a favorite at camp meetings. American singers later added the familiar chorus beginning, “I am bound for the promised land!” More than two centuries later, Stennett’s hymn still gives Christians words to express their joyful anticipation of the heavenly home promised to all who trust in Christ for salvation.
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Read & Relate
On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
By Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
Phil. 3:20; 1 Peter 1:3-4; Matt. 6:20-21; Heb. 11:16
Chorus:
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
O who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
John 14:2-3; Isa. 55:1; Heb. 13:14; Rev. 22:17
All o'er those wide-extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns
And scatters night away.
Rev. 22:5; Rev. 21:23; 1 Tim. 6:15-16; Rev. 11:15
No chilling winds nor pois'nous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death
Are felt and feared no more.
Rev. 21:4; Rev. 22:3; 1 Cor. 15:52-54; Rom. 8:20-21
When shall I reach that happy place
And be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father's face
And in His bosom rest?
Rev. 22:4; Ps. 16:11; Ps. 17:15; Heb. 4:9-11
