Speaker: Hymn Story narrator (not Pastor Ryan Rench; narrator not named in the video)
Merrill Dunlop was born in Chicago in 1905 and raised in a musically inclined family, with a mother who was a pianist and a teacher. Though he initially resisted the idea of music in his younger years, he gradually gained an ear for it, and his talent grew through the mentorship of his mother and Dr. Francis Hemington. He attended Moody Tabernacle when he was about twelve years old and got saved after repeatedly attending services with his grandmother. Pastor Paul Rader’s preaching greatly influenced him as he grew in the faith. Eventually he became the pianist at Moody Church when he was just sixteen years old. Later, Dunlop joined Pastor Rader’s staff in 1925, working as a church musician, and he was even ordained in his late twenties. Dunlop’s career in church music continued to prosper during his time as music director at the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle from 1926 to 1953. This is where he contributed significantly to the church’s radio broadcast and wrote over seven hundred hymns and songs. As he aged, many people remembered Merrill Dunlop as an energetic and passionate musician, leading congregational singing with enthusiasm, before he passed away in 2002. His hymn “Opened for Me” was written out of deep theological reflection on Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and it was inspired by Zechariah 13:1, which says, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” The lyrics of this hymn raise that eternal hope of Jesus’ sacrifice and the open access all believers have to God through Jesus Christ.
