Interpose

One of the reasons why I love old hymns is that they often use words and phrases that have fallen out of the standard American English vernacular, much to our detriment. They possess some of the most wonderful and richest meanings in language, but in our age of rapid spontaneous reaction, we often don't take the time to think about the precision of words. Not so with hymnists - words are chosen carefully because the fewer words they write, the greater the power that each conveys.

As I was reading a case in a law class, I came across the word "Interpose," in the context where one party could "interpose the law of his state as a defense." The idea is that in a scenario where one forum state is going to exercise judgment against a defendant, the defendant brings forth law from another state to block off the judgment, rendering it harmless.

As I saw that word "interpose," it made my heart leap because it reminded me of the stanza in the hymn, "Come Thou Fount."

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood

Whenever we sing this song in church, that word leaps out at me because it is unusual and peculiar and I had never seen it anywhere else. My source for definition relied solely on the hymn. But because it is so peculiar, I intuitively knew then that the hymnist must have chosen it specifically because of the power of its meaning.

There that word sat, in that wonderful hymn, for years, and every time I sang it, my spidey senses would tingle, because I knew there had to be more to it.

Fast forward to my final semester in law school. It is so small, yet I feel that it is a significant gift God gave to me to resonate within me as I finish up these last few days. We're reading a conflicts of law case, and in opinion written by the noted verbal precision master Judge Stanley Fuld, there it was in Neumeier v. Kuehnere. Interpose. The meaning he meant to convey, I think, is that in that scenario, one state wanted to execute judgment over a defendant. However,an outside force of law from another state meant to interpose, or step in between and block, the exercising of that law. And there you have it. A precise meaning that sheds beautiful light on my beloved hymn.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood

As the sinner, as I wandered about dead in my trespasses, oblivious to the fact that divine judgment of God's holy law was going to exercise judgment upon me, an external force beyond my ability to comprehend it stepped in between that law and judgment, blocking and absorbing it. Jesus interposed Himself to prevent judgment on me.

Interpose. What a beautiful, beautiful word.