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Asleep in Jesus
Public Domain Old-Time, Shape-note Gospel by Mackay/Rees;
ARTIST: Sacred harp-Mackay/Rees
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: 1832 words; 1902 tune; First Recorded in 1927 by Smith's Sacred Singers
RECORDING INFO: Asleep in Jesus Mackay/Rees
OTHER NAMES:
SOURCES: Sactred Harp;
NOTES: "Asleep in Jesus" Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8) is 385b in the Sacred Harp Cooper edition with a tune by John P. Rees. The words were written by Margaret Mackay, in The Amethyst; or Christian’s Annual, 1832. The original tune, "Rest" was by William B. Bradbury in 1843.
Asleep in Jesus- 385b Tune: John P. Rees
Alto: Miss Minnie Floyd, 1902
Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep!
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.
Here's some information about the original setting:
“Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20
"Asleep in Jesus" William B. Bradbury (1816-1868)
Words: Margaret Mackay, in The Amethyst; or Christian’s Annual, 1832. The introduction to the hymn reads:
Sleeping in Jesus. By Mrs. Mackay of Hedgefield. This simple but expressive sentence is inscribed on a tombstone in a rural burying ground in Devonshire, and gave rise to the following verses.
In reprinting the hymn in her Thoughts Redeemed, 1854, Mackay said the burying ground meant was that of Pennycross Chapel. She adds:
Distant only a few miles from a bustling and crowded seaport town, reached through a succession of those lovely green lanes for which Devonshire is so remarkable, the quiet aspect of Pennycross comes soothingly over the mind. “Sleeping in Jesus” seems in keeping with all around.
ASLEEP IN JESUS- Mackay 1832
Music: Rest (Bradbury) William B. Bradbury, 1843. Alternate tunes: Asleep in Jesus, David D. Wood, 1895 Bull, Ole Bull (1810-1880)
Asleep in Jesus! Blessèd sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep;
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, how sweet,
To be for such a slumber meet,
With holy confidence to sing
That death has lost his venomed sting!
Asleep in Jesus! Peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blessed;
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
That manifests the Savior’s power.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, for me
May such a blessèd refuge be!
Securely shall my ashes lie
And wait the summons from on high.
Asleep in Jesus! time nor space
Debars this precious “hiding place”;
On Indian plains or Lapland snows
Believers find the same respose.
Asleep in Jesus! Far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But there is still a blessèd sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.
Asleep in Jesus: Article by Henry Morris, Ph.D.
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
The hope of the Christian is the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the rapture of living believers at His second coming. This is the primary theme of this epistle--especially verses 4:13-5:10. In fact, it is significant that this book, possibly the first of Paul's epistles chronologically, is also the one with the largest number of specific references to Christ's second coming.
If it were not for this hope, we would have no hope for the future. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ," Paul said, "we are of all men most miserable" (1 Corinthians 15:19). When an unbeliever dies, he dies without hope. When a believer dies, he is simply "asleep," as far as his body is concerned. At the same time, his soul and spirit go to be with the Lord until the resurrection day. Perhaps it is analogous to the state of dreaming, when the body is asleep in bed, while the person's consciousness seems to be engaged in varied activities far from where the body is resting.
The Bible uses the term "sleep" to describe death only in the case of Christians--never for non-Christians (see John 11:11; etc.). There is genuine sorrow, of course, when a believer dies, but that sorrow is softened and sublimated by the "blessed hope" of Christ's return (Titus 2:13). "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (1 Thessalonians 4:14). The souls of those whose bodies are asleep have gone to be with the Lord, and will return with the Lord when He returns. "The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (vv. 16-17).
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