Music

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that I have known for such a long time.  I have recollections of it being on the records my mom used to play. I think… Johnny Cash did a version of it?   At least that’s what my vague memories tell me.  ANYWAYS, it often pops into my mind and I’ll find myself singing.  I do not know all the verses by heart. 

Lyrics to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home,
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I’m coming, too.
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home.
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home. 

Author and History

We don’t know for sure who wrote Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.  It might have been Wallace Willis, a Negro slave born in Mississippi and owned by Britt Willis, a Choctaw.   It is thought he was inspired by the Red River which reminded him of the River Jordan and the prophet Elijah. Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw school Willis was at, heard him singing and transcribed the music sending it The Jubilee Singers.  Learn more at Songwriters.

Or if it was created by Sarah Hannah Sheppard a slave.  Apparently, she learned her master was going to sell her daughter and in her fear, she ran away intent on suicide for herself and her daughter.  You can read the rest of this story at the Library of Congress.   The daughter Ella was part of The Jubilee Singers.

Either way, it’s an old African Spiritual regardless of who wrote it. 

Thinking More

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is a song that has a rhythm to it.  It’s no wonder to me that when I’m doing a repetitive task that this tune will pop into my brain.  

I like this line “I”m sometimes up and sometimes down, But still my soul feels heavenly bound”.  It’s that just so true?  We don’t always feel like we’re doing well in our faith journey but still… our goal is the same.  Heaven is our ultimate stopping place.  

My brain feels full of thoughts tonight as I write this post.  Thoughts about the rough week I had recovering from a migraine.  I also think back on talks where I speak to my boys heart of how my mind thinks and the comfort that God provides.  I repeatedly need to tell my lad that he and I think differently and sometimes that makes communication hard.  He likes a lot of precision in language…but mostly on his terms!   To be a teen again eh?   Why do I talk about this?  Well…because God constantly has his eye on me.  Just as if I were a little sparrow God watches over me.    That care changes how I live my life.  I was trying to share that thought with my lad tonight.  I don’t think I did a very good job, but hopefully the thought sticks with him a bit….   With all that, let’s learn a bit more about “His Eye is on the Sparrow” … and I know he watches me…..

Lyrics to His Eye is On the Sparrow

1. Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
   Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
   When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
   • Refrain:
     I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
     For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
2. “Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
   And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
   Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
3. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
   When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
   I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
   His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Author and History

Civilla D. Martin is the lyricist who wrote this song.  She had Charles H. Gabriel compose this happy tune.  Married twice, her first marriage was to Rev. John F. Geddes a Congregational minister  She later married Baptist pastor Walter Stillman Martin.  Together they one son, A.G. Martin. She authored many of the songs he used in this ministry only using the initials C.D. due to her husband’s composing and evangelistic work.  Her husband composed many of the tunes to the poems she wrote.  Together they were part of the restoration movement. A lot of her music was released in the early 1900’s and over the course of her life wrote several hundred hymns and other religious songs. 

His Eye is On the Sparrow was inspired by a conversation Ms. Martin had while talking with a bedridden believer in the city of Elmira, New York.   She happened to ask this saint if she did not at times get discouraged.  The response she received was that God cares about the sparrow so why should she get discouraged?  This spawned a poem that Civilla later wrote and is the lovely song we sing today. 

She also wrote Be Not Dismayed what ‘ere betide. 

Other Songs by Charles Gabriel

• Send the light.
• I Stand Amazed in the Presence. 

Thinking Deeper

Matthew 10:30-32

³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³² So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

Luke 12:4-7

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Consider your worth.

Are you more important to God than a sparrow?  Consider how closely God watches these busy little birds.  Constantly flitting about searching for food and nesting materials.  They are like the mice of the bird word it seems.   YET get this… God himself minds them full well.  He knows when a single one falls to the ground… and he forgets them not.   We are of SO MUCH MORE VALUE than they are.   Do you not think God will watch over you just as closely as he does these wee bitty birds?   

Of course, he will!  Take comfort in that eh?  

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? 

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.

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. 

You know what?  I’m actually REALLY surprised that I haven’t done My Faith Looks Up To Thee.  When I saw it in the Lift Up Your hearts hymnal (affiliate link) I almost passed it by.  A nudging had me searching to see if I’ve done it before I have not!   Let’s learn more today shall we? 

Lyrics to My Faith Looks Up to Thee

My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine!

May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee,
Pure warm, and changeless be, a living fire!

While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread, be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.

When ends life’s transient dream,
When death’s cold sullen stream shall o’er me roll;
Blest Savior, then in love, fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above, a ransomed soul!

Author and History

Okay, so Ray Palmer palmed the words to My Faith Looks Up To Thee.  He wrote them the day after he saw a vision of Christ.  He had just graduated from Yale.  Mr. Palmer chose not to share this hymn with anyone for two years.  When asked to pen a hymn for a new hymnal, he pulled this one out.  Lowell Mason put his words to a tune, and later told Palmer, he’d probably be long remembered for this hymn. 

Ray Palmer wasn’t just a hymnist though, he was also a pastor within the Congregational church. He not only pastored, but later served as secretary to a large group of Congregationalist churches. Since the pay to be secretary wasn’t good he lent a hand to creating literary works. He wrote 3-4 hymn/poetry books, wrote for quarterly magazines, and as wrote books and discourses.   A father of 10 children, one son and two daughters survived his death (a series of strokes) at age 78. 

Steve Green is one of my favourite Christian singers to listen to.  He shows his faith well in how he sings praise to God. So of course I had to pick a youtube video showcasing his talent.  🙂 

Thinking Deeper

Don’t you just love the call to continue to trust in Jesus?  When we are doubtful or sad, or facing a struggle.  Even when life has run it’s course, the call is to continue to trust in Jesus. 

I don’t know you, but there are times when I question my commitment to the Lord.  I have learned in those times to do as as hymnist does… call about the Lord to booster my faith. It’s only by God’s grace that I have faith in him anyways, so it’s a natural thing, don’t you think, to ask him to give strength to our hearts? 

Jesus, Lover of my Soul…. oh, I’ve sung this song for years.   It was a favourite in the church that I grew up in.  A song written by Charles Wesley who wanted others to know of this God who is our source of refuge.  

Lyrics to Jesus Lover of My Soul

Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.

Author and History

So imagine this.  You’ve preached a sermon, and people hate you for it.  They want you dead.  A kind person hides you. As you are waiting for your pursuers to get tired of the hunt, the words to a song come you.

This is how Jesus, Lover of my Soul came to Charles Wesley. During a time of stress and persecution.  His life on the line, and what does he do?  Write a hymn not only recognizing who Jesus is but calling upon him for aid.  

Charles Wesley travelled around England’s countryside with his brother John preaching.  He did so at a time when holding to different doctrinal standards could result in mobs of angry people. YET, he did so irregardless of the cost. Known as the “Bard of Methodism”, he wrote some 6500 hymns.  Hymns flowed out of him, whether doctrinally or experientially based. 

This verse is part of the original song, but none of the hymnbooks I own contain it.

Wilt Thou not regard my call? Wilt Thou not accept my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall—Lo! on Thee I cast my care;
Reach me out Thy gracious hand! While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand, dying, and behold, I live.

Other hymns by Charles Wesley

• Come, thou long-expected Jesus.
• Christ the Lord is Risen Today. 
• Ye Servants of God, your master proclaim.
• Rejoice the Lord is King. 
• Christ whose glory fills the skies.
• Love Divine all loves excelling. 

Thinking Deeper

Doesn’t this verse speak well to the depth found within this song?  

“³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (ESV)

This truth is what Wesley relied upon. God was his source of strength. When I read of how hymnists use their life experiences to call people to God, it’s an inspiration to me.  It helps me realize that all the ways that God has helped me, are something that I, hopefully, can use to remind others of God’s goodness. 

It makes me ask this…. what inspires you?