The Mines That Sang

In the winter of 1904, something extraordinary swept through the coal valleys of South Wales. The Welsh Revival, sparked through the prayers of a young coal miner named Evan Roberts, transformed entire communities almost overnight. But what made this revival unlike any other was the singing.

Miners who had spent their days in profanity and hard drinking emerged from the dark shafts singing hymns in four-part harmony. Congregations that had dwindled to a handful suddenly overflowed into the streets, and spontaneous worship erupted in homes, pubs, and railway stations. Police reported that crime virtually disappeared in some towns. Magistrates were presented with empty dockets. One famous account noted that the pit ponies underground became confused — so accustomed to being directed by curses, they no longer recognized their handlers' voices now lifted in song.

Within months, over one hundred thousand people across Wales had professed faith. Missionaries and travelers carried the singing to India, Korea, and beyond.

Psalm 98 calls us to "sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things." The psalmist envisions rivers clapping their hands and mountains singing together — all creation caught up in irrepressible praise. In those Welsh valleys, that vision came briefly, beautifully alive. When God's salvation breaks through, it does not produce quiet, polite acknowledgment. It produces singing — deep, joyful, unstoppable singing that echoes from the darkest places and reaches to the ends of the earth.