This hymn was written by Virgil Brock. He shares this
account of when the hymn was written:
“This song was born during a conversation at the dinner
table, one evening in 1936, after watching a very unusual sunset at Winona
Lake, Indiana, with a blind guest—my cousin, Horace Burr—and his wife, Grace. A
large area of the water appeared ablaze with the glory of God, yet there were
threatening storm clouds gathering overhead. Returning to our home, we went to
the dinner table still talking about the impressive spectacle we had witnessed.
Our blind guest excitedly remarked that he had never seen a more beautiful
sunset.
“’People are always amazed when you talk about seeing,’ I
told him. ‘I can see,’ Horace replied, ‘I see through other people’s eyes, and
I think I often see more; I see beyond the sunset.’
“The phrase ‘beyond the sunset’ and the striking inflection
of his voice struck Brock so forcibly, he began singing the first few measures.
‘That’s beautiful!’ his wife interrupted, ‘Please go to the piano and sing it.’
“We went to the piano nearby and completed the first verse.
‘You should have a verse about the storm clouds,’ our guest urged, and the
words for this verse came quickly as well. Recalling how closely our guests had
walked hand in hand together for so many years due to his blindness, the third
verse was soon added. Before the evening meal was finished, all four stanzas
had been written and we sang the entire song together.
“Someone raised the question, ‘I wonder what’s beyond all of
this?’ Immediately, the answer began to form in my mind. I reasoned — Horace
Burr had never seen the glory of an earthly sunset yet was blessed as we tried
to describe it to him — so we too, as Christians, have never seen what is
beyond, but God in His love and promise, has told us in the Bible of the glory
that is awaiting us beyond.”
Virgil was born in 1887 in a rural community in Ohio to
devoted Quaker parents. At 16, he accepted Christ personally during a church
revival meeting, felt the call for Christian service and was ordained a
minister of the Christian church at age 19.
In 1914, while serving in Greens Fork, Indiana, Virgil met
and married a talented singer and pianist, Blanche Kerr. She was born in 1888
in Greens Fork and attended the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music and the American
Conservatory of Music in Chicago. They became a team, serving together in the
Christian church and writing more than 500 gospel songs before her death in
1958.
Although Virgil didn’t know music theory and needed Blanche
to write the melodies for their songs, he was awarded an honorary degree of
sacred music from Trinity College in Dunedin, Florida, in recognition of his 50
years of gospel songwriting.
One of Mr. Brock’s delights was leading a congregation in
vibrant singing. His exuberant spirit soon became contagious with any audience.
Improvising choruses for a service or composing a custom song for a special
occasion became effective characteristics of Brock’s ministry.
Virgil died in 1978 at the age of 91. A large monument at Warsaw-Winona
Lake Cemetery, with the words and music of “Beyond the Sunset” engraved in
stone, stands as a tribute to the couple.
Bibleref.com: Paul wants his readers to see that, by comparison, the very worst suffering experienced on earth is only a "light and momentary affliction" when compared with the glory of the eternity with God that is to come. The comparison he makes is one of magnitude and time. Weighed on a scale, any suffering in this life is far outweighed by the glory of the life to come. Measured in time, the suffering here happens in an instant and is replaced by glory forever. Because he knows this to be true, Paul refuses to lose heart, to give up, even when the suffering in this life feels unbearable.
Studylight.org, Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible: It is hardly possible to express the force of this passage as it stands in the original. Nothing greater can be said or imagined. The apostle, about to describe the happiness of the righteous in heaven takes fire. He calls it not glory, merely, but a weight of glory, in opposition to the light thing of our affliction, and an eternal weight of glory, in opposition to the momentary duration of our affliction, and a most exceeding eternal weight of glory, as beyond comparison greater than all the dazzling glories of riches, fame, power, pleasure, or than anything that can be possessed in the present life?
Enduringword.com; David Guzik: With these words David seemed to understand that the benefits of this life, commitment to God, were received in both this life, and the life beyond . . . The path of life is something enjoyed by the believer both now, and in eternity. God gives us eternal life to enjoy as a present gift, extending into eternity . . . In Your presence is fullness of joy: This was a joy David could experience now, but also ultimately receive when in the more immediate presence of God . . . Peter also quoted these lines in his message on the Day of Pentecost . . . At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore: David had full confidence that his life with God – both now and forevermore – would be marked by the highest and best pleasures.
Biblestudytools.com, John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible: The Lord orders the steps of the righteous, holds them by the right hand, and guides them with His counsel and in judgment: Christ, the great Shepherd of the flock, feeds them . . . and guides them by the skillfulness of His hands; He guides their feet in the ways of peace, life, and salvation, by Himself; He leads them into green pastures, beside the still waters, and unto fountains of living waters: the Spirit of the Lord leads them to the fulness of Christ; guides them into all truth, as it is in Him; directs them into His and His Father's love, and leads them on to the land of uprightness.
Studylight.org, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible: To be gathered to one’s own people, or to his fathers, is a common expression in the Old Testament in speaking of death. It means that they were united again with those who had gone before them, in the regions of the dead. Death had indeed separated them, but by death they were again united . . . He and the “generation” to which he has gone to be united, would no more see the light of this world; no more walk among the living.
“The ability to see ‘beyond the sunset’—to anticipate the glories of God’s tomorrow—enables a Christian to live joyfully and victoriously in any of life’s circumstances. It is difficult for us to imagine heavenly scenes or to describe them with earthly symbols. The Bible does promise, however, that these will be ‘eternal joy’ in the ‘glorious presence’ of our Savior on the fair shore.” Kenneth W. Osbeck
By His Grace . . .
