Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Classic Hymn “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning” – An Uplifting Maritime Metaphor

OYWM – Hey friend, have you ever heard the song “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning” by Tennessee Ernie Ford? It’s a real gem from the golden age of gospel and country music. This tune has such a powerful message wrapped up in a clever maritime metaphor that I just can’t get enough of it.

Imagine you’re a sailor navigating treacherous waters at night. The only thing guiding your ship is the beacon from the lighthouse keeper’s lower lights shining along the shoreline. In this vivid analogy, we are the sailors, trying to safely reach our destination (heaven) by following the guiding lights of God’s wisdom and truth.

I just love how Ernie paints such a gripping picture with his rich baritone voice. You can really envision the scene he’s describing. So let’s dive into the lyrics and unpack the deeper spiritual meaning behind this timeless classic!

Lyrics

Brightly beams our father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore

Let the lower lights be burning
Send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save

Dark the night of sin has settled
Loud the angry billows roar
Eager eyes are watching, longing
For the lights along the shore

Let the lower lights be burning
Send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save

The Call to Keep the Lower Lights Burning

The song opens by issuing a call to action:

Brighter than the fancy lightin’
That the wealthy sailors buy
Is the light that keeps on shinin’
From the lighthouse by and by

Right off the bat, Ford is contrasting the man-made “fancy lightin’” that the rich sailors use to the eternal, unfailing light that guides us home. The “lighthouse by and by” is a reference to the celestial lighthouse – the light of God’s truth shining from heaven to lead us.

He goes on to emphasize just how crucial it is that we keep these symbolic lower lights burning brightly:

Let the lower lights be burning
Send the gleam across the wave
Some poor struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save

Did you catch that “struggling seaman” line? We’re all sailors struggling against the gales and crashing waves of life’s trials and temptations. By keeping our own personal “lower lights” burning as a testimony of God’s truth, we can be a spiritual lifeline helping to guide others to safety.

Shining Our Light Before Men

The next few verses really drive home this idea of being a beacon of light and hope for others:

Dark the night of sin hath settled Loud the angry billows roar Eager eyes are watching, longing For the lights along the shore

Just let that imagery marinate for a second. Can’t you just envision the sailor squinting through the inky blackness, straining to see any shred of light that might show the way to safe harbor? That’s the desperation and longing of a soul lost in the darkness of sin.

Our job is to be those “lights along the shore” – shining examples for others to follow out of the tempest into the warmth and security of God’s love and forgiveness. As the song says:

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother Some poor seaman tempest-tossed Trying now to make the harbor In the night may lie and be lost

Talk about putting a lump in your throat! The mental picture of that helpless sailor “lie and be lost” to the crashing waves is so heavy. It reminds us that people’s very lives and souls are at stake if we don’t keep our light burning as a guide.

Staying the Course to the Heavenly Port

As the song builds towards the stirring conclusion, Ford hammers home the directional concept of the “lower lights” leading towards our ultimate heavenly destination:

Struggling seamen oft reminded By the lights along the shore That they still have friends unbounded Waiting on the bright forevermore

Did you see how he reused that beautiful “lights along the shore” metaphor? Those are the beacons we light through our words, our actions, and our very lives as ambassadors for Christ. They remind struggling souls that they have eternal “friends unbounded” awaiting in the “bright forevermore” of heaven.

The final verse is an impassioned plea for us to keep shining that guiding light for others, no matter how tiny our lamp may seem:

Let the lower lights be burning Do not let them dim or pale For whatever fortune finds them Some poor seamen in the gale

There’s a longing for the homeland On the surging crested wave Let the lower lights be burning That the wanderers may be saved

I mean, chills! The image of that solitary light shining out across the churning sea as the only hope for lost “wanderers” is so powerful. It’s a potent reminder that we can’t afford to let our light be extinguished or neglected. When the gales of persecution, ridicule, or doubt threaten to overcome us, we have to renew our efforts to “keep on burning” so the lost may find their way.

In Closing…

Well friend, I could go on and on analyzing and marveling at the incredible storytelling and spiritual insights contained in this song’s lyrics. Ernie Ford was truly a master at taking a relatively simple metaphor and absolutely maximizing its meaning and emotional resonance.

At the end of the day, “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning” is a rallying cry for us as believers to be unflinching, unwavering beacons of God’s truth in the midst of life’s stormiest seas. By staying the course and keeping our lamp lit, we can be instruments of divine guidance, rescuing wandering souls and leading them safely to the heavenly harbor.

So the next time you hear this classic tune, don’t just sing along – let the lyrics really soak in. And then take that message out into your daily life, shining the “lights along the shore” for all to see. Who knows whose life you may save?