The Lives Behind Our Most Beloved Hymns and Songs
We sing them at weddings and funerals. We hum them while washing dishes. They come to mind in hospital waiting rooms and during sleepless nights. These hymns have become the soundtrack of faith for millions—comforting words set to melodies that somehow reach the parts of us that sermons and arguments cannot touch.
But have you ever wondered about the people who wrote them?
Behind every great hymn and song is a human story—often one marked by profound suffering, devastating loss, or seemingly impossible circumstances. These weren’t people writing from ivory towers or comfortable studies. They were writing from shipwrecks and slave ships, from blindness and bereavement, from poverty and pain.
What You’ll Find in This Space
Each profile in “Stories We Sing” follows the same structure:
The Person Behind the Hymn/Song
We explore their full life story—not just the famous moment, but the years of formation, struggle, and growth that led to it. You’ll discover they were real people with failures, doubts, and complex lives.
The Moment the Hymn/Song Was Born
Every great hymn has an origin story. We’ll take you to that specific moment—the ship crossing the Atlantic, the storm that wouldn’t end, the melody played on a piano—and show you exactly what was happening when inspiration struck.
Why They Wrote: Reasons That Still Matter
This is where history becomes personal. We connect their struggles to yours, showing why their reasons for writing still speak powerfully to our modern challenges. Each profile includes 4-5 compelling reasons that relate directly to:
- Grief and loss
- Anxiety and fear
- Shame and regret
- Limitation and disability
- Purpose and calling
- Security and identity
The Legacy They Left
We trace how their hymn/song and their life continued to impact the world long after they were gone—and how their witness still speaks today.
Verified Historical Sources
Every profile includes comprehensive citations and sources, so you can dig deeper into their stories with confidence that the facts are accurate.
Who This Series Is For
This series is for you if:
You want to praise and thank God. Glorifying His name.
You’re walking through grief or loss and need to know you’re not alone
You carry shame about your past and wonder if redemption is really possible
You live with chronic pain, disability, or limitation and question your purpose
You’re exhausted from pretending everything is fine when it’s not
You wonder if your suffering has any meaning
You love hymns but have never known the stories behind them
You want to learn from history’s most resilient believers
How to Use This Series
For Personal Reflection: Read one profile slowly, perhaps over several days. Let the story sink in. Journal about which parts resonate with your own experience. Ask yourself the reflection questions at the end of each piece.
For Group Study: These profiles work beautifully for book clubs, small groups, or Bible studies. Read the profile together, then discuss:
- What surprised you about this person’s story?
- Which of the “Why They Wrote” reasons resonates most with you right now?
- How does knowing this story change the way you’ll hear or sing this hymn?
- What storms are you facing that need this truth?
For Comfort in Crisis: Bookmark the stories that speak to your current struggle. Return to them when you need reminding that others have walked through darkness and found light.
Why These Stories Matter
In our modern world, we’re constantly told to “stay positive” and “look on the bright side.” We’re encouraged to hide our struggles behind filtered social media posts and cheerful Sunday morning faces. We’ve lost the art of honest lament—of declaring faith while still acknowledging the storm.
The hymn writers in this series teach us something different. They show us that:
- Faith doesn’t mean denying reality – It means choosing truth that goes deeper than circumstances
- Peace isn’t the absence of sorrow – It’s something that can coexist with grief
- Transformation is usually gradual – Not an instant fix, but a patient, decades-long journey
- Our wounds can become our witness – The places we’ve suffered often become our most powerful ministry
- Limitations don’t disqualify us – They often become the very thing God uses most
These aren’t just history lessons. These are roadmaps for navigating our own trials. Each story asks us: Where are you in this journey? What storms are rolling over your life right now? Can you, like these writers, find a way to say “it is well” while the waves still crash?
An Invitation
This series isn’t just about hymn/song writers from the past. It’s about discovering that faith in the midst of suffering is possible—not because these people were superhuman, but because they were deeply, honestly human.
They doubted. They grieved. They struggled. They sometimes continued in sin even after conversion. They lived with limitations, losses, and longings that were never fulfilled on earth.
But they also discovered something that circumstances couldn’t touch: a peace that surpassed understanding, a grace that reached them in their darkest moments, a hope anchored in something beyond what they could see.
Their stories are gifts to us—proof that we, too, can find our way through the storm.
So come, explore these lives. Let their testimonies encourage you. Let their hymns become more than just songs—let them become companions on your own journey through whatever trial you’re facing.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover that the song you need has already been written by someone who walked your road before you.
Start Reading
Begin with whichever story speaks to your current need:
- Facing devastating loss? Start with Horatio Spafford’s story
- Struggling with guilt or shame from your past? Read about John Newton
- Living with limitation or disability? Discover Fanny Crosby’s remarkable life
Or simply start at the beginning and journey through them all.
Each story stands alone, but together they create a powerful testimony to the endurance of faith through every kind of trial.
