“I will cause showers to come down in their season; there will be showers of blessing.” – Ezekiel 34:26
I grew up singing the hymn “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing!” but I never knew its history or the biblical basis for its powerful message.
This short post will give you the biblical and historical background for the hymn.
After reading this post, I promise you will never sing the hymn again without thinking of its backstory.
Recently, through preparation for our study of Ezekiel at Istoria Ministries, I came across Ezekiel 34:26, and it led me to a beautiful understanding of the depths of meaning of “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing!”
If you are going through a difficult time, not feeling God’s love, and not seeing God’s goodness, read this post and be encouraged about the “showers of blessings” God sends to His people in days of darkness.
THE HYMN HAS BEAUTIFUL WORDS
There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
THE BIBLICAL BACKGROUND IS EZEKIEL 34:26
Ezekiel is a prophet of God living in Babylon as an exile. In 586 BC, the LORD used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to bring judgment on the Jews. The Babylonians destroyed the Temple of YHWH in Jerusalem, turned the city to ash, and enslaved the Jewish people in the Babylonian Exile.
The LORD spoke to His people in their captivity through His prophet Ezekiel. The words given to the Jews from the LORD in Ezekiel 34:26 are uttered by the prophet in 585 BC, a year after the destruction of the Jewish capital and the Jews’ captivity.
The LORD says through Ezekiel that there will be “showers of blessing” for His people. That’s right, in the darkest days for the people of God, the LORD gives them their brightest hope.
That’s the way it is in the Kingdom of God.
A person’s darkest times are typically the season to experience God’s showers of blessing.
DANIEL WEBSTER WHITTLE, THE HYMN’S AUTHOR
Major Daniel Webster Whittle (b. 1840 – d. 1901) wrote the hymn “There Shall be Showers of Blessing!”
Born November 22, 1840, in Massachusetts, Daniel moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1857 as a teenager.
Daniel grew up in a Christian home, but he cared nothing for the things of God.
At the tender age of 21, Daniel became a Union soldier as the Civil War of the United States broke out.
In Daniel Webster Whittle’s autobiographical book Twice Born Men, Daniel relates how he came to faith in Jesus Christ.
The showers of God’s blessing came to Daniel Webster Whittle in his darkest hour.
When the Civil War broke out, I left my home in New England and came to Virginia as lieutenant of a company in a Massachusetts regiment. My dear mother was a devout Christian, and parted from me with many a tear, and followed me with many a prayer. She had placed a New Testament in a pocket of the haversack that she arranged for me.
We had many engagements, and I saw many sad sights, and in one of the battles I was knocked out, and that night my arm was amputated above the elbow. As I grew better, having a desire for something to read, I felt in my haversack, which I had been allowed to keep, and found the little [New] Testament my mother had placed there.
I read right through the book – Matthew, Mark, Luke, to Revelation. Every part was interesting to me; and I found to my surprise that I could understand it in a way that I never had before. When I had finished Revelation, I began at Matthew, and read it through again. And so, for days I continued reading, and with continued interest; and still with no thought of becoming a Christian, I saw clearly from what I read the way of salvation through Christ.
While laying [sic] in the hospital, a young man begged a nurse to pray for him, but she refused. He then begged Daniel who said “I can’t pray. I never prayed in my life. I am just as wicked as you are.”
The young man begged Daniel to pray for him. He felt God speaking to him, so he knelt at the boy’s bedside confessing first his sins and then praying for the young man.
“I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed earnestly for the boy
He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God’s promises.
When I arose from my knees, he was dead.
A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God who used him to bring me to the Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ’s precious blood and find pardon. I hope to meet him in heaven.”
DANIEL WEBSTER WHITTLE and D.L. MOODY
Daniel Whittle re-entered the Civil War after his medical recovery as an amputee soldier. Toward the end of the Civil War, Daniel was granted the rank of Major. For the rest of his life, until he died in 1901, Daniel was known as “Major Daniel Webster Whittle.”
Following the war, Daniel went to work for the Elgin Watch Company.
Whittle began writing Christian hymns, never forgetting that the blessings of God came to him in his darkest hour. He wrote “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing” after reading Ezekiel 34:26 in his daily devotional and would later write the great hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.”
Daniel Whittle became with the famous evangelist D.L. Moody and eventually joined the Moody Evangelistic Association as an associate evangelist and hymn writer.
Whittle’s daughter, May Whittle, married D.L. Moody’s son, William Moody.
D.L. Moody would laud Whittle’s hymn writing by saying, “I think Major Whittle has written some of the best hymns of the century.”
Major Daniel Webster Whittle died on March 4, 1901.
I never sing “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing!” or “I Know Whom I Have Believed’ without picturing Major Daniel Webster Whittle kneeling beside the bed of a dying Union soldier, praying for God’s mercy.
Wade,
Your new post is a masterpiece. Good to know who wrote “There shall be showers of blessing!” Daniel praying for the boy before he died, reminded me of my father holding a dying soldier who told him to tell his mother he would see her in heaven.
Thanks, Rex! I appreciate the kind words! I remember the story of your father! Very moving.
Loved this post !
Especially the kindness shown to the dying soldier.
What a beautiful hymn. From a beautiful soul. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this with us, Wade.
REX RAY, I also remember that story about your father’s kindness during the war. Stories like that are hard to forget and need to be told and re-told, especially in times when encouragement is so needed.
Wade and CHRISTIANE,
Nice of you to remember my father. You’ve heard of people falling apart. Yesterday, I accused Judy of having a rock in her salad but turned out to be the lower half of my jaw tooth.
This is an old story.
When our aunt’s husband Claude died, she got our mother to drive her to the funeral home because she never learned to drive. She was upset with the director because he had not put Claude’s false teeth in. The director said no one had brought them and it was far too late now.
She got mother to drive her home and came back with teeth. Mother said she worked really hard to put in his teeth. The teeth did not look right but he looked better.
Days later her children told her: “Mama, now Daddy is gone, and you have got to start eating; you just nibble at your food.”
“I can’t eat! Claude has my teeth!”
CHRISTIANE,
Has Wade gone to Israel?
REX RAY,
I think he and Rachelle were planning on it, but I don’t know the actual dates.
BTW, good stories!
I hope they will be SAFE if they are in Israel, as there is political turmoil there now. My son is going to Europe for two weeks this summer and I am worried because of the instability.
Let me know if you hear anything.
CHRISTIANE,
Judy’s son is in Holland now. He is the one that does Broadway shows. This morning, Judy showed me a production he did that was done on a street in New York. The men wore white suits and the women wore VERY short white dresses. They danced separately. It was funny to watch. If I threw my body around like they did, I’d be carried home on a stretcher.
CHRISTIANE,
You said you were worried because of the instability. Yes, Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and threats of war…” (Matthew 24:6 NLT)
Wade said he believed World War III would be soon. Look what China is doing with their TikTok. If anyone uses it, China can see everything on their cellphones.
Today a doctor tested how long I could hold my breath. Said I was doing good for a man my age.
When I was 50, two stopwatches timed me holding my breath when I was under water 4 minutes and 8 seconds. I was taking a lot of vitamin E which puts a lot of oxygen in your blood. I still take E and other vitamins.
CHRISTIANE,
Today I was getting a haircut, and a girl recognized me. She is on my slide list. She went down twice on 6-22-08 at the age of 11. The comment: “Loudest screamer”.
What’s the chance of us meeting 15 years later?
CHRISTIANE,
A few feet from our house, we have a table where we feed Sunflower seeds to birds. Also, there is a container hanging from a tree for bird seed.
Today a squirrel hung upside down to eat bird seed one at a time. He would hold on with his back feet, and hold a seed with his front feet which are almost like hands. I stopped counting at 200, and took his picture.
REX RAY,
my son gave me a bird-feeder on a pole (inside a cage) and placed a very large chunk of seeds inside.
Three weeks later, the squirrels had eaten every bite. I don’t mind, exactly, but it might have been nice to see the local cardinals come to feed there this spring, and the finches. Squirrels are resourceful little guyz.
YES, I am troubled by family members traveling in places where there is turmoil and instability. There is ‘history’ so I am aware of what might happen, especially at airports during coups in Turkey!
You never know in some of those countries what might happen. (sigh)
CHRISTIANE,
Thought I’d tell this story again.
Our Dad, Dave Ray, was a Chaplain in World War II. After a battle, he made it a practice to visit the First Aid Station. One time, Medics told him they could not prevent a soldier from bleeding to death.
Dad laid down on the ground next to him. He told Dad: “Yesterday, I thought I’d be killed. I asked Jesus to save me, and He stepped into my heart. I was so happy I thought I’d live forever. Don’t know why I was hit today, but tell my mother I’ll meet her in heaven.”
An Army telegram broke his mother heart saying her son was killed in action. It was worse believing her son was not a Christian. A letter from Dad arrived later. She wrote Dad, “You’ll never know how much your letter meant to us!”
Rex Ray,
That was one of my favorite stories!