Beneath the Cleansing Flood

I accompanied for hymns at my church this past weekend and was confronted with one of those situations that makes most accompanists cringe; that is, when the congregation blissfully sings a song musically incorrectly. This particular instance was with the hymn, "O Victory in Jesus," in the eighth measure: "to save a wretch like me." The correct way to sing/play it, is dotted eighth note, sixteenth note, half note, quarter note. For those not musically inclined, it's something like this: "to saaveawretchhhh. Like-meee." The way the congregation actually sang it was half note half note half note half note, or somewhat like 'Save-A-Wretch-Like-Me.'

(Does that translation make any sense? ;)) 

Faced with the on-the-spot decision; should I continue playing the measure as written, correctly, albeit alone in the correctness?  Or should I switch to their sung version, and if so, would I be encouraging musical incorrectness? Or, on the other hand, is correctness outweighed by how the hymn is traditionally sung? 

Right or wrong, I decided to adapt to the congregation. I played while the congregation sang this measure in the next two verses as half note half note half note half note. And yes; I cringed every time. 

I did some research later and discovered this measure adjustment was not unique to my church, but the song is often sung incorrectly. This musician followed a different course of action than I did - again making me consider which would be the best approach for the next time this happened. 

Know what? I never did figure it out.  

And know what else? I decided it doesn't matter all that much. Because if we are singing of victory in Jesus, the point isn't in how the song is being sung...the point is that there is, indeed, victory in Jesus. 

(And it's okay if I still cringe, isn't it? ;))  

O Victory in Jesus

I heard an old, old story, 
How a Savior came from glory, 
How He gave His life on Calvary 
To save a wretch like me; 
I heard about His groaning, 
Of His precious blood's atoning, 
Then I repented of my sins 
And won the victory. 

O victory in Jesus, 
My Savior, forever. 
He sought me and bought me 
With His redeeming blood; 
He loved me ere I knew Him 
And all my love is due Him, 
He plunged me to victory, 
Beneath the cleansing flood. 

I heard about His healing, 
Of His cleansing pow'r revealing. 
How He made the lame to walk again 
And caused the blind to see; 
And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, 
Come and heal my broken spirit," 
And somehow Jesus came and bro't 
To me the victory. 

O victory in Jesus, 
My Savior, forever. 
He sought me and bought me 
With His redeeming blood; 
He loved me ere I knew Him 
And all my love is due Him, 
He plunged me to victory, 
Beneath the cleansing flood. 

I heard about a mansion 
He has built for me in glory. 
And I heard about the streets of gold 
Beyond the crystal sea; 
About the angels singing, 
And the old redemption story, 
And some sweet day I'll sing up there 
The song of victory. 

O victory in Jesus, 
My Savior, forever. 
He sought me and bought me 
With His redeeming blood; 
He loved me ere I knew Him 
And all my love is due Him, 
He plunged me to victory, 
Beneath the cleansing flood.