Hymn of the Month: “Was it for me?”

This hymn was recently quoted at the Lord’s Supper, and it brought back memories of the old red Redemption Songs hymnbook. These words were a favourite many years ago and it piqued our interest in the author. It turns out he was a Canadian, John Marchant Whyte, born in Paris, Ontario, in 1850. (Called Canada West, in those days.)

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, he studied at the University of Toronto, then later “devoted himself to evangelistic and temperance work.” He is listed as evangelist, hymn writer and singer. Whyte has several hundred songs to his credit, some being patriotic, such as “Canada Shall Yet Be Free” and “Toronto the Good”, but the vast majority were spiritual songs and hymns. “With his brother David Albert Whyte he edited Sing Out the Glad News (Briggs 1885) and Songs of Calvary (Briggs 1889)”, as well as at least three other hymnals. Whyte was the author of both the words and the music of the two hymns quoted here.

Was it for me?

(RS #81 and CHF #194)

      1 Was it for me, for me alone,

        The Saviour left His glorious throne;

        The dazzling splendours of the sky,

        Was it for me He came to die?

            It was for me, yes, all for me,

            O love of God, so great so free!

            O wondrous love, I'll shout and sing,

            He died for me, my Lord and King!

   

  2 Was it for me sweet angel strains

        Came floating o'er Judea's plains?

        That starlight night so long ago,

        Was it for me God planned it so?

      3 Was it for me the Saviour said,

        'Pillow thy weary, aching head,

        Trustingly on thy Saviour's breast?'

        Was it for me? Can I thus rest?

      4 Was it for me He wept and prayed,

        My load of sin before Him laid;

        That night within Gethsemane,

        Was it for me that agony?

      5 Was it for me He bowed His head

        Upon the Cross, and freely shed

        His precious blood—that crimson tide,

        Was it for me the Saviour died?

     One other hymn by Whyte is outstanding, and I remember the first verse and chorus well:

Come, Sinner, Behold

(RS#83 and CHF #214)

      1 Come, sinner, behold what Jesus hath done,
        Behold how he suffered for thee;
        They crucified him, God’s innocent Son,
        Forsaken, He died on the tree!

            They crucified him, they crucified him,
            They nailed him to the tree,
            And so there he died,
            A King crucified
            To save a poor sinner like me.

      2 From heaven he came, he loved you—he died;
        Such love as his never was known;
        Behold; on the cross your King crucified,
        To make you an heir to his throne!

      3 No pitying eye, a saving arm, none,
        He saw us and pitied us then;
        Alone, in the fight, the vict’ry he won;
        O praise him, ye children of men.

      4 They crucified him, and yet he forgave,
        “My Father, forgive them,” he cried,
        What must he have borne, the sinner to save,
        When under the burden he died!

      5 So what will you do with Jesus your King?
        Say, how will you meet him at last?
        What plea in the day of wrath will you bring,
        When offers of mercy are past?

      Whyte and his wife, Alice Maude Jane Beckett had two children, a son Marchant, and a daughter Ruby. His wife passed away on January 5^th, 1927 and he followed on March 17^th, 1927. They were laid to rest in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, with the epitaph, “Until the day break.”