William James Kirkpatrick was as prolific a song writer as ever there was. To be sure, Mr. Kirkpatrick's
contributions were not mainly the lyrics; no, Mr. Lirkpatrick's great talent was in the melodies. Among the
great song writers of all time, Mr. Kirkpatrick wrote the melodies for many of Fanny Crosby's songs, among
which would include: He Hideth My Soul (in the cleft of the rock) and Meet Me in the Morning. Those were but
two, but Mr. Kirkpatrick wrote the melodies of scores of some of the most popular gospel hymns. Blessed
be the Name, would be another of his works.
Writing music was William Kirkpatrick's forte, but Mr. Kirkpatrick was also involved in singing. Actually, Mr.
Kirkpatrick was no great singer himself, but he did have a singing group that travelled the country, singing
many of the songs for which he had provided the melodies. The group that travelled with Mr. Kirkpatric
consisted of members of local churches -- people whom Mr. Kirkpatrick had met and known from his own
home community, as well as some that he had met during his extensive travels. Mr. Kirkpatrick and his
group sort of pioneered the singing group industry that sprang into prominence in the early 20th century.
William Kirkpatrick was a very humble and spiritual man, one who had obviously been touched by the spirit,
as evidenced by the many touching and moving melodies that he had created. Among the group hired by
Mr. Kirkpatrick to sing his songs was a young man, whose name we do not know. I have researched this
and cannot find out his name, but he was a young man of tremendous talent and was employed by Mr.
Kirkpatrick to be the lead singer of the group. So talented a singer the young man was that he could take a
brand new song and sing it straight from the sheet music, and do so without a single flaw! What talent!
What a singing voice the young man had too! The young man was so talented and sang with such force of
character that wherever the group sang many souls were moved to make positive decisions.
Whatever his name, the young man of whom we speak was obviously responsible for the conversion of
many a soul, who converted upon hearing the powerful and moving voice. And Mr. Kirkpatrick was just that
talented himself that he was able to write melodies that perfectly suited the young man's voice,
accentuating the flexions of the young man's vocal chords, bringing out the melodious harmonies and
baritones so sweet and fragrant to the ear. The modern world of gospel music owes so much of its
existence and success to the many talents of Mr. William Kirkpatrick and to his protege, whose name we do
not know.
One evening Mr. Kirkpatrick handed the young man a brand new song, one which like so many of the
others, the young man had never seen before. The young man briefly studied the new piece, and after a
brief introductory began to sing the words. The young man sang and the congregation listened, and oh
what a beautiful and melodious piece of work it was! Mr. Kirkpatrick had really outdone himself, this time.
The beautiful voice of the young talent emanated the words of the song -- the words themselves as well as
the melody, being so especially touching and moving, and as he did so many left their seats and made their
way to the front. While the young man was singing what to the congregation was truly one of the most
moving pieces of music they had every heard, and who had up until nearly the end of the song been
singing flawlessly, the young man faltered. Picking up where he left off, the young man continued, only to
falter again. Starting over with the last verse, the young man began again, but by the time he reached the
chorus he broke down again. And much to the surprise and amazement of the crowd, the young man
stepped down from the podium unable to finish the song.
Rushing to the young man's side, Mr. Kirkpatrick embraced the young man, helping him down from the
platform, and escorting the young man to the front where the rest of the crowd knelt. There in front of the
entire congregation of listeners the young man fell to his face weeping and sobbing. And to the amazement
and total astonishment of everyone present, the young man did a most remarkable thing: He made his
public profession of faith.
You see, there had been another side, another facet, an uncovered truth -- let's be frank here; there had
been a cover-up at work in the machinations of Mr. Kirkpatrick and his singing group -- more specifically,
Mr. Kirkpatrick's, heretofore unnamed disciple and singing sensation. Mr. Kirkpatrick travelled the country,
performing with his group, along with the young singing genius whom he had personally recruited to sing
his songs, having recruited the young man because of his tremendous and unparalleled talent; yet in all
that the group was able to accomplish -- singing before large crowds of eager and attentive local church
people, saved and vanquished alike -- moving and shaking and stirring the hearts of the saved to greater
heights of glory, stirring the hearts of the lost to travel the sawdust trail to repentance -- in all the glorious
uplifting of the spirit, the praise of the Holy Father above and the glorification of Jesus his son, there was
one salient and unnoticed fact: the young man whose great talents fueled the meteoric rise to fame of Mr.
Kirkpatrick; the young man who sang to thousands and moved hundreds to their knees; the young man who
when he sang, the very bells of heaven itself would ring out their echoes for all the universe to hear -- that
young man himself was ..., he was not a believer. No, the young man of whom we speak was not among the
converted. The young man whom William Kirkpatrick had employed to sing his songs, and who did such an
unsurpassed job of it, that young man was as lost and destined for perdition as the lowest vagabond who
lived in the slums of skid row. And Mr. Kirkpatrick knew it. Yet, knowing the spiritual condition of his
talented student, Mr. Kirkpatrick persisted and continued the employment of the young man.
Now, upon first inspection of this situation, the reader might find himself to be appalled -- aghast at this
turn of events. Had the listener in the audience been aware of the spiritual state of the singer, might he
not have equally been appalled? Certainly any listener would have found himself to be incredulous at the
message that the young man sang -- the heretofore unrepentant might doubt the truth of a song's meaning;
the already redeemed would surely have been disappointed at the character of the song writer. At any rate,
the veracity of the whole show might have come crashing down, and gospel singing -- yea, the gospel itself
may have suffered irreparable harm, had the young man's spiritual dearth been widely known.
Even though the situation as we have described did indeed exist, there was yet another twist in the tale.
To be sure, William Kirkpatrick was riding the back of an unregenerate sinner. Mr. Kirkpatrick was
displaying his own wares while at the same time harboring a secret, which no one must discover. But for
Mr. Kirkpatrick, although his methods may have been questionable, his motives were pure. Pure? You ask.
Why, what an abomination! What a hypocrite! What judgment awaits for such a one who would so
misrepresent himself and the precious gospel of Christ! Yes, one might think that way. But fortunately for
Mr. Kirkpatrick and for the young man in question, no one ever found out -- not until the crisis and reason
for such possible outrage had passed.
You see, Mr. Kirkpatrick, as talented as he was in his own right, could only be so effective if he truly had a
good heart and was sincere in his message. For you see, Mr. Kirkpatrick, while openly displaying his young
talent, was secretly pleading with the young man to surrender his heart to Jesus. Whenever the young man
would sing, Mr. Kirkpatrick would pray, asking the Lord to touch the young man's heart. Mr. Kirkpatrick
even went so far as to deliberately and purposefully write melodies that were meant to be "melodious," and
melancholy -- songs that were so melancholy that many of them were used in services specifically for the
purpose of tugging at peoples' hearts, in the hope that they would surrender and be saved.
So Mr. Kirkpatrick set out to do just that with his young protege. One evening, after a service, which had
been particularly moving, and in which many attendees had made their way down the aisle, Mr. Kirkpatrick
locked himself into his room and determined that he would not emerge until he had produced that one
song that would open the lock to the heart of his stubborn young star. And so he did. And so the next
evening he presented the song to the young man, and told him to sing that song last. And thus ensued the
story of the young man's conversion, which we have already related. The attendant at the front who
received the young man, counselled with him and heard the young man's prayer for forgiveness, and
witnessed the young man's own very conversion right then and there.
And so we have it. Mr. Kirkpatrick's burden was that his young star be converted. And even though he
knew that using the young man's talent might not be in line with proper protocol and could even be risky
should someone find out his true spiritual condition, it was Mr. Kirkpatrick's constant prayer that someway,
somehow God would use the very words the young man was singing to touch his own heart and effect a
miracle in his own life. And so it was.
What was this song, which was so moving that the singer himself was touched beyond the point of being
able to resist the pull of the spirit? It was then and is now one of the most popular invitational songs in use
in churches the world over, and many a listener as been unable to resist its melancholy tug at the heart.
I’ve wandered far away from God,
Now I’m coming home;
The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
I’ve wasted many precious years,
Now I’m coming home;
I now repent with bitter tears,
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord,
Now I’m coming home;
I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy Word,
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
My soul is sick, my heart is sore,
Now I’m coming home;
My strength renew, my hope restore,
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
My only hope, my only plea,
Now I’m coming home;
That Jesus died, and died for me.
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
I need His cleansing blood, I know,
Now I’m coming home;
O wash me whiter than the snow,
Lord, I’m coming home.
Coming home, coming home,
Nevermore to roam,
Open wide Thine arms of love,
Lord, I’m coming home.
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