Day by Day

When I wanted to write this post, I couldn’t find my hymnal! I looked and looked and looked for it, but it wasn’t anywhere that I remembered. So I went to look for a different hymnal where I found this song Day by Day. By the time I sat down again, my lovely hubby

Lyrics to Day by Day

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

Author and History

Okay, it’s a bit odd. The hymnals that I looked through had the same translator for Day By Day as Andrew L Skoog. BUT one listed the original author as Caroline Sandell Berg and another listed Lina Sandell as the author. The names were quite similar so I wondered if they were indeed the same person. Turns out that Lina is the nickname of this prolific Swedish hymn writer.

The story of Lina Sandell is rather remarkable. She was a frail youngster and spent most of her time sitting in her beloved father’s den as he worked. Her dad was a Lutheran pastor. As a young child, she suffered partial paralysis and the doctors did not believe she would ever recover. Her parents, the devout believers that they were, believed that one day God would heal her. One Sunday, as a 12-year-old, she was at home while her parents went to church. While they were away she prayed earnestly and kept reading the bible. When her parents returned from church, they found her walking around. They were quite amazed. Lina devoted her life to writing verses expressing her love for God and gratitude to him.

Lina released her first book of spiritual poetry when she was just 16 years old. 10 years later she accompanied her father on a boat trip where he fell overboard and drowned. She dearly loved her father and her grief inspired her to write even more verses and songs. She wrote more than 600 hymns over the course of her life with Oscar Ahnfelt writing the tunes for most of them. Married to Oscar Berg their only child died at birth.

Pondering Further

In Swedish the name of this song is “Blott en Dag”. In English this mean Just Another Day. That has a different connotation than Day By Day does so I wonder how close the translation is to the original words. But I need to trust the translator I guess! 🙂

Don’t you find comfort in these words?

God’s care and concern for us. His kindness for us. Sometimes we forget that we have permission to run to God through all of life’s joys and trials. This song so much speaks to how God governs us with so much care and concern.

How does he show you care and comfort? Can you see him in action in your life? It’s a relief to me to know that I can trust God to act and care for me. A true comfort knowing that day by Day God watches over me with a tender care that I don’t even always understand.