Oh, There Are 10,000 Charms…
Over the last few months, several of our worship leaders have led a hymn called ‘Come Ye Sinners’ (I Will Arise and Go To Jesus). Each time it has been sung, a few individuals are bothered by the line, “And in the arms of my great Saviour, oh there are 10,000 charms”. The most common question that arises is something along the lines that charms have to do with witchcraft, so why are we singing about it in church? In fact, I’ve encountered the same concern on internet worship forums. Here are a few thoughts to help you overcome any hesitations about singing these words as an expression of your worship to Jesus!
First of all, I wanted to assure people that we as worship leaders take great pains to assess the lyrical content of what we sing in church services. These are acts of worship, proclamatory truths, and creeds. They are also songs of expressing our hearts and thoughts toward God, and about Him.
Second, looking directly at the phrase in question, poetic language such as is written in lyrics, often takes the approach of painting pictures with words. Taking one single word out of its context, much like interpreting Scripture, does not give full meaning to the reader.
On the site, http://www.Dictionary.com, there are 16 different definitions of the word ‘charm’. So trying to infer a single one without the context of the bigger picture is rather ‘hit and miss’. So when we sing that, like a prodigal, “I will arise and go to Jesus; He will embrace me in His arms. And in the arms of my great Saviour, oh, there are 10,000 charms”, it is a great stretch to think of a penitent sinner acquiring magical amulets from Jesus! On the other hand, receiving all of the promises of grace and salvation from the Father’s Son, is one of the most powerful reasons to fall at Jesus’ feet!
Defintion #10 - to delight or please greatly by beauty, attractiveness, etc.; enchant: She charmed us with her grace.
There is also the problem of how language is used in different times and settings. Forty years ago, when the Flintstones theme song sang, “We’ll have a gay, old time”, it did not carry the connotations that are associated to it today. In the same way, ‘charm’ has had a myriad of usages. Joseph Hart wrote the lyrics in 1759, and I would gather from other period literature that ‘charm’ had to do with personality and attractiveness (four of the 16 definitions deal with this aspect – one other, by the way, comes from the field of physics… and refers to a state of matter in Quark particles).
Those of us who have known the mercy of God’s forgiveness and a brand new start to our life, will resonate with the heart of the Prodigal Son in Jesus’ parable. It is my goal to help put any hindrance behind us that could keep us from expressing our love and devotion to the One who has saved us! We are all, ultimately, sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. To whom else would we look for complete healing but Him who said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28, KJV)), “and the one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37, NASB)
Could there ever be anyone more charming?
#1 from tom wood on September 11, 2009
I agree johnny
it is the motive and the intent of the heart in what we are doing that counts.we don’t always need to critique every little word Jesus knows our heart and that should be my only concern the condition of my heart toward Jesus. keep up the good work