- Jan 1, 2024
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In his message "Trembling at the Word of the Lord", CH Spurgeon says,
"There is a song the Jubilee Singers used to sing, which begins, “Swing low, sweet chariot.” I am sure I do not know what the singers mean by the expression; and so I give it a meaning of my own, and say that I am right glad when a promise swings so low that I can get into it. Surely a promise from God is a chariot lined with love, drawn upward by winged steeds, which bear our hearts aloft; and it is a mercy when it swings as low as this text: “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
Note he says " I am sure I do not know what the singers mean by the expression." He then proceeds to give it a meaning of his own, which is good, but not what I've always thought the song to mean.
I note others give it spiritual meaning as Spurgeon,
"Jones describes Swing Low as a signal song: “On one level it’s about people hoping they can escape their misery by riding on this imaginary chariot to heaven, but another clear meaning is the idea that the chariot is a metaphor for escaping to freedom."
Another says this:
"Willis, who worked near the Red River, may have been reminded of the Jordan River and the death of the Prophet Elijah. The lyrics “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home” are reminiscent of Elijah in 2 Kings being taken to heaven in a chariot."
I don't know about the death of Elijah, but that's the meaning I always figured. It's possibly more symbolic of the rapture hoped for.
And there were the African American origins, which some think had a hidden meaning about being freed from the oppressor:
The double meanings encoded in “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are believed to be the Jordan River as representative of the first step to freedom from slavery, “home” as Africa, and Jesus as anyone who helps bring the enslaved to freedom
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is a traditional African American spiritual song that originated during the period of slavery in the United States. It is believed to have been created by Wallace Willis, a Choctaw freedman who lived in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the mid-19th century
The song is attributed to Wallace Willis, a slave from Oklahoma; his inspiration was the land beyond the Ohio River.
(Of Course Spurgeon didn't have internet!)
"There is a song the Jubilee Singers used to sing, which begins, “Swing low, sweet chariot.” I am sure I do not know what the singers mean by the expression; and so I give it a meaning of my own, and say that I am right glad when a promise swings so low that I can get into it. Surely a promise from God is a chariot lined with love, drawn upward by winged steeds, which bear our hearts aloft; and it is a mercy when it swings as low as this text: “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
Note he says " I am sure I do not know what the singers mean by the expression." He then proceeds to give it a meaning of his own, which is good, but not what I've always thought the song to mean.
I note others give it spiritual meaning as Spurgeon,
"Jones describes Swing Low as a signal song: “On one level it’s about people hoping they can escape their misery by riding on this imaginary chariot to heaven, but another clear meaning is the idea that the chariot is a metaphor for escaping to freedom."
Another says this:
"Willis, who worked near the Red River, may have been reminded of the Jordan River and the death of the Prophet Elijah. The lyrics “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home” are reminiscent of Elijah in 2 Kings being taken to heaven in a chariot."
I don't know about the death of Elijah, but that's the meaning I always figured. It's possibly more symbolic of the rapture hoped for.
And there were the African American origins, which some think had a hidden meaning about being freed from the oppressor:
The double meanings encoded in “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are believed to be the Jordan River as representative of the first step to freedom from slavery, “home” as Africa, and Jesus as anyone who helps bring the enslaved to freedom
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is a traditional African American spiritual song that originated during the period of slavery in the United States. It is believed to have been created by Wallace Willis, a Choctaw freedman who lived in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the mid-19th century
The song is attributed to Wallace Willis, a slave from Oklahoma; his inspiration was the land beyond the Ohio River.
(Of Course Spurgeon didn't have internet!)
