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Hymn History - Philip P. Bliss

Philip Bliss was born on July 9th, 1838 in a log cabin in Pennsylvania.  He was raised in a godly home with godly parents.  His oldest memories were of his father conducting daily family prayers.  For the first 10 years of his life, Philip Bliss and his family moved about.  As a result, he had little formal education outside of his father’s singing and his mother’s teaching.  The Bible was the main influence in his life.  

At age 12, Philip Bliss became saved and joined a Baptist Church in Cherry Flats, Pennsylvania.  While he always wanted to be a musician, he was working in a lumber camp doing whatever he could.  Between jobs, he attended school and learned music.  He also began to participate in church camp meetings and revival services.  

By age 17, Philip Bliss finished the last requirements to be a teacher and the next year became a schoolmaster in New York.  In the year 1857, he met J.G. Towner the leader of a local vocal school in Pennsylvania.  Towner recognized that Bliss had a good singing voice and began to formally train him.  That year, Bliss attended a musical convention in Rome, Pennsylvania.  There, he met William Bradbury, a music composer.  Bliss decided to surrender his life to the service of the Lord.  He discovered that he had a knack for music composition.  

In 1858, Philip Bliss became a teacher at an academy where he met his soon-to-be wife, Lucy Young.  She was a poet from a musically inclined family who encouraged Bliss to continue in his musical endeavors.  In later years, they sang many duets together.  In addition to working as a teacher, Bliss also tutored music students.  He went from community to community as a traveling music teacher.  In 1860, Bliss was able to attend the Normal Academy of Music in New York.  After the 6 week course, he was able to be a professional music teacher.  

From 1865 to 1873, Philip Bliss held music conventions, singing schools, and concerts with his wife.  He became more and more popular, yet he wasn’t using his abilities strictly for evangelistic purposes.  One night in 1869, he passed by a revival meeting where D.L. Moody was preaching.  He went in to listen and noticed that there was not much of a music program to the meeting.  He got in touch with Moody and began to help with the singing ministry.  In 1870, Bliss was recommended to be the choir director at the First Congregational Church in Chicago.  Here he wrote many more hymns.  While working at the church, he also became the Sunday school superintendent and authored a Sunday school book.   

Philip Bliss was invited to join D.L. Moody as a music director for the England meetings, but he declined.  In 1873, Moody invited Bliss again.  Bliss prayed and decided to join his friend Major Whittle for services in Illinois to see if that was his calling.  The afternoon of that event, Philip Bliss made a formal surrender of his life to Christ.  He gave up his music conventions, secular songwriting, position, and work in the church to become a full-time evangelistic singer. 

Philip Bliss joined Major Whittle and together they formed a gospel team.  Bliss compiled a revival songbook to use during their campaigns, which was widely successful.  The royalties alone brought upwards of $30,000 which Bliss gave to the ministry.  Later that year, Bliss and Ira Sankey, recently returned from England, created a collection of their combined hymns in a book called Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs.  Bliss and Whittle continued their evangelistic campaigns, 25 in total in Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.  In November 1876, Bliss sang at Moody’s meeting in Chicago, where 1,000 preachers were present.  He showcased a new hymn that he had composed music for, Horatio Spafford’s, It is Well with My Soul.  He also conducted a service at the Michigan State prison for 800 inmates.  

That Christmas, Philip Bliss spent time with his family in Pennsylvania.  He planned to return to Chicago in January to work with Moody.  A telegram came asking him to come back early and Bliss boarded a train back with his wife.  They left their children to stay with their grandmother.  On December 29th, 1876, the train that Bliss and his wife were traveling on went over a bridge.  The bridge collapsed due to floodwaters, and the train fell 75ft.  Minutes after the fall, the train caught fire.  Bliss was able to crawl out of a window.  But, he noticed that his wife was pinned under the seats of the train.  He returned to the train car and tried to get her out.  No trace of their bodies were ever found due to the fire.  Philip Bliss’s luggage reached Chicago and within were his final hymns.  A funeral and several memorial services were held for the couple.  

Philip Bliss only lived to be 38 years old but was used mightily for the Lord.  God had granted him passion and talent for music at a young age.  Though he did write and sing for the Lord, early in his career, his pursuits were also secular.  After joining Major Whittle for a convention in Illinois, Philip Bliss committed his life fully to the work of the Gospel and evangelism.  He did not have many years to be in the ministry fully, but he had a great impact on believers then and now.  May we use Philip Bliss as an example of using our talents for the glory of God and the furtherance of the Gospel.  

Some of Philip P. Bliss’ more well-known hymns include: 

  • Dare to be a Daniel 

  • Hallelujah, What a Savior!

  • Almost Persuaded 

  • Wonderful Words of Life 

Source: https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biobliss.html