Let the Lower Lights be Burning

Philip P. Bliss met an untimely death but made a profound and lasting impact on American Christian music.  This hymn, Let the Lower Lights be Burning, is emblematic of his ability to turn a story into a moving hymn.  The lower lights:  those lights that are not the primary navigational lighthouse but are those aids to navigation mariners need to negotiate difficult waters to find the channel and come into port.  Do we not see ourselves in a similar role as lights to those who are searching for the channel, the channel of life?  If we see Christ as that "Light of the World" that shines out to all, are we not His "hands and feet" and in this case, His light that shines through us so that our family, friends, and neighbors will be brought safely into the harbor of God's grace.

Article taken from Living Stories of Famous Hymns by Ernest K. Emurian. Copyright © 1955 by Baker Book House Company. Used by permission of Baker Book House Company.