Songs We Love

I Shall Know Him

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Fanny Crosby was one of, if not the most prolific hymn writer in the history of Christianity. We have all had the privilege of singing and listening to many of her more than 8,000 hymns. What a legacy for a woman blind from the age of eight.

Near the end of the 19th century, Fanny was visiting the Lake Chautauqua Institute in Western New York State. A place for Christian fellowship, great preaching and singing, it was here that she met John R. Sweney.

Having a rest on the front porch of the hotel after a busy day at the camp meeting, John asked Fanny an interesting question.

“Fanny,” he asked, “do you think we’ll recognize our friends in heaven?”

Initially, she answered yes. But then she added, “John, that’s not what you really want to know. You wonder how an old lady who has been blind all her life could even recognize one person, let alone her Lord and Saviour.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought and I don’t think I’ll have a problem. But if I do, when I get to heaven, I’m going to look around and when I see the one who I think is my Saviour, I’m going to walk up to Him and say, ‘May I see Your hands?’ When I see the nail prints in the hands of my Saviour, then I’ll know I’ve found my Jesus.”

“Oh Fanny,” John said, “that would make a great song.”

The next morning, bright and early, Fanny met John for breakfast and before they went their separate ways, she dictated the words of this great hymn; a hymn about heaven and the hope of every Christian—at last to see Jesus face to face. What a wonderful day that will be!

I Shall Know Him

When my life work is ended, and I cross the swelling tide,

When the bright and glorious morning I shall see

I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,

And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

 

Oh, the soul-thrilling rapture when I view His blessed face

And the luster of His kindly beaming eye;

How my full heart will praise Him for the mercy, love, and grace

That prepared for me a mansion in the sky.

 

Oh, the dear ones in glory, how they beckon me to come,

And our parting at the river I recall;

To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home,

But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.

 

Thro’ the gates of the city in a robe of spotless white,

He will lead me where no tears will ever fall;

In the glad song of ages, I shall mingle with delight,

But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.

I shall know Him, I shall know Him

And redeemed by His side, I shall stand.

I shall know Him, I shall know Him,

By the print of the nails in His hand.

Source: Barryshymns.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-shall-know-him

Lord, I’m Coming Home

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Born in Ireland in 1838, William J. Kirkpatrick came into this world with a song in his heart. A choir director, organist, lyricist, and composer for all of his adult life, William is credited for writing many of the beloved hymns we still sing today. Many poems from the pens of others were set to music composed by William. One in particular was a poem by Priscilla Owens, and Christians all around the world can be heard singing,

“We have heard a joyful sound;

Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”

He wrote the music for a poem composed by Louisa Stead, and today our hearts swell as we sing,

“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.

Just to take Him at His word.”

In 1902, William was serving as song leader for a camp meeting in rural Pennsylvania. A young man had been assigned to help him. This young man possessed a magnificent voice that brought tears to the eyes of many of his listeners. But William had a burden for the young soloist’s soul. Uncertain about the singer’s sincerity, he watched as the evangelist’s sermons appeared to have little or no effect on the young man.

Night after night, William prayed for this young man. He was so gifted; imagine how much more glorious it would be if he could sing of God from a converted heart.

William came upon a unique idea and he asked the Lord to give him a song that would touch this young heart. And God answered. William sat down and wrote both words and music to one of the most well-known and touching altar call hymns ever written.

Later, at the beginning of an evening service, he gave the song to the young man and asked him to sing it during the meeting. He did and at the end of the service, during the closing altar call, this young man gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

I’ve wandered far away from God,

Now I’m coming home;

The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,

Lord, I’m coming home.

 

I’ve wasted many precious years,

Now I’m coming home;

I now repent with bitter tears;

Lord, I’m coming home.

 

I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord,

Now I’m coming home;

I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy word;

Lord, I’m coming home.

 

My only hope, my only plea,

Now I’m coming home;

That Jesus died, and died for me;

Lord, I’m coming home.

 

I need His cleansing blood I know,

Now I’m coming home;

O wash me whiter than the snow;

Lord, I’m coming home.

 

Coming home, coming home

Nevermore to roam;

Open wide Thine arms of love;

Lord, I’m coming home.

In 1921, William J. Kirkpatrick was 83 years old. One night, he sat down at his desk and began to write what would be his last song. Mrs. Kirkpatrick found her husband, there at his desk, verses unfinished, pencil still in his hand, having left this world as he had entered it: with a song in his heart.

Friends, can you imagine it. Millions upon millions, standing on the sea of glass, and how many of them will say that they gave their hearts to Jesus while responding to a song written to save the soul of one man.

Sources: iblp.org/hymn-history-lord-im-coming-home; A Hymn is Born, Clint Bonner, Broadman Press 1959

Shall We Gather at the River

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In March of 1863, running short of soldiers, Congress, for the first time, passed a law that initiated proscribed service. In Lower Manhattan, violent disturbances—a war within a war—were carried out mainly by the Irish working-class community in opposition to the law. They confronted police, soldiers, and pro-war politicians. During these Draft Riots (just one of the titles this period of unrest is known by), homes of various abolitionists and free African-Americans were looted and destroyed, as were many public buildings, two Protestant churches, and an orphanage for African-American children which was burned to the ground. However, by the summer of 1864, the city had allied itself with the Union cause, and things settled down, though anxiety still ran high.

The Civil War was tearing the country apart. Lush fields were littered with the bodies of dead boys from both sides of the conflict their blood watering the grass with sorrow and loss. Families waited anxiously for news about their loved ones.

That summer was oppressively hot and humid. The fabrics used to make clothing during the Victorian Era were heavy. Air conditioning was still a thing of the future. Crowded city apartments were stifling. And just when the people thought it couldn’t get any worse—it did. Fever swept through the city, confining hundreds to their stifling hot apartments. Anxiety was high, and misery was relentless.

Robert Lowry was the pastor of the Hanson Place Baptist Church. His parishioners were not immune to this anxiety and suffering, and he wanted to find a way to raise their spirits despite the hardships that surrounded them.

After a long and exhausting day of visiting the sick and dying, Pastor Lowry meditated upon Revelation 22:1:

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

Pastor Lowry found the promise in the verse: a reunion with loved ones, at last laying down our earthly burdens and joining in a melody of peace. He sat down at his organ, wrote the lyrics, and composed the tune with the reassuring chorus, “Yes, we’ll gather at the river … .”

Imagine that beautiful river flowing from God’s throne, the saints gathered on its shores, bowing in gratitude and praise to the Lamb, singing together of redemption and everlasting love, a love that would not let us go.

Sources: askherabouthymn.com/what-comforting-old-hymn-was-written-during-a-summer-of-misery-in-brooklyn; Wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riots

 

Shall we gather at the river

Where bright angel feet have trod,

With its crystal tide forever

Flowing by the throne of God?

 

On the margin of the river,

Washing up its silver spray,

We will walk and worship ever,

All the happy golden day.

 

Ere we reach the shining river,

Lay we every burden down;

Grace our spirits will deliver,

And provide a robe and crown.

 

Soon we’ll reach the shining river,

Soon our pilgrimage will cease,

Soon our happy hearts will quiver

With the melody of peace.

 

Yes, we’ll gather at the river,

The beautiful, the beautiful river;

Gather with the saints at the river

That flows by the throne of God.

Nearer, My God, to Thee

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Sarah Flower Adams was born in Harlow, Essex, England, on February 22, 1805. She wrote several poems and hymns during her short life (she passed away August 14, 1848), but her most well-known and beautiful hymn is Nearer, My God, to Thee, which retells the biblical account of Jacob’s dream found in Genesis 28:11–19.

“So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” Verses 11, 12

The hymn gained more notoriety when it was sung by the crew and passengers of the SS Valencia as she sank off the Canadian coast in 1906, and was alleged to have been the last song played by the RMS Titanic’s septet orchestra as the she sank beneath the icy waters of the Atlantic in 1912.

Sarah’s sister, Eliza Flower, first set it to music as one of 13 hymns written by Sarah for publication in William Johnson Fox’s Hymns and Anthems published in 1841. In the United Kingdom, it is sung to the 1861 hymn tune Horbury by John Bacchus Dykes, named after a village where he found peace and comfort. However, today, the rest of the world usually sings the hymn to the 1856 tune Bethany by Lowell Mason.

There are many tales surrounding this hymn, aside from the Titanic. It is said that U.S. President William McKinley’s dying words were the first few lines of the hymn and that it was played by multiple bands across the country at 3:30 p.m., September 14, 1901, in his honor. It was played as U.S. President James Garfield was interred at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as at the funerals of Presidents Warren G. Harding and Gerald Ford. The Confederate army band played the hymn as survivors returned from the failed Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Sarah intended to become an actress in the theater. For a short time, she was able to follow that dream and was quite successful until ill health prevented her from continuing. Instead, she gave the world one of its most beautiful and endearing hymns. A legacy that has far exceeded anything she might have done on stage. Nearer, My God, to Thee is about the joy and comfort found in a loving relationship with God. What a wonder it will be when God’s children step into the holy city and see the sure results of this hymn.

Sources: wikipedia.org/wiki/Nearer,_My_God,_to_Thee; thetabernaclechoir.org/articles/nearer-my-god-to-thee-history-and-lyrics

 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,

Still all my song shall be,

Nearer, my God, to Thee;

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I’d be

Nearer, my God, to Thee;

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;

All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;

Angels to beckon me

Nearer, my God, to Thee;

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;

So by my woes to be

Nearer, my God, to Thee;

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,

Still all my song shall be,

Nearer, my God, to Thee;

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

 

Why Have You Chosen Me?

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Among the many songs that I have in my music library and love to play on the piano, Why Have You Chosen Me? is one of the finest. It feels like a song that comes from the heart of one who knows exactly what they are: a sinner. The question, “Why have You chosen me out of millions your child to be?” is asked with a certain amount of incredulity because for the questioner, the answer seems to be beyond understanding. And yet, the answer to this question is very simple. “Because I love you.” This question could be asked by every human being who is, or ever has, living and lived on the earth from the beginning of time, and the answer would be the same for every one of them, “Because I love you.”

God created mankind because He wanted children to love and for them to love Him in return. To His newly-created children, Adam and Eve, He gave everything that would delight the eye, and overwhelm the senses. Fragrances that we cannot even comprehend today, filled the air in Eden. Imagine how much we love to walk barefoot in the grass here, and how much more pleasing it will be to walk barefoot upon the sloping landscapes of the new earth. Think of the tastes that God’s children experienced from the food He provided. And in Eden, there was nothing but love. Hatred, selfishness, anger, sorrow, sadness, discouragement, loss none of these had a place there, and soon, very soon, they will be gone forever.

Friend, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, just come. It doesn’t matter what you’ve said, felt, or imagined, just come. Surrender, and let the Lord make you again into His image. Only then can you live, by His grace and mercy, a life of perfect obedience to His will.

“The Lord wants you to stand in His strength. He wants you to open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward. He wants to reveal His salvation.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 13, 205, 206

“The Lord is our strength. It is safe for us not to build up self, but to let the Lord work His will in and by and through us.”  Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers (1923), 250

 

Why have You chosen me

Out of millions Your child to be?

You know all the wrong I have done.

O, how could You pardon me,

Forgive my iniquity

To save me, give Jesus Your son.

 

I am amazed to know

That a God so great could love me so.

He’s willing and wanting to bless.

His grace is so wonderful,

His mercy so bountiful,

I can’t understand it, I confess.

 

But Lord, help me be

What You want me to be.

Your word I will strive to obey

My life I now give, for You I will live,

And walk by Your side all the way.

by Rodger Strader

“Let the Lord take His way and do His work with me, so that I am refined and purified; and that is all I desire.” Atlantic Union Gleaner, March 17, 1915

Tell It Again Song

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Mrs. Mary Bridges Canady Slade was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1826. She was well educated, a teacher, poet, and a minister’s wife. She was an assistant editor of The New England Journal of Education, and the author of a children’s magazine, Wide-Awake. Mary authored hymns, Sunday School materials, and books on education, primarily for training teachers. She and her husband were active in the underground railroad. She spent her entire life living in Fall River, passing away in 1882 at the age of 56. Source: hymnary.org/person/Slade_Mary

I couldn’t find a backstory for this particular song, but it was a favorite, sung in my Primary Sabbath School class when I was a child. So simple a message that even a child can understand that we must take the gospel to everyone.

Tell It Again!

Into the tent where a gypsy boy lay,

Dying alone at the close of the day,

News of salvation we carried; said he,

“Nobody ever has told it to me.”

 

“Did He so love me, a poor little boy?

Send unto me the good tidings of joy?

Need I not perish? My hand will He hold?

Nobody ever the story has told!”

 

Bending, we caught the last words of his breath,

Just as he entered the valley of death,

“God sent His Son!” “Whosoever,” said he;

“Then I am sure that He sent Him for me!”

 

Smiling, he said, as his last sigh he spent,

“I am so glad that for me He was sent!”

Whispered, while low sank the sun in the west,

“Lord, I believe;” “tell it now to the rest!”

 

Tell it again! Tell it again!

Salvation’s story repeat o’er and o’er.

Till none can say of the children of men,

“Nobody ever has told me before.”

Master, the Tempest Is Raging

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“Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

Matthew 8:23–26

You won’t find it in the new Seventh-day Adventist Church Hymnal, but in the old hymnal it is hymn 677. Master, the Tempest is Raging (also titled Peace, be Still) is a song about looking beyond ourselves and our own feeble efforts and putting our faith in the One who made the sea and the wind and who is our Refuge in a time of storm, a Comfort in a time of distress, an Empathizer in a time of loss.

Mary Ann Baker was an American composer and singer born on September 16, 1832. She was very active in her Baptist congregation and well-known for her temperance songs.

She was asked by Dr. H. R. Palmer to compose several songs to go with a series of presentations, in particular, the Bible verses telling how Jesus calmed the tempest.

It hadn’t been long since she had lost both her parents and brother to tuberculosis, and frustrated by the circumstances surrounding her brother’s death, it seems that Master, the Tempest is Raging, was born out of that frustration. I’ll let her tell the story, as she related it to Ira D. Sankey.

“A very dear and only brother, a young man of rare loveliness and promise of character, had been laid in the grave, a victim of the same disease that had already taken father and mother. His death occurred under peculiarly distressing circumstances.

“He was more than a thousand miles away from home, seeking in the balmy air of the sunny South the healing that our colder climate could not give. Suddenly he grew worse. The writer [Mary Ann] was ill and could not go to him.

“For two weeks the long lines of telegraph wires carried back and forth messages between the dying brother and his waiting sisters, ere the word came which told us that our beloved brother was no longer a dweller on the earth.

“Although we mourned not as those without hope, and although I had believed on Christ in early childhood and had always desired to give the Master a consecrated and obedient life, I became wickedly rebellious at this dispensation of divine providence. I said in my heart that God did not care for me or mine. But the Master’s own voice stilled the tempest in my unsanctified heart, and brought it to the calm of a deeper faith and a more perfect trust.”

Dr. Palmer set the words to music, and it has enjoyed appeal among religious schools and churches.

“During the weeks when we kept watch by the bedside of our greatly beloved President Garfield, it was republished as especially appropriate to the time, and was sung at some of the many funeral services held throughout the United States.”

During the 20th century, the hymn gained lasting popularity.

“Suddenly a flash of lightning pierces the darkness, and they see Jesus lying asleep, undisturbed by the tumult. In amazement and despair they exclaim, ‘Master, carest Thou not that we perish?’ … As the lightning’s glare reveals Him, they see the peace of heaven in His face; they read in His glance self-forgetful, tender love, and, their hearts turning to Him, cry, ‘Lord, save us: we perish.’

“Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded. As the disciples grasp their oars to make a last effort, Jesus rises. He stands in the midst of His disciples, while the tempest rages. … He lifts His hand, so often employed in deeds of mercy, and says to the angry sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ … As Jesus rested by faith in the Father’s care, so we are to rest in the care of our Saviour.” Lift Him Up, 57

Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish?
How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threatening
A grave in the angry deep?

Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today;
The depths of my sad heart are troubled
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o’er my sinking soul;
And I perish! I perish! dear Master
Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,
The elements sweetly rest;
Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
And heaven’s within my breast;
Linger, O blessed Redeemer!
Leave me alone no more;
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,
And rest on the blissful shore.

Refrain

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

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“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us; and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Micah 7:18, 19

It is said that O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus was written by Samuel Trevor Francis as a personal testimony after nearly committing suicide as a teenager by jumping from London’s Hungerford Bridge into the Thames River. While there is little evidence to corroborate the story, the hymn itself still stands as a reminder of God’s sustaining, powerful, and immeasurable love.

Francis compares Jesus’ love to the ocean, exemplifying the vastness, unchanging, and sacrificial nature of God’s love for all humanity. The ocean is the largest thing on earth, its deepest point being deeper than the highest mountain on earth. Yet, God’s love is deeper still. We can stand at any point on the coast, and see just a small fraction of it. The ocean is vast, but has its boundaries. God’s love, however, is boundless and free.

We sing of the love of the Father who sent His Son as a sacrifice to redeem us, and who now is interceding on our behalf.

There are several tunes associated with Francis’ words, but the most common is a minor melody in 4/4 time written by Bob Kauflin.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free,
rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me
is the current of Your love,
leading onward, leading homeward
to Your glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus.
Spread His praise from shore to shore,
how He came to pay our ransom
through the saving cross He bore;
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
those He died to make His own;
How for them He’s interceding,
pleading now before the throne.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
far surpassing all the rest.
It’s an ocean full of blessing
in the midst of every test.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
mighty Saviour, precious Friend.
You will bring us home to glory,
where Your love will never end.

Sources: hymnary.org/text/o-the-deep-deep-love-of-jesus; Wikipedia.org/wiki/O_the_Deep_Deep_Love_of_Jesus

Songs – Just as I Am

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Charlotte Elliott was born on March 18, 1789, in Westfield Lodge, Brighton (England). She was the third of six children, with two brothers and three sisters. Charlotte was highly educated and developed a great passion for music and art at an early age and was surrounded by great refinement and piety in her family.

While still young, Charlotte became “aware of her sinful nature and realized her need to resist sin’s enticements. She felt unworthy to receive God’s grace, and wholly incapable of facing a righteous and perfect God.” She was a frequent visitor at many different churches and the pastors advised her to pray more, study the Bible more, and to do more virtuous deeds.

The first 32 years of her life were spent in Clapham, a district in S.W. London, where she was popular as a portrait artist and wrote humorous verses. In 1821, she suffered a serious illness that removed her from the whirl of social life in London and put her in a position to feel her dire need of a personal Saviour. A pastor visiting in her father’s home, asked her, “Are you at peace with God?” She resented the question at first, but some days later, she called for the pastor to return. She apologized for her behavior and told him that she wanted to cleanse her life before becoming a Christian. But the pastor replied, “Come just as you are.” Charlotte committed her life to Christ that very day.

She had a weak constitution thereafter, but in 1834, undertook the editorial supervision of The Christian Remembrancer Pocket Book and in 1836, the Invalid’s Hymn Book. This she did for the next 25 years and many of her own hymns can be found in these annual publications.

In 1835, Charlotte wrote the hymn Just As I Am. It is sung to at least four different hymn tunes, but the tune Woodworth, written by William B. Bradbury, is the best known and used by congregations the world over today.

Charlotte Elliott died on September 22, 1871. Little did she know that her most famous hymn would become the number one altar call song in the world. It was the song to which Billy Graham gave his heart to the Lord and then used for decades during his own crusades.

Just imagine the number of people who will come to Charlotte Elliott, if she remained faithful, to tell her how this beloved song touched their hearts and helped them to come, just as they were, to the Saviour.

“Jesus loves to have you come to Him just as you are, hopeless and helpless, and cast yourself upon His all-abundant mercy and believe that He will receive you just as you are.” In Heavenly Places, 119

Sources: Wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_as_I_Am_(hymn); Wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapham; Wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Elliott

 

Just as I am – without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – though toss’d about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come!

 

Just as I am – poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come!

I Must Tell Jesus

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Each morning, before we start the workday here at Steps to Life, we have staff worship. Part of our worship is singing a hymn. Recently, we sang I Must Tell Jesus, and after having sung the hymn, we contemplated what tragedy or discouragement might have befallen the writer of the song to elicit such a heartfelt declaration. I determined to see if I could find out.

I Must Tell Jesus was written, both lyrics and music, by Elisha (E. A.) Hoffman. He was born in 1839 in the town of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1864, at the age of 24, Elisha served in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1865, he married Susan Orwig, who died in 1875. In 1879, he married Emma Sayres Smith. In total, he had three children, sons Orey and Harry, and daughter Florence.

He worked for eleven years in the Evangelical Association’s publishing house. In 1868, following in his father’s footsteps, he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church. He served as a minister for over 60 years in Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, spending 33 of those years as pastor of the Benton Harbor Presbyterian Church.

He is credited with writing over 2,000 hymns, such as Are You Washed in the Blood?; Leaning on the Everlasting Arms; and I Must Tell Jesus. He was both lyricist and composer of his songs.

While serving a church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, he visited a woman who had faced a number of struggles. He relates his visit with her thusly:

“There was a woman to whom God had permitted many visitations of sorrow and affliction. Coming to her home one day, I found her much discouraged. She unburdened her heart, concluding with the question, ‘Brother Hoffman, what shall I do?’ I quoted from the word, then added, ‘You cannot do better than to take all of your sorrows to Jesus. You must tell Jesus.’

“For a moment she seemed lost in meditation. Then her eyes lighted as she exclaimed, ‘Yes, I must tell Jesus.’ As I left her home, I had a vision of that joy-illuminated face, and I heard all along my pathway the echo, ‘I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus.’ ”

Upon arriving home, he wrote the words of this beloved hymn and composed the tune he titled “Orwigsburg” after his birthplace. I Must Tell Jesus first appeared in the Pentecostal Hymns hymnal in 1894.

Perhaps some might find the song simplistic or repetitious, since in the four stanzas, with their refrains, the phrase “I must tell Jesus” is repeated twenty-one times. But I think it would be true to say that, sometimes, we most definitely need to be reminded—and reminded again—that Jesus alone is the One who can help us.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Elisha Hoffman retired from the ministry in 1922, and died at the age of 90 on November 5, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois.

Sources: dianaleaghmatthews.com/i-must-tell-jesus; hymnary.org/person/Hoffman_Elisha; wordwisehymns.com/2011/12/02/i-must-tell-jesus; Wikipedia; hymnologyarchive.com/elisha-hoffman

I must tell Jesus all of my trials;

I cannot bear these burdens alone;

In my distress, He kindly will help me;

He ever loves and cares for His own.

 

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!

I cannot bear my burdens alone;

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!

Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.