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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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Welcome back. This week on the Daily Blade we're looking at five of my favorite hymns of all time and we're digging into the lyrics and the biblical truths therein. Also, I'm giving you my picks for the best versions of each of those songs. So today we're looking at the hymn Down to the River to Pray. So this is an interesting hymn for many reasons, but one is that we don't actually know precisely where it came from and when it was written. So it first popped up in print in 1867 in a book called Slave Songs of the United States. The listed title was the Good Old Way and George H Allen is actually credited with writing it down, but he is not the original author of the lyrics nor the music. So the generally held belief is that this was a song that originated with enslaved Africans in the mid 19th century here in America. Thematically, the lyrics talk about spiritual deliverance and some have actually speculated that encoded in the lyrics are references to literal bodily deliverance from the scourge of chattel slavery and even the Underground Railroad. So it also highlighted a popular form of communal worship in the American South and in Appalachia, and that was mass public baptisms in rivers or lakes or ponds or whatever body of water they could find. So this was not a particularly popular hymn for a long time. But in the year 2000, the song was released as part of one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time, and that's for the movie oh Brother, where Art Thou? And it was performed by my absolute favorite female vocalist of all time, alison Krauss. So let me go ahead and read the lyrics here. As I went down to the river to pray, studying about that good old way and who shall wear the starry crown, good Lord, show me the way. Oh sisters, let's go down, let's go down, come on down, oh sisters, let's go down down in the river to pray. As I went down in the river to pray, studying about that good old way and who shall wear the robe and crown, good Lord, show me the way. Oh brothers, let's go down, let's go down, come on down. Come on, brothers, let's go down down in the river to pray. And so you can actually repeat the verses. And then, as it is in the Alison Krauss version of this song, you can repeat the verses with fathers, mothers, sinners or children, and you can just kind of keep going as desired.

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So this particular hymn does not explicitly have direct scriptural references, but the biblical allusions are all over the place, even considering the very simple lyrics. So first of all, this hymn is about baptism and repentance. So the lyric, as I went down to the river to pray. So in the gospel of Matthew, chapter three, we see John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, preparing the way for Christ. So let's go into Matthew, chapter three, starting at verse three. In those days, john the Baptist became, came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him. They were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. So, as it is widely known and believed, being baptized does not confer salvation, obviously, but it is certainly a public declaration of a spiritual reality in the heart and soul of the believer.

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And second, the hymn here is about pilgrimage and eternal reward. So pilgrimage. Here's the lyrics oh brothers, let's go down, let's go down, come on down. Oh brothers, let's go down, let's go down, come on down. Oh brothers, let's go down down in the river to pray.

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So Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says this. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run, with endurance, the race that is set before us. There's your journey, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. And then we can look at eternal reward here. So we have the lyrics. And who shall wear the starry crown? And in another verse we see and who shall wear the robe and crown. So we see a couple of references from Revelation here.

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So Revelation 2.10,. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. And then Revelation 22, 14. And finally, this hymn is about spiritually seeking the Lord, right? So the lyric here is Good Lord, show me the way, which brings to mind Jeremiah 29, 13. So let me leave you with some questions. Today, have you sought the Lord with your whole heart? Have you asked him to show you the way? Because I can tell you, jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and our only hope for salvation is in him. So come on in, boys, the water's fine.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.