HYMN STORIES: The Songs We Sing

“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand”

This Sunday we open our worship with On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand, which was first published in 1787 in John Rippon’s A Selection of Hymns under the title Heaven Anticipated. Samuel was born near London, England in 1727. His father was the minister of the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Little Wild Street. Samuel succeeded his father as minister in 1758, a position he held until his death in 1795.

The lyrics use the biblical metaphor of the Israelites looking across the flooded Jordan River into Canaan (the Promised Land) as a symbol for a Christian looking forward to heaven and the end of earthly suffering. Jordan’s banks are rarely stormy… so it might have made more sense to most to entitle this hymn “On Jordan’s Muddy Banks” or “On Jordan’s Rugged Banks”. But, Samuel Stennett, who wrote this song, had never seen the Jordan River. And, the song is not literally about the Jordan River, but about what that river represents… what separates us from our Promised Land. The popular chorus ("I am bound for the promised land...") was added later and became a staple of American folk hymnody. The Melody is most famously sung to an early American folk tune which is often attributed in shape-note songbooks like the 1835 Southern Harmony.

The hymn gained massive popularity during 19th-century at Methodist gatherings, American camp meetings, brush arbors, and across the shape-note singing tradition.

From the start, the four stanzas focus on heaven. The singer stands on the banks of the Jordan River looking across to the “fair and happy land” of Canaan—a metaphoric mixture of images from the books of Exodus and Revelation. Our true “possessions” lie in Canaan (Heaven) and not on the earthly side of Jordan.

In stanza two we find that Canaan is a land of “wide extended plains” where “the eternal day” is always shining. In this land Jesus (“God the Son”) reigns. Furthermore, stanza three tells us that Canaan is a spiritually healthful place to live: “No chilling winds or poisonous breath can reach that healthful shore.” Therefore, “sickness and sorrow, pain and death” do not exist in Canaan.

In the final stanza, the singer obviously cannot wait to get there. Upon arrival in the Promised Land, we will “see our Father’s face, and in his bosom rest.” The refrain gives the hymn a sense of marching forward to eternal life.

Sing this hymn with excitement and anticipation about our heavenly destination!

Shared by Lindrew Johnson, Director of Worship