Behind the Score: Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy

Here's a glimpse into the story behind my arrangement of the beloved Christian hymn, Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy. (Words and Music by Phillip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876, arranged by Lane Johnson)

This arrangement has a lot of personal meaning for me. It was one of my grandfather’s very favorite hymns and one that he requested to be sung at his funeral. So when I learned of his passing, I quickly sat down to begin arranging it for my brothers and I to sing at the service. This was one of those times when the music just seemed to flow from my head to the paper. And in fairly short order, I had the arrangement ready for us to practice a couple times before the service. The performance went well and I was so happy and honored to be able to do that for my grandfather. No wonder it became one of my favorite hymns as well!

I think so many people love this hymn because the original music and message are so simple and so poignant, and so well-paired. The message of hope and a reminder for us all to be vigilant and to reach out to those who might be in need of our help is so relatable to us all because all of us, at one point or another, have been on both sides of needing or giving a helping hand and been changed for the better because of the experience. I’m sure this hymn was so dear to my grandfather, in part, because someone reached out to him at a critical time in his life and helped him get safely back to the shore.

In the early to mid 2000s, the Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus started performing some of my music and I when I showed my arrangement of Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy to their director at the time, Rosalind Hall, she quickly determined that she would add it to her plans for the choir and they performed it several times that year. Eventually, it was included as part of their album Set Apart: Beloved Missionary Hymns.

After that, the arrangement became even more popular and soon was and continues to be my #1 best seller! To my astonishment, it has been performed all over the world. It is available for both TTBB and SATB with piano accompaniment. I hope you enjoy it!