Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key is famously remembered as the man who penned “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Did you know that he wrote hymns as well? Today, Stephen Nichols discusses several of these hymns.

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. On this episode, we are talking about Francis Scott Key. He was born in 1779, and he died in 1843. He was born in Frederick County, Maryland. He studied at St. John’s College in Annapolis, and he had a very distinguished career as a lawyer and served for several years as the United States District Attorney. He married Mary Tyloe Lloyd, and together they had 11 children. And he is most famous for penning the lyrics to the National Anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner.” It was during the war of 1812, and Francis Scott Key was called upon to be involved in a prisoner exchange negotiation. And he was in the Baltimore Harbor. This was the year 1814, and he successfully negotiated the exchange, and he was making his way back, and he got caught in the battle of Fort McHenry in 1814. Major George Armistead was the commander of Fort McHenry, and prior to the battle, he had ordered a flag all of 24 by 30 feet to fly above Fort McHenry. He said he wanted it to be the first thing that the British saw when they pulled into the Baltimore Harbor.

Well, as the fort and the flag were under attack, Francis Scott Key watched it all, and during the attack, he penned the lines of a poem. He filled out that poem a little later, and it was published widely. In its full form, it’s four stanzas, but typically only the first is usually sung, and it is indeed the “Star Spangled Banner.” Francis Scott Key was a devout Episcopalian in addition to being a lawyer, and he was also quite the poet. In fact, he wrote many poems and mostly were of a biblical and religious nature. In 1857, after his death, these poems were all gathered together and published under the simple title Poems. A number of those poems were turned into hymns.

Probably about 12 or so during his life were given a tune and were published in various hymnals. Two have sort of emerged and are widely found in hymnals. One is called “Before The Lord We Bow.” He wrote that one in 1832, and the other one that’s probably the most popular goes back to 1819, “Lord with Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee.” In the first of these four stanzas, Francis Scott Key speaks of the pardoning grace that saves us and the peace that from it flows. This causes him to go back in stanzas two and three and offer a very biblically and doctrinally rich discussion of salvation. He writes, “Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee, wretched wand’rer far astray; found thee lost, and kindly brought thee from the paths of death away. Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling, him who saw thy guilt-born fear, and the light of hope revealing, bade the blood-stained cross appear.” He continues this wonderful discussion of salvation in the third stanza when he says, “Praise thy Savior God that drew thee to that cross, new life to give, held a blood sealed pardon to thee, bade thee look to him and live. Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee, roused thee from thy fatal ease; praise the grace whose promised warned thee, praise the grace that whispered peace.”

As he moves into the fourth and final stanza, he is asking God to bring his love for him to a full flame and asking God to bring the praises of God that are on his lips to full measure. It is in that fourth stanza that out of gratitude for what God has done for him in salvation, that he asked God to keep him on a path of obedience. So Francis Scott Key, known as the author of the National Anthem, but also an author of hymns. And by the way, he is also the namesake of the American Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. And one more piece of information of Francis Scott Key. He has a United States Navy submarine named after him. Well, that's Francis Scott Key. And I'm Steve Nichols and thanks for listening to 5 Minutes in Church History.