Hymn of the Month: “I have been at the altar”

I have been at the altar and witnessed the Lamb

    Burnt wholly to ashes for me;

And watched its sweet savour ascending on high,

    Accepted, O Father, by Thee.

2 And lo, while I gazed at the glorious sight,

   A voice from above reached mine ears;

“By this thine iniquity’s taken away,

    And no trace of it on thee appears.

3 “An end of thy sin has been made for thee here

    By Him who its penalty bore;

With blood it is blotted eternally out,

    And I will not remember it more.”

4 O, Lord, I believe it with wonder and joy;

    Confirm, Thou, this precious belief;

While daily I learn that I am, in myself,

    Of sinners the vilest and chief.

BHB #88

     This hymn, by Amelia Matilda Hull, is a stated favourite of many. We might almost say that it draws our own worship up to the Father, even as “the sweet savour” ascends to Him from the sacrifice.

     Something that I’ve noticed personally is that as we talk about the “lamb” of the sacrifice, we imperceptibly find our discussion switching to the “Lamb” of the Sacrifice. The Old Testament picture streams naturally into the New Testament fulfillment.

     The same is true of the shepherd. Abel was a shepherd, Rachel was a shepherd, David was a shepherd. But, especially, the LORD is our Shepherd. The New Testament follows through to Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

     We might wonder what or where the altar is in this hymn. The imagery is transcendent. The capital on “Lamb” proves that it isn’t the bronze altar in the temple. It has to be the cross. Verse three confirms this—“With blood it is blotted eternally out”—no little lamb on any altar ever accomplished that! Only Jesus.

     Through the centuries, faithful believers have, in spirit, returned to that cross at every Lord’s Supper, at every Breaking of Bread.

      The story of Amelia Matilda Hull’s conversion is striking. According to Jack Strahan (Hymns and Their Writers), she was born September 30^th, 1812, the youngest of eleven children, at Marpool Hall, Exmouth, England. “When Amelia was about twenty years of age, she heard the gospel of Christ for the first time. A visiting evangelist had pitched his tent near to their family home and invited the neighbouring people to come and hear the gospel. One night Amelia ventured to go. She slipped in at the back of the tent and listened intently to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Her heart was troubled. When she returned home and told her father where she had been, he was furious. He told her that association with such “ranters” and their meetings was not becoming to anyone in her station in life, and he forbade her to go back…She felt she must go back and…she returned the following evening… Amelia looked by faith to the Christ of Calvary and was saved for eternity.

     “On her arrival home, she met with her father’s fury. He was beside himself with rage. Taking her to the library he…ordered that she appear there again next morning at 9 o’clock to be horse-whipped. With mixed feelings, Amelia retired for the night…she jotted down her heart’s musings upon a piece of paper. When 9 o’clock arrived, she made her way to the library with the piece of paper in her hand. There stood her father; his riding-whip lay upon the table. She entered, handed him the piece of paper and waited. Captain William Thomas Hull stood there that morning and read the words of Amelia’s composition, thus:

There is life for a look at the Crucified One,

     There is life at this moment for thee;

Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,

     Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.

Oh, why was He there as the Bearer of sin,

     If on Jesus thy guilt was not laid?

Oh, why from His side flowed the sin-cleansing Blood,

     If His dying thy debt has not paid?

        Three more verses followed, praising the finished work of Christ. “As he read, a change came over him. He sat down and buried his face in his hands…Captain Hull sought and found his daughter Amelia’s Saviour.”

        Very little seems to be known of Amelia’s later life. The first poem quoted here was a contribution to H.W.Soltau’s studies of the tabernacle. In 1860 she contributed to a book of hymns for children, then, in 1864 she published a book of poems, Heart melodies and life lights.  In 1873, she contributed further of her poetry to The Enlarged London Hymn Book. She worked in the East End of London at the Rowley Home for young women in business. Amelia Matilda Hull passed away in 1882.