

About the Book

In 1906 Ira D. Sankey wrote the story of his life, and listed many of his favorite hymns and songs. This book contains a selection of sixty from Sankey's favorites, together with his stories of how they came to be written and how they were used to bless many people. We hope that our selection, which contains old favorites like Abide with Me and some little known hymns and songs, like the delightful I Hear the Saviour Say, will bring a blessing to many, and perhaps introduce congregations and worship bands to new experiences in worship today. And if the service leader repeats some of the associated stories recorded here by Sankey, there may well be an additional blessing!

Sankey's Favorite Hymns and Songs

A Selection and their Stories

Ira D Sankey

This edition ©White Tree Publishing 2020

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-66-7

Published by

White Tree Publishing

Bristol

UNITED KINGDOM

More books on www.whitetreepublishing.com

Contact wtpbristol@gmail.com

Hymns and songs are taken from the 1921 edition of Sacred Songs and Solos, Twelve Hundred Hymns compiled under the direction of Ira D. Sankey (1840‒1908).

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this abridged edition.

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Book

About the Author

Sankey's Original Preface

Publisher's Note

Abide With Me

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

Almost Persuaded

Art Thou Weary?

At the Cross

Beautiful River

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Blessed Assurance

Come, Thou Fount

Consecration: Take my Life

Doxology: Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

Even Me

God Be With You

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Hallelujah, what a Saviour

He Leadeth Me

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

How Firm a Foundation

I am Praying for You

I am Thine, O Lord

I Gave My Life for Thee

I Hear the Saviour Say

I Need Thee Every Hour

I Will Sing of My Redeemer

I Will Sing the Wondrous Story

It is Well with My Soul

I've Found a Friend

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Jesus Loves Even Me

Jesus Loves Me

Jewels: When He cometh

Just as I Am

Lead, Kindly Light

Let the Lower Lights be Burning

Moment by Moment

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Nearer, My God to Thee

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

O God, Our Help

Pass Me Not

Rock of Ages

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Sun of My Soul

Sweet By-and-By

Take Me as I Am

Take Time to be Holy

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

That will be Heaven for Me

The Lily of the Valley

The Ninety and Nine

There is a Green Hill

The Solid Rock

What a Friend we have in Jesus

When I survey the Wondrous Cross

When the Roll is Called up Yonder

Whosoever Will

Wonderful Words of Life

Work, for the Night is Coming

Yield Not to Temptation

About White Tree Publishing

More Books from White Tree Publishing

About the Author

Ira David Sankey was born in Pennsylvania in August, 1908. He both wrote and sang Christian hymns and songs to great effect. He is generally associated with the preaching of Dwight L. Moody in both America and Britain in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Sankey's style of music was an innovation in church services and missions, and many of his pieces are still well known.

Sankey and Moody worked together from 1870 onwards, until Moody's death in 1899. Sankey saw to the singing, using his own work and compositions by well-known writers such as Fanny Crosby, Major Daniel W. Whittle, and Philip Bliss. Ira D. Sankey is perhaps best known for his two books, Sacred Songs and Solos and Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs.

After Moody's death, Sankey's work was limited as he suffered from ill health, culminating in blindness. He died in 1908, leaving a rich music legacy for churches and missions today.

Sankey's Original Preface

Since Moses and the children of Israel, on the shore of the Red Sea, sang of their deliverance from the hand of Pharaoh, saying "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." There has never been any great religious movement without the use of sacred song.

Luther set all Germany ablaze with religious enthusiasm as he sang his magnificent hymn, "Ein Feste Burg," in which Melanchthon and multitudes of Christian soldiers joined. In later years the church of God was thrilled by the sermons of John Wesley and the songs of his brother Charles, whose hymns are more extensively used throughout Christendom than any others.

After the Wesleys came Charles G. Finney, who, although he did not use the service of song as much as others, yet as a preacher was one of the mightiest men of his day. Later came E. P. Hammond, the children's evangelist, who gave the praise service an especially important place in his work. Then, in 1873, God was pleased to send Mr. Moody and myself to Great Britain, where a work of grace was begun that has continued until the present day.

About the same time, Whittle and Bliss were doing a remarkable work in the United States, Bliss becoming one of the greatest song-evangelists of that age. For the last two or three years we have had the splendid campaign of Torrey and Alexander in Australia, Great Britain and America. In their work the prominent feature has been the use of praise, their most popular hymn being "The Glory Song," which perhaps is the most generally used Gospel song of the day. [WTP comment: Surprisingly, not in Sankey's original selection.]

We all agree with what Dr. Pentecost has said regarding the power of sacred song: "I am profoundly sure that among the divinely ordained instrumentalities for the conversion and sanctification of the soul, God has not given a greater, besides the preaching of the Gospel, than the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. I have known a hymn to do God's work in a soul when every other instrumentality has failed. I could not enumerate the times God has rescued and saved my soul from darkness, discouragement and weariness by the singing of a hymn, generally by bringing one to my own heart and causing me to sing it to myself. It would be easy to fill many pages with interesting facts in connection with the use of hymns in the public worship of the house of God. I have seen vast audiences melted and swayed by a simple hymn when they have been unmoved by a powerful presentation of the Gospel from the pulpit."

For many years past I have been collecting and writing up the history of hymns, and incidents connected with their composition and their use by Mr. Moody and myself, as well as by others; but in 1901, when the manuscript of these stories was almost completed, it was unfortunately destroyed in the fire that devastated the great Sanatorium at Battle Creek, Michigan, where I was at that time a guest of my friend Dr. J. H. Kellogg. In view of the regret which was expressed by my friends over this loss, and the interest taken by the people who sing our hymns, I decided to rewrite the story from memory, as far as I was able.

Ira D. Sankey. Brooklyn, New York, January, 1906

Publisher's Note

In 1906 Ira D. Sankey wrote the story of his life, and listed many of his favorite hymns and songs. This book contains a selection of sixty from these favorites, together with his stories of how they came to be written and how they were used to bless many people. Some of Sankey's stories are just a few lines, some a full page, and some several pages. At White Tree Publishing we have used the short paragraphs in full, and abridged the longer ones, sometimes considerably where names and events have no great relevance to the general reader.

The complete book by Ira D. Sankey, containing the story of his life and his full selection of his favorite hymns and songs, Sankey's Story of the Gospel Hymns: and of Sacred Songs and Solos 1921, is available as a reprint from several sources.

Sankey doesn't give the words of his quoted hymns and songs, and at White Tree Publishing we have given them in full, taken Sankey's compilation of 1200. We have also put a link for each one, so the reader can hear the music on https://www.hymnal.net/en/home. In a few cases the hymn isn't available there, and we have given an alternative link. However, links may become dead at some future time. In which case an internet search will produce several choices, perhaps on YouTube.

The words of these hymns and songs may show some significant changes between different hymn books, and also with the music. Some wording and music may be copyright in modern hymn books. We have been careful to use Sankey's original wording and quoted music, or that from a similar era, in all instances. The number at the top of each hymn and song is the number in what is popularly known as Sankey's 1200.

We hope that our selection, which contains old favorites like "Abide with Me" and some little known hymns and songs, like the delightful "I Hear the Saviour Say" will bring a blessing to many, and perhaps introduce congregations and worship bands to new experiences in worship today. And if the service leader repeats some of the associated stories recorded here by Sankey, there may well be an added blessing!

Abide With Me

Words by H. F. Lyte

Music by William H. Monk

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/370

297

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;

Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see

O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!

3 Come not in terrors, as the King of kings;

But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;

Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea;

Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

4 I need Thy presence every passing hour;

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?

Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!

5 I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless:

Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:

Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

6 Be Thou Thyself before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;

Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

One of the many instances of the power of this hymn has been recorded by Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, "During my active pastorate I often got better sermons from my people than I ever gave them. I recall now a most touching and sublime scene that I once witnessed in the death-chamber of a noble woman who had suffered for many months from an excruciating malady. The end was drawing near. She seemed to be catching a foregleam of the glory that awaited her. With tremulous tones she began to recite Henry Lyte's matchless hymn, "Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide." One line after another was feebly repeated, until, with a rapturous sweetness, she exclaimed:

'Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;

Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee!

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.'

"As I came away from that room, which had been as the vestibule of heaven, I understood how the 'light of eventide' could be only a flashing forth of the overwhelming glory that plays forever around the throne of God."

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All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

Words by E. Perronet

Music by Oliver Holden, 1792

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/138

203

All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all!

2 Crown Him, ye martyrs of our God,

Who from His altar call;

Extol the stem of Jesse's rod,

And crown Him Lord of all!

3 Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

A remnant weak and small,

Hail Him who saves you by His grace,

And crown Him Lord of all!

4 Ye Gentile sinners, ne'er forget

The wormwood and the gall;

Go, spread your trophies at His feet,

And crown Him Lord of all!

5 Let every kindred, every tribe,

On this terrestrial ball,

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown Him Lord of all!

6 Oh that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall;

Join in the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all!

A man in England, who had been a happy Christian, began gradually to lose his faith, and at last boldly avowed the infidelity that had for a long time been quietly slumbering within. To his wife, who still loved and clung to the Saviour, this was indeed a blow, and her heart was torn at the thought that one she tenderly loved, and with whom she had often held sweet counsel, should now turn from the truth she held to be priceless, and overturn the faith he once sought to uphold.

The husband was soon taken very sick, and it was evident to the anxious wife that the sickness was unto death. She pleaded with and for the dying one that he might again confess Christ, in whom he had once been so happy, but no relief came to her distressed soul. One day the dying man was heard to utter a faint cry, and his wife caught the words, "Bring, bring." Thinking that he desired a cooling drink, she brought him what she supposed he wanted, but he waved his hand, and again uttered the words, "Bring, bring." The wife was at a loss to understand what could be the meaning, when he, with a final struggle, as if he had gathered all the remaining energy into one last effort, exclaimed, "Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown him Lord of all."

And he departed to join that company that wait that morning when the redeemed shall be gathered in.

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Almost Persuaded

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1046

452

"Almost persuaded" now to believe

"Almost persuaded" Christ to receive;

Seems now some soul to say,

"Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

Some more convenient day today

On Thee I'll call."

2 "Almost persuaded," come, come,

"Almost persuaded," turn not away

Jesus invites you here,

Angels are lingering near,

Prayers rise from hearts so dear;

O wanderer, come!

3 "Almost persuaded," harvest is past!

"Almost persuaded," doom comes at last!

"Almost" cannot avail;

"Almost" is but to fail!

Sad, sad, that bitter wail:

"Almost ‒ but lost!"

"He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be entirely lost," were the words with which the Rev. Mr. Brundage ended one of his sermons. Philip P. Bliss, who was in the audience, was much impressed with the thought, and immediately set about the composition of what proved to be one of his most popular songs.

"It was Sunday night, November 18, 1883," writes Mr. S. W. Tucker, of Clapton, London, "when I heard you sing 'Almost Persuaded' in the Priory Hall, Islington, London, and God used that song in drawing me to the feet of Jesus. I was afraid to trust myself in His hands for fear of man. For six weeks that hymn was ringing in my ears, till I accepted the invitation. I came, and am now rejoicing in the Lord, my Saviour. How often, with tears of joy and love, have I thought of those meetings and of you and dear Mr. Moody, who showed me and other sinners where there was love, happiness and joy."

Said a young man to the Rev. Mr. Young, "I intend to become a Christian some time, but not now. Don't trouble yourself about me. I'll tend to it in good time."

A few weeks after, the man was injured in a sawmill, and, as he lay dying, Mr. Young was called to him. He found him in despair, saying, "Leave me alone. At your meeting I was almost persuaded, but I would not yield, and now it is too late. Oh, get my wife, my sisters and my brothers to seek God, and do it now, but leave me alone, for I am lost." Within an hour he passed away, with these words on his lips, "I am lost, I am lost, just because I would not yield when I was almost persuaded."

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Art Thou Weary?

Words by the Rev. J. M. Neale, Trans.

Music by the Rev. Henry W. Baker

No Hymnal.net link

Try https://hymnary.org/text/art_thou_weary_art_thou_languid

401

Art thou weary? art thou languid?

Art thou sore distressed?

"Come to Me," saith One; "and coming,

Be at rest!"

2 Hath He marks to lead me to Him,

If He be my guide?

"In His feet and hands are wound-prints,

And His side."

3 Is there diadem as Monarch

That His brow adorns?

"Yea, a crown, in very surety,

But of thorns."

4 If I find Him, if I follow,

What His guerdon here?

"Many a sorrow, many a labour,

Many a tear."

5 If I still hold closely to Him,

What hath He at last?

"Sorrow vanquished, labour ended,

Jordan passed."

6 If I ask Him to receive me,

Will He say me nay?

"Not till earth, and not till heaven,

Pass away."

7 Finding, following, keeping, struggling

Is He sure to bless?

Saints, Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs,

Answer: "Yes!"

"Some years ago," writes Mr. James A. Watson, of Blackburn, England, "I often visited one of our adult Sunday school scholars who had just been brought to the knowledge of the Saviour. She was formerly a Roman Catholic, but was brought to our church one Sunday evening by a fellow worker in a cotton mill. She heard a gospel of full and free salvation, embraced it, and gradually became a faith-filled, consistent Christian.

She was laid low with a serious illness, but it was always a pleasure to visit her. On one occasion she told me that the evening before, when she had been left alone for the night, a cloud came over her spirit, the sense of loneliness grew upon her, and she seemed forsaken of God. All looked black, and she dreaded the long, lone night. This was a most unusual thing and she wondered why it should be so.

Just then, in the quiet night, she heard steps on the flags of the footway. A man wearing the clogs of the factory operator was coming along, evidently returning late from some religious meeting. He was full of joy, for before he reached the house where my scholar was lying awake, he struck up in a joyful and loud song,

The singer, 'an angel in clogs' went on his way, singing aloud out of a full heart; but deep down into the heart of the lonely woman went the words, 'Be at rest!' Again she cast herself upon the Lord; the cloud parted, peace and rest filled her heart, and she doubted no more."

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At the Cross

Words by Isaac Watts

Music by R. E. Hudson

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/999

883

I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,

Or to defend His cause;

Maintain the honor of His Word,

The glory of His cross.

At the cross, at the cross,

Where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away;

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

2 Jesus, my God! I know His name:

His name is all my trust:

Nor will He put my soul to shame,

Nor let my hope be lost.

3 Firm as His throne His promise stands;

And He can well secure

What I've committed to His hands,

Till the decisive hour.

4 Then He will own my worthless name

Before His Father's face;

And in the New Jerusalem

Appoint my soul a place.

"At the Cross" is the name of the new tune by R. E. Hudson for the old hymn by Watts, "Alas, and did my Saviour bleed." The words were first published in Watts' Hymns and Spiritual Songs, in 1707, under the title, "Godly Sorrow Arising from the Sufferings of Christ." In Sacred Songs and Solos the new tune is used to the hymn "I'm not ashamed to own my Lord."

The children's evangelist, E. P. Hammond, credits this hymn with his conversion, when he was only seventeen years old.

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Beautiful River

Words by Robert Lowry

Music by Robert Lowry

No Hymnal.net link

Try https://hymnary.org/text/shall_we_gather_at_the_river

1000

Shall we gather at the river

Where bright angel-feet have trod;

With its crystal tide for ever

Flowing by the throne of God?

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.

2 On the margin of the river,

Washing up its silver spray,

We will walk and worship ever

All the happy, golden day.

3 Ere we reach the shining river,

Lay we every burden down;

Grace our spirits will deliver,

And provide a robe and crown.

4 At the shining of the river,

Mirror of the Saviour's face,

Saints whom death will never sever

Raise their songs of saving grace

5 Soon we'll reach the silver river,

Soon our pilgrimage will cease;

Soon our happy hearts will quiver

With the melody of peace.

On a sultry afternoon in July, 1864, Dr. Lowry was sitting at his study table in Elliott Place, Brooklyn, when the words of the hymn, "Shall we gather at the river?" came to him. He recorded them hastily, and then sat down before his parlor organ and composed the tune which is now sung in all the Sunday schools of the world. In speaking of the song, Dr. Lowry said:

The year after it was written, on Children's Day, in Brooklyn, when the assembled Sunday schools of the city met in bewildering array, this song was sung by more than forty thousand voices. There was not a child from the gutter or a mission waif who did not know it.

An American lady writing from Cairo, who was allowed to visit the military hospital soon after some wounded men had been brought in from a skirmish, says, "The three hours we could stay were full of work for heart and hand. One young soldier from a Highland regiment especially excited my interest. He had lost a limb, and the doctor said he could not live through the night.

"I stopped at his side to see whether there was anything that I could do for him. He lay with closed eyes; and as his lips moved I caught the words, 'Mother, mother.' I dipped my handkerchief in a basin of iced water, and bathed his forehead where the fever flushes burned.

"'Oh, that is good!' he said, opening his eyes. Seeing me bending over him, he caught my hand and kissed it. 'Thank you, lady,' he said; 'it reminds me o' mother.'

"I asked him if I could write to his mother. No, he said; the surgeon had promised to write; but could I, would I, sing to him? I hesitated a moment, and looked around. The gleam on the yellow water of the Nile, as the western rays slanted down, caught my eye and suggested the river the streams of which shall make glad the city of God. I began to sing in a low voice the gospel hymn, 'Shall we gather at the river?' Eager heads were raised around us to listen more intently, while bass and tenor voices, weak and tremulous, came in on the chorus,

'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.'

"When the song was ended, I looked into the face of the boy ‒ for he was not over twenty ‒ and asked, 'Shall you be there?'

"'Yes, I'll be there, through what the Lord Jesus has done for me?' he answered, with his blue eyes shining, while a 'light that never was on sea or land' irradiated his face. The tears gathered in my eyes as I thought of the mother, in her far-off Scottish home, watching and waiting for tidings of her soldier boy, who was breathing away his life in an Egyptian hospital.

"'Come again, lady, come again,' I heard on all sides as we left the barracks. I shall go; but I shall not find my Scottish laddie, for by tomorrow's reveille he will have crossed the river."

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Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Words by Elizabeth Clephane

Music by Ira D. Sankey

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/621b

Note: This is Sankey's tune, not the more traditional one

139

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

I fain would take my stand

The shadow of a mighty Rock

Within a weary land;

A home within the wilderness,

A rest upon the way,

From the burning of the noontide heat,

And the burden of the day.

2 O safe and happy shelter,

O refuge tried and sweet,

O trysting place, where Heaven's love

And Heaven's justice meet!

As to the holy patriarch

That wondrous dream was given,

So seems my Saviour's cross to me

A ladder up to heaven.

3 There lies beneath its shadow,

But on the farther side,

The darkness of an awful grave

That gapes both deep and wide;

And there between us stands the cross,

Two arms outstretched to save,

Like a watchman set to guard the way

From that eternal grave.

4 Upon that cross of Jesus

Mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One

Who suffered there for me;

And from my smitten heart, with tears,

Two wonders I confess:

The wonder of His glorious love,

And my own worthlessness.

5 I take, O cross, thy shadow

For my abiding place;

I ask no other sunshine than

The sunshine of His face:

Content to let the world go by,

To know no gain nor loss:

My sinful self my only shame,

My glory all the cross.

I composed the music to this hymn in the home of my dear friend, Dr. Thomas Barnardo, whose death is announced through the public press just at the time I am writing this note. The author of the hymn, Elizabeth Clephane, also wrote the widely known hymn, "The Ninety and Nine," and these two were her only hymns.

The first time this hymn was sung is still fresh in my memory. The morning after I had composed the music, the Rev. W. H. Aitkin was to speak at our mission in the great Bow Road Hall, in London, Mr. Moody having made an arrangement to speak at Her Majesty's Theater. It was a lovely morning, and a great gathering had assembled at the meeting, which was held at eight o'clock.

Before the sermon I sang "Beneath the cross of Jesus" as a solo; and as in the case of "The Ninety and Nine" much blessing came from its use for the first time. With eyes filled with tears, and deeply moved, the preacher said to the audience, "Dear friends, I had intended to speak to you this morning upon work for the Master, but this new hymn has made such an impression on my heart, and evidently upon your own, that I will defer my proposed address and speak to you on 'The Cross of Jesus.'"

The sermon was one of the most powerful I have ever heard, and many souls that morning accepted the message of grace and love. Some years later Mr. Aitkin held many successful meetings in New York and other cities in this country, and he often used this hymn as a solo.

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Blessed Assurance

Words by Fanny J. Crosby

Music by Mrs. Joseph F. Knapp

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/308

873

Blessed assurance ‒ Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God;

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Saviour all the day long;

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Saviour all the day long.

2 Perfect submission, perfect delight,

Visions of rapture burst on my sight;

Angels descending, bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Saviour am happy and blest

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

"During the recent war in the Transvaal," said a gentleman at my meeting in Exeter Hall, London, in 1900, "when the soldiers going to the front were passing another body of soldiers whom they recognized, their greetings used to be, 'Four-nine-four, boys; four- nine-four' and the salute would invariably be answered with 'Six further on, boys; six further on.' The significance of this was that, in Sacred Songs and Solos a number of copies of the small edition of which had been sent to the front, number 494 was, 'God be with you till we meet again;' and six further on than 494, or number 500, was "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!"

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Come, Thou Fount

Words by the Rev. R. Robinson

Music by John Wyeth

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/319

1048

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Music my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

2 Here I'll raise my Ebenezer.

Hither by Thy help I'm come;

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.

3 Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wandering from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

4 Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be!

Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

5 Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it.

Seal it for Thy courts above.

The author of this hymn, born in 1735, was of lowly parentage. At the age of fourteen his widowed mother sent him to London to learn the trade of barber and hairdresser. His master found him more given to reading than to his profession. While in London he attended meetings held by the great evangelist, George Whitefield, became converted, and began to study for the ministry.

In the latter part of his life Mr. Robinson often indulged in frivolous habits. But on one occasion, while traveling in a stage-coach, he encountered a lady who soon compelled him to admit his acquaintance with religion. She had just been reading this hymn, and she asked his opinion of it, after having told him of the blessings it had brought to her heart. He avoided the subject and turned her attention to some other topic; but the lady, who did not know to whom she was talking, soon returned to the hymn, expressing her strong admiration for its sentiments. Agitated beyond the power of controlling his emotion, Robinson broke out:

"Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

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Consecration: Take my Life

Words by Frances R. Havergal

Music by W. A. Mozart. Arr. by H. P. Main

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1359

616

Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

2 Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love;

Take my feet, and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

3 Take my voice, and let me sing

Always, only, for my King;

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

4 Take my silver and my gold;

Not a mite would I withhold:

Take my intellect, and use

Every power as Thou shalt choose.

5 Take my will, and make it Thine

It shall be no longer mine:

Take my heart ‒ it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

6 Take my love: my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store:

Take myself; and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

One of the finest consecration hymns in the world, this is a great favorite of the Christian Endeavor Society. Miss Havergal told me of its origin, while we were seated in her home in South Wales. She had gone to London for a visit of five days. There were ten persons in the family she visited, most of them unconverted. She prayed to God to give her all in the house, and before leaving everyone had received a blessing.

The last night of her visit, after she had retired, the governess told her that the two daughters wished to see her. They were much troubled over their spiritual condition and were weeping, but Miss Havergal was able to show them the way of life, and they were both joyfully converted that night. She was too happy to sleep, she said, but spent most of the night in praise and renewal of her own consecration; and that night the words of this hymn formed themselves in her mind. In 1879, shortly before her death, I gave a number of Bible readings in Miss Havergal's home, when she told me the very interesting story of her life.

A few years later, I met Miss Havergal's sister again under somewhat amusing conditions. I was traveling in Switzerland. While looking through a large music establishment I found quite a number of music boxes, which played several of the "Moody and Sankey" hymns. I asked the proprietor if these boxes had much of a sale. He said they had, though he did not think much of the tunes they played. Beside me was standing a lady, also looking at the music boxes. She proved to be Miss Havergal's sister. As she turned around and saw me, she threw up her hands and said in a clear voice, "Oh, Mr. Sankey, is that you?" The proprietor proceeded to make profound apologies and, selecting one of his best boxes, he presented it to me!

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Doxology: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow

Words by Thomas Ken, 1695

Music by Wilhelm Frank

(Not in SS&S)

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/8

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

A child on the top of Mount Washington was with her father above the clouds, while a thunderstorm flashed and rumbled below. Where they stood, all was perfect calm and sunshine, though the eye found nothing but the blue of heaven and a few rocks to rest on. "Well, Lucy," said her father, "there is nothing to be seen here, is there?"

But the child exclaimed, "Oh, papa, I see the doxology! All around seems to say,

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

This doxology has been almost universally adopted as a praise hymn by all churches. Wilhelm Frank, the composer of the tune, "Old Hundred," was a German.

The first Moody and Sankey meeting held in the Agricultural Hall, London, was opened by the singing of "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow."

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Even Me

Words by Mrs. Elizabeth Codner

Music by William B. Bradbury

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/259

410

Lord, I hear of showers of blessing

Thou art scattering full and free:

Showers the thirsty land refreshing;

Let some droppings fall on me:

Even me!

2 Pass me not, O gracious Father!

Sinful though my heart may be:

Thou might'st leave me, but the rather

Let Thy mercy fall on me:

Even me!

3 Pass me not, O tender Saviour,

Let me love and cling to Thee:

I am longing for Thy favour;

Whilst Thou'rt calling, oh, call me:

Even me!

4 Pass me not, O mighty Spirit!

Thou canst make the blind to see:

Witnesses of Jesus' merit,

Speak the word of power to me:

Even me!

5 Love of God, so pure and changeless;

Blood of Christ, so rich and free;

Grace of God, so strong and boundless;

Magnify them all in me:

Even me!

6 Pass me not; Thy lost one bringing,

Bind my heart, O Lord, to Thee;

While the streams of life are springing,

Blessing others, oh, bless me:

Even me!

A gentleman in England sends this incident. "A poor woman, in a dark village, attended a High Church mission, where the good Gospel hymn, 'Even Me' was sung from a printed leaflet. A few days afterward the old woman became seriously ill, and soon she died. But she seemed to have taken in all the Gospel through this hymn, and to the last repeated with reverence and joy 'Even me, even me,' not remembering one word of the sermon that she heard at the mission. This was in 1877. Soon after, we had an evangelistic meeting in the same village, in a barn three hundred years old, where this hymn was sung with great effect.

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God Be With You

Words by J. E. Rankin, D.D.

Music by W. G. Tomer

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/861

298

God be with you till we meet again!

By His counsels guide, uphold you,

With His sheep securely fold you

God be with you till we meet again!

Till we meet! ... Till we meet! ...

Till we meet at Jesus' feet; ...

Till we meet! ... Till we meet!...

God be with you till we meet again!

2 God be with you till we meet again!

'Neath His wings securely hide you,

Daily manna still provide you;

God be with you till we meet again!

3 God be with you till we meet again!

When life's perils thick confound you,

Put His loving arms around you;

God be with you till we meet again!

4 God be with you till we meet again!

Keep love's banner floating o'er you,

Smite death's threatening wave before you;

God be with you till we meet again!

The late Dr. Rankin, president of Howard University, Washington, D. C., said regarding this oft-used parting hymn: "Written in 1882 as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on the basis of the etymology of 'goodbye' which is 'God be with you' The first stanza was written and sent to two composers ‒ one of unusual note, the other wholly unknown and not thoroughly educated in music. I selected the composition of the latter, submitted it to J. W. Bischoff ‒ the musical director of a little book we were preparing ‒ who approved of it, but made some criticisms, which were adopted.

"It was sung for the first time one evening in the First Congregational Church in Washington, of which I was then the pastor and Mr. Bischoff the organist. I attributed its popularity in no little part to the music to which it was set. It was a wedding of words and music, at which it was my function to preside; but Mr. Tomer should have his full share of the family honor."

William Gould Tomer, the author of the music, is of German ancestry. He has been a school teacher, a soldier in the civil war, and a clerk in the Treasury department. He was teaching school in 1882 when he wrote the music of "God be with you."

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Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Words by W. Williams

Music by Wm. L. Viner

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/391b

(Traditional tune, slightly different words)

524

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

Hold me with Thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more,

2 Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing waters flow;

Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,

Lead me all my journey through:

Strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my strength and shield.

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Bear me through the swelling current,

Land me safe on Canaan's side:

Songs of praises

I will ever give to Thee!

Written by William Williams, the sweet singer, who was known as the "Watts of Wales." It was first published in Welsh in 1745. Later it appeared in English under the title, "A favorite hymn of Lady Huntingdon's young collegians."

This hymn was one of the most popular in our collection, when Mr. Moody and I were holding meetings in Wales.

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Hallelujah, what a Saviour

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/108

102

"Man of Sorrows," what a name

For the Son of God, who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim!

Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

2 Bearing shame and scoffing rude

In my place condemned He stood:

Sealed my pardon with His blood

Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

3 Guilty, vile, and helpless, we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He:

"Full atonement!" ‒ can it be?

Hallelujah! what a Saviour!

4 " Lifted up" was He to die,

"It is finished!" was His cry;

Now in heaven exalted high:

Hallelujah I what a Saviour!

5 When He comes, our glorious King,

All His ransomed home to bring

Then anew this song we'll sing,

"Hallelujah! what a Saviour!"

Written in 1876, shortly before his death, this was the last hymn I heard Mr. Bliss sing. It was at a meeting in Farwell Hall in Chicago, conducted by Henry Moorehouse. A few weeks before his death Mr. Bliss visited the State prison at Jackson, Michigan, where, after a very touching address on "The Man of Sorrows," he sang this hymn with great effect. Many of the prisoners dated their conversion from that day.

When Mr. Moody and I were in Paris, holding meetings in the old church which Napoleon had granted to the Evangelicals, I frequently sang this hymn as a solo, asking the congregation to join in the single phrase, "Hallelujah, what a Saviour," which they did with splendid effect. It is said that the word "Hallelujah" is the same in all languages. It seems as though God had prepared it for the great jubilee of heaven, when all his children shall have been gathered home to sing "Hallelujah to the Lamb!"

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He Leadeth Me

Words by Joseph H. Gilmore

Music by William B. Bradbury

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/585

54

He leadeth me! O blessed thought!

O words with heavenly comfort fraught!

Whate'er I do, where'er I be,

Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me! He leadeth me!

By His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be,

For by His hand He leadeth me.

2 Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,

Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,

By waters calm, o'er troubled sea:

Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

3 Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,

Nor ever murmur, nor repine;

Content, whatever lot I see,

Since 'tis my God that leadeth me.

4 And when my task on earth is done,

When, by Thy grace, the victory's won,

E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,

Since Thou through Jordan leadest me.

"I had been talking," said Mr. Gilmore, "at the Wednesday evening lecture of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, in 1862. The Twenty-third Psalm was my theme, and I had been especially impressed with the blessedness of being led by God ‒ of the mere fact of His leadership, altogether apart from the way in which He leads us and what He is leading us to.

"At the close of the service we adjourned to Deacon Watson's home, at which I was stopping. We still held before our minds and hearts the thought which I had just emphasized. During the conversation, in which several participated, the blessedness of God's leadership so grew upon me that I took out my pencil, wrote the hymn just as it stands today, handed it to my wife ‒ and thought no more about it. She sent it without my knowledge to The Watchman and Reflector, and there it first appeared in print.

"Three years later I went to Rochester to preach for the Second Baptist Church. On entering the chapel I took up a hymnbook, thinking, 'I wonder what they sing.' The book opened at 'He leadeth me,' and that was the first time I knew my hymn had found a place among the songs of the church. I shall never forget the impression made upon me by coming then and there in contact with my own assertion of God's leadership."

Mr. Bradbury, finding the hymn in a Christian periodical, composed for it the very appropriate tune with which it has ever since been associated.

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Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

Words by Reginald Heber, D.D.

Music by the Rev. John B. Dykes

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/6

22

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!

God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

2 Holy, Holy, Holy! all the saints adore Thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee,

Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

3 Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see:

Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee,

Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

4 Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!

All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;

Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!

God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

This majestic hymn was written by Bishop Heber, who was born in Cheshire, England, 1783, and educated at Oxford. He served in the church at Hodnet for about twenty years, when he was appointed Bishop of Calcutta, East India. He wrote fifty-seven hymns, which were published by his widow in 1842. Heber died 1826 in the prime of his life.

The tune "Nicaea" was composed by Dr. John Bacchus Dykes for this hymn, and is one of the best of his compositions. Nicaea was the place in Asia Minor where the first Ecumenical Council was held in the year 325, and it was there that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was promulgated, declaring the eternal Sonship of Christ, and His equality with the Father.

Dr. Dykes was born at Kingston-upon-Hull, in 1823; and was a graduate of Cambridge. He wrote many excellent tunes, and did much to elevate the congregational psalmody of England. He died 1876.

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How Firm a Foundation

Words by G. Keith

Music by M. Portogallo

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/339b

(Not Portogallo's tune)

526

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say, than to you He hath said,

To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

2 "Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed!

For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid;

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand."

3 "When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,

For I will be with thee, thy trials to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress

4 "When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply:

The flame shall not hurt thee: I only design

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

5 "E'en down to old age all My people shall prove

My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;

And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,

Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

6 "The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I will not ‒ I will not desert to its foes;

That soul ‒ though all hell should endeavour to shake

I'll never ‒ no, never no, never forsake!

"Once at evening devotion in the old Oratory of Princeton Seminary," Dr. C. S. Robinson relates, "the elder Hodge, then venerable with years and piety, paused as he read this hymn, preparatory to the singing. In the depth of his emotion he was obliged to close his delivery of the final lines with a gesture of pathetic and adoring wonder at the matchless grace of God in Christ, and his hand silently beat time to the rhythm instead: "I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake!"

Giving an account of a visit to General Jackson at the Hermitage, in 1843, the Rev. James Gallager says in the Western Sketch Book, "The old hero was then very frail and had the appearance of extreme old age; but he was reposing with calmness and confidence on the promise and covenant of God. He had now been a member of the church for several years."

During the conversation which took place, the General turned to Mr. Gallager, and remarked, "There is a beautiful hymn on the subject of the exceeding great and precious promise of God to His people. It was the favorite hymn of my dear wife, till the day of her death. It commences in this way. 'How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.' I wish you would sing it now."

So the little company sang the entire hymn.

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I am Praying for You

Words by S. O'Maley Cluff

Music by Ira D. Sankey

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/933

350

I have a Saviour, He's pleading in glory,

A dear loving Saviour, though earth-friends be few

And now He is watching in tenderness o'er me:

And oh, that my Saviour were your Saviour too!

For you I am praying, for you I am praying,

For you I am praying, I'm praying for you.

2 I have a Father: to me He has given

A hope for eternity, blessed and true;

And soon He will call me to meet Him in heaven

But oh, may He lead you to go with me too!

3 I have a robe: 'tis resplendent in whiteness,

Awaiting in glory my wondering view;

Oh, when I receive it all shining in brightness,

Dear friend, could I see you receiving one too!

4 I have a peace: it is calm as a river:

A peace that the friends of this world never knew;

My Saviour alone is its Author and Giver,

And oh, could I know it was given to you!

5 When Jesus has found you, tell others the story,

That my loving Saviour is your Saviour too;

Then pray that your Saviour may bring them to glory,

And prayer will be answered, 'twas answered for you!

On our first visit to Ireland, in 1874, we came across these words in a printed leaflet. It was the second hymn to which I wrote music, and it was much used in our meetings in London. It has long been a favorite prayer meeting hymn in many churches.

At the close of a gospel service in Evanston, Illinois, the minister was requested to visit a man who was not likely to live many days, and who was a spiritualist. Though pressed by other engagements, the minister said, "I will take time." He called, but thought it not best to introduce the subject of religion because of the patient's known hostility to evangelical views.

Seeing a little organ in the room, the minister asked if he might sing a song. Consent being given, he sang "I have a Saviour, He's pleading in glory." The sick man seemed pleased, and asked the minister to sing it again. This he did, and then gave other songs. Thus he sang the truths which he had not the courage to mention in conversation. The songs evidently accomplished their work, for when the minister called again, the sick man's heart had been opened, and the truth had been savingly received through their instrumentality.

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I am Thine, O Lord

Words by Fanny J. Crosby

Music by W. H. Doane

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/387

607

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,

And it told Thy love to me;

But I long to rise in the arms of faith,

And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To Thy precious, bleeding side.

2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,

By the power of grace divine;

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,

And my will be lost in Thine.

3 Oh, the pure delight of a single hour

That before Thy throne I spend,

When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,

I commune as friend with friend.

4 There are depths of love that I cannot know

Till I cross the narrow sea;

There are heights of joy that I may not reach

Till I rest in peace with Thee.

This popular and useful consecration hymn was written by Fanny Crosby and set to music by W. H. Doane, and has been largely adopted by Christian Endeavor societies throughout this country and Great Britain.

Fanny Crosby was visiting Mr. W. H. Doane, in his home in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were talking together about the nearness of God, as the sun was setting and the evening shadows were gathering around them. The subject so impressed the well known hymn writer, that before retiring she had written the words to this hymn, which has become one of the most useful she has ever written.

The music by Mr. Doane so well fitted the words that the hymn has become a special favorite wherever the Gospel Hymns are known.

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I Gave My Life for Thee

Words by Frances R. Havergal

Music by Philip P. Bliss

Not in Hymnal.net link

Try https://hymnary.org/text/i_gave_my_life_for_thee

621

"I gave My life for thee;

My precious blood I shed,

That thou might'st ransomed be,

And quickened from the dead.

I gave My life for thee:

What hast thou given for Me?

2 "I spent long years for thee

In weariness and woe,

That an eternity

Of joy thou mightest know.

I spent long years for thee:

Hast thou spent one for Me?

3"My Father's home of light,

My rainbow-circled throne,

I left for earthly night,

For wanderings sad and lone.

I left it all for thee:

Hast thou left aught for Me?

4 "I suffered much for thee:

More than thy tongue can tell,

Of bitterest agony:

To rescue thee from hell.

I suffered much for thee:

What canst thou bear for Me?

5 "And I have brought to thee,

Down from My home above.

Salvation full and free,

My pardon and My love.

Great gifts I brought to thee:

What hast thou brought to Me?

6 "Oh, let thy life be given,

Thy years for Him be spent;

World-fetters all be riven,

And joy with suffering blent.

Bring thou thy worthless all:

Follow thy Saviour's call.

Fifteen years after this hymn was written, Miss Havergal said about it, "Yes, 'I gave My life for thee' is mine, and perhaps it will interest you to hear how nearly it went into the fire instead of nearly all over the world. It was, I think, the very first thing 1 wrote which could be called a hymn ‒ written when I was a young girl, in 1859. I did not half realize what I was writing about.

I was following very far off, always doubting and fearing. I think I had come to Jesus with a trembling faith, but it was a coming 'in the press' and behind, never seeing His face or feeling sure that He loved me. I scribbled these words in a few minutes on the back of a circular, and then read them over and thought, 'Well, this is not poetry, anyhow; I won't trouble to write this out.'

I reached out my hand to put it in the fire, when a sudden impulse made me draw it back, and I put it, crumpled and singed, in my pocket. Soon after, I went to see a dear old woman in the almshouse. She began talking to me, as she always did, about her dear Saviour, and I thought I would see if she, a simple old woman, would care for these verses which I felt sure nobody else would even care to read. I read them to her, and she was so delighted with them that I copied them out and kept them. And now the Master has sent them out in all directions, and I have heard of their being a real blessing to many."

Miss Havergal showed the hymn some time afterward to her father, and he wrote a melody especially for it. But it is the tune which Mr. Bliss composed for it that became popular in America.

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I Hear the Saviour Say

Words by Mrs. Elvina M. Hall

Music by John T. Grape

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/997

855

I hear the Saviour say,

"Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all:

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain;

He washed it white as snow.

2 Lord, now indeed I find

Thy power, and Thine alone,

Can change the leper's spots,

And melt the heart of stone.

3 For nothing good have I

Whereby Thy grace to claim:

I'll wash my garments white

In the blood of Calvary's Lamb.

4 When from my dying bed

My ransomed soul shall rise,

Then "Jesus paid it all!"

Shall rend the vaulted skies.

5 And when before the throne

I stand in Him complete,

I'll lay my trophies down,

All down at Jesus' feet.

On New Year's night, 1886, some missionaries were holding open-air services in order to attract passers-by to a nearby mission, where meetings were to be held later. "All to Christ I owe" was sung, and after a gentleman had given a short address he hastened away to the mission. He soon heard footsteps close behind him and a young woman caught up with him and said, "I heard you addressing the open-air meeting just now; do you think, sir, that Jesus could save a sinner like me?"

The gentleman replied that there was no doubt about that, if she was anxious to be saved. She told him that she was a servant girl, and had left her place that morning after a disagreement with her mistress. As she had been wandering about the streets in the dark, wondering where she was to spend the night, the sweet melodies of this hymn had attracted her, and she drew near and listened attentively.

As the different verses were being sung, she felt that the words surely had something to do with her. Through the whole service she seemed to hear what met her oppressed soul's need at that moment. God's Spirit had showed her what a poor, sinful and wretched creature she was, and had led her to ask what she must do. On hearing her experience, the gentleman took her back to the mission and left her with the ladies in charge.

The young woman was brought to Christ that night. A situation was secured for her in a minister's family. There she became ill and had to be taken to a hospital. She rapidly failed and it became evident that she would not be long on earth. One day the gentleman whom she met on New Year's night was visiting her in the ward. After quoting a few suitable verses of Scripture, he repeated her favorite hymn, "All to Christ I owe." On coming to the fourth verse,

"When from my dying bed

My ransomed soul shall rise,

Then 'Jesus paid it all'

Shall rend the vaulted skies,"

She seemed overwhelmed with the thought of coming glory, and repeated the chorus so precious to her,

"Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe."

Two hours afterward she passed away.

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I Need Thee Every Hour

Words by Annie S. Hawks

Music by Robert Lowry

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/371

577

I need Thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Every hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Saviour!

I come to Thee.

2 I need Thee every hour,

Stay Thou near by

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

3 I need Thee every hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

4 I need Thee every hour;

Teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises

In me fulfil.

5 I need Thee every hour,

Most Holy One:

Oh, make me Thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son.

A chaplain of the State prison at Concord, Massachusetts, tells how an ex-prisoner, who had never had a home in his life, prepared one that was humble but tasteful, and then asked the chaplain to help him dedicate it. Together they entered the home ‒ the man's wife had not yet come ‒ and the service began. "Mr. B., with evident brokenness of spirit, for he was naturally a proud man and not unacquainted with larger surroundings, could not refrain from some criticism upon his poor things; but his heart was so full that his embarrassment was only temporary, and he immediately went on with a firm purpose. He started the hymn, 'I need Thee every hour' for the first number of the service."

"I need Thee every hour" was first sung at a Sunday school convention in Cincinnati, in November of 1872. Two years later I sang it for the first time at Mr. Moody's meetings in the East End of London. After that we often used it in our prayer meetings.

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I Will Sing of My Redeemer

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by James McGranahan

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/305

896

I will sing of my Redeemer,

And His wondrous love to me;

On the cruel cross He suffered,

From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,

With His blood He purchased me;

On the cross He sealed my pardon

Paid the debt, and made me free.

2 I will tell the wondrous story,

How my lost estate to save,

In His boundless love and mercy,

He the ransom freely gave.

3 I will praise my dear Redeemer,

His triumphant power I'll tell;

How the victory He giveth

Over sin, and death, and hell.

4 I will sing of my Redeemer,

And His heavenly love to me;

He from death to life hath brought me,

Son of God, with Him to be.

This beautiful hymn was written by Philip P. Bliss and set to music by James McGranahan, and is one of his most famous compositions. When Mr. Bliss so sadly met his death in the railroad disaster at Ashtabula, Ohio, December 29, 1876, Mr. McGranahan was selected to take his place as evangelistic singer in connection with Major Whittle, and much good was accomplished through their united efforts. He wrote much of the music in the Gospel Hymns, of which he was one of the joint compilers.

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I Will Sing the Wondrous Story

Words by F. W. Rawley

Music by Peter P. Bilhorn

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/337

875

I will sing the wondrous story

Of the Christ who died for me;

How He left His home in glory,

For the cross on Calvary.

Yes, I'll sing. the wondrous story

Of the Christ who died for me!

Sing it with the saints in glory,

Gathered by the crystal sea.

2 I was lost; but Jesus found me:

Found the sheep that went astray;

Threw His loving arms around me,

Drew me back into His way.

3 I was bruised: but Jesus healed me:

Faint was I from many a fall;

Sight was gone, and fears possessed me:

But He freed me from them all.

4 Days of darkness still come o'er me;

Sorrow's paths I often tread;

But the Saviour still is with me,

By His hand I'm safely led.

5 He will keep me till the river

Rolls its waters at my feet;

Then He'll bear me safely over,

Where the loved ones I shall meet.

The words of this hymn were written by F. H. Rawley, and the music by Peter Bilhorn, from whom I secured it in 1887 for use in Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs and Solos. The hymn commenced in its original form, "Can't you sing the wondrous story," from which I changed it to "I will sing."

It was greatly blessed in our meetings in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and other places in Great Britain, many persons testifying to having been benefited by its use.

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It is Well with My Soul

Words by H. G. Spafford

Music by Philip P. Bliss

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/341

901

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows, like sea-billows, roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,

"It is well, it is well with my soul."

It is well ... with my soul, ...

It is well, it is well with my soul.

2 Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

3 My sin ‒ oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin ‒ not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to His cross; and I bear it no more:

O my soul! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

4 For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live!

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

5 But, Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming, we wait;

The sky, not the grave, is our goal:

Oh, trump of the Angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope! Blessed rest of my soul!

When Mr. Moody and I were holding meetings in Edinburgh, in 1874, we heard the sad news of the loss of the French steamer, Ville de Havre on her return from America to France, with a large number of members of the Ecumenical Council, whose meetings had been held in Philadelphia. Onboard the steamer was a Mrs. Spafford, with her four children. In mid-ocean a collision took place with a large sailing vessel, causing the steamer to sink in half an hour.

Nearly all on board were lost. Mrs. Spafford got her children out of their berths and up on deck. On being told that the vessel would soon sink, she knelt down with her children in prayer, asking God that they might be saved if possible; or be made willing to die, if that was His will. In a few minutes the vessel sank to the bottom of the sea, and the children were lost.

One of the sailors of the vessel, named Lockurn ‒ whom I afterward met in Scotland ‒ while rowing over the spot where the vessel disappeared, discovered Mrs. Spafford floating in the water. Ten days later she was landed at Cardiff, Wales. From there she cabled to her husband, a lawyer in Chicago, the message, "Saved alone."

Mr. Spafford, who was a Christian, had the message framed and hung up in his office. He started immediately for England to bring his wife to Chicago. Mr. Moody left his meetings in Edinburgh and went to Liverpool to try to comfort the bereaved parents, and was greatly pleased to find that they were able to say, "It is well; the will of God be done."

This hymn was heard by a gentleman who had suffered great financial reverses in the panic of 1899, and who was in deepest despondency. When he learned the story of the hymn he exclaimed, "If Spafford could write such a beautiful resignation hymn, I will never complain again."

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I've Found a Friend

Words by J. G. Small

Music by George C. Stebbins

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/288

871

I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!

He loved me ere I knew Him;

He drew me with the cords of love,

And thus He bound me to Him.

And round my heart still closely twine

Those ties which naught can sever,

For I am His and He is mine,

For ever and for ever!

2 I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!

He bled, He died to save me;

And not alone the gift of life,

But His own self He gave me;

Naught that I have my own I call,

I hold it for the Giver:

My heart, my strength, my life, my all,

Are His, and His for ever!

3 I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!

All power to Him is given,

To guard me on my onward course,

And bring me safe to heaven.

Th' eternal glories gleam afar,

To nerve my faith endeavour:

So now to watch! To work! To war!

And then ‒ to rest for ever!

4 I've found a Friend; oh, such a Friend!

So kind, and true, and tender,

So wise a Counsellor and Guide,

So mighty a Defender!

From Him, who loves me now so well,

What power my soul can sever?

Shall life, or death, or earth, or hell?

No! I am His for ever!

On one occasion when Mr. Moorehouse and I were holding meetings at Scarborough, in the north of England, the services were attended by a number of Quaker ladies, among them a cousin of John Bright, the great English statesman. Wishing to have this hymn at one of the meetings, this lady wrote out the following request: "Will Mr. Sankey please repeat the hymn, 'I've found a Friend,' in his usual way?" In thus wording her note she avoided asking me to sing it, which is against the custom of the Society of Friends.

"We were holding a cottage prayer meeting in a lodging house," says a minister of Nottinghamshire, England, "when a young man lodging there came in to the meeting in a fun-seeking manner. We sang, prayed and read a chapter out of God's Word, and then the young man asked if we would sing a hymn for him. He chose 'I've found a Friend, oh, such a Friend.' When we had sung one verse he began to shed tears, and I am glad to say that he gave his heart to God through the singing of that beautiful hymn.

"The next morning he left the place, but before leaving he wrote me a letter, of which I give these extracts: 'I asked you to sing that hymn because it was a favorite of my darling sister, who is waiting for me at the gates in heaven. I have now promised to meet her there. By God's help, if we do not meet again on earth, I promise to meet you in heaven. You will always think of me when you sing, "I've Found a Friend." Show this letter to my two other friends.'"

The author of this hymn, the Rev. J. G. Small, who was born in Edinburgh in 1817, and died in 1888, wrote many hymns and poems and published several hymnbooks.

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Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Words by Charles Wesley

Music by Simeon B. Marsh

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1057

227

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 Saviour, hide,

Till the storm of life is past;

Safe into the haven guide.

Oh, receive my soul at last!

2 Other refuge have I none,

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;

Leave, oh, 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 defenceless head

With the shadow of Thy wing.

3 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;

Vile, and full of sin I am,

Thou art full of truth and grace.

4 Plenteous grace with Thee is found:

Grace to cover all my sin:

Let the healing streams abound;

Make me, 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.

Several incidents have been narrated as having suggested to Charles Wesley this hymn. One, that a narrow escape from death in a storm on the Atlantic inspired him to portray the thoughts of a Christian in deadly peril. Another, that as he stood at an open window on a summer day a little bird, pursued by a hawk, sought refuge in his bosom, giving him the idea of pointing out the soul's one sure place of refuge in time of need.

Mrs. Mary Hoover, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, whose grandmother was the heroine of the story, has related to her pastor this family tradition: Charles Wesley was preaching in the fields of the parish of Killyleagh, County Down, Ireland, when he was attacked by men who did not approve of his doctrines. He sought refuge in a house located on what was known as the Island Band Farm. The farmer's wife, Jane Lowrie Moore, told him to hide in the milk house, down in the garden. Soon the mob came and demanded the fugitive.

She tried to quiet them by offering them refreshments. Going down to the milk house, she directed Mr. Wesley to get through the rear window and hide under the hedge, by which ran a little brook. In that hiding place, with the cries of his pursuers all about him, he wrote this immortal hymn.

"An ungodly stranger," said Mr. Spurgeon, "stepping into one of our services at Exeter Hall, was brought to Christ by the singing of 'Jesus, Lover of my soul.' 'Does Jesus love me?' said he. "Then why should I live in enmity with Him?'"

A vessel had gone on the rocks in the English Channel. The crew, with their captain, took to the boats and were lost. They might have been safe, had they remained on the vessel, as a huge wave carried her high up on the rocks. On the table in the captain's cabin was found a hymnbook, opened at this hymn, and in it lay the pencil which had marked the favorite words of the captain. While the hurricane was howling outside and the vessel sinking, he had drawn his pencil beneath these words of cheer:

"Jesus, Lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly,

While the nearer waters roll,

While the tempest still is high!"

"I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley's, 'Jesus, Lover of my soul,'" Henry Ward Beecher once said, "than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on earth. It is more glorious; it has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. It will go on singing until the trump brings forth the angel band; and then I think it will mount up on some lip to the very presence of God."

This was the last hymn we sang as the body of Mr. Moody was being lowered into the grave.

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Jesus Loves Even Me

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/291

38

I am so glad that our Father in heaven

Tells of His love in the Book He has given:

Wonderful things in the Bible I see;

This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.

I am so glad that Jesus loves me,

Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me,

I am so glad that Jesus loves me,

Jesus loves even me.

2 Though I forget Him, and wander away,

Still He doth love me wherever I stray;

Back to His dear loving arms do I flee,

When I remember that Jesus loves me.

3 Oh, if there's only one song I can sing,

When in His beauty I see the great King,

This shall my song in eternity be,

"Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!"

4 Jesus loves me, and I know I love Him:

Love brought Him down my poor soul to redeem;

Yes, it was love made Him die on the tree:

Oh, I am certain that Jesus loves me!

5 If one should ask of me, how can I tell?

Glory to Jesus, I know very well!

God's Holy Spirit with mine doth agree,

Constantly witnessing ‒ Jesus loves me.

6 In this assurance I find sweetest rest,

Trusting in Jesus, I know I am blest;

Satan, dismayed, from my soul now doth flee,

When I just tell him that Jesus loves me.

"I think it was in June, 1870, that 'Jesus Loves Even Me' was written," writes Major Whittle. "Mr. and Mrs. Bliss were at that time members of my family in Chicago. One morning Mrs. Bliss came down to breakfast and said, as she entered the room: 'Last night Mr. Bliss had a tune given to him that I think is going to live and be one of the most useful that he has written. I have been singing it all the morning, and I cannot get it out of my mind.' She then sang the notes over to us.

Mr. Bliss said that this song was suggested to him by hearing the chorus of the hymn, "Oh, how I love Jesus," repeated very frequently in a meeting which he attended. After joining in the chorus a number of times the thought came to him, "Have I not been singing enough about my poor love for Jesus, and shall I not rather sing of his great love for me?" Under the impulse of this thought he went home and composed this, one of his most popular children's hymns.

"A young woman in England," says Major Whittle, "went to a meeting where she heard Mr. Sankey sing, 'I am so glad that Jesus loves me.' While the hymn was being sung she began to feel for the first time in her life that she was a sinner. All her sins came up in an array before her; and so numerous and aggravated did they appear, that she imagined she could never be saved. She said in her heart, 'Jesus cannot love me. He could not love such a sinner as 1.'

"She went home in a state of extreme mental anguish, and did not sleep that night. Every opportunity to obtain more light was eagerly seized. She took her place in the inquiry room; and there she found, to her astonishment And Joy that Jesus could, did, does love sinners. She saw in God's open Word that it was for sinners that He died, and for none others. When she realized this she began to sing '1 am so glad that Jesus loves me ‒ Jesus loves even me.'"

During the winter after the great fire in Chicago, when the place was being built up with small frame houses for the poor, a mother sent for me one day to visit her little sick girl, who was one of our Sunday school scholars. I remembered her quite well, and was glad to go. Finding that she was beyond hope of recovery, I asked how it was with her.

"It is all well with me," she replied; "but I wish you would speak to father and mother."

It was plain that she loved Jesus, and I asked her when she became a Christian. "Don't you remember last Thursday in the Tabernacle," she said, "when we had the children's meeting, and you sang "Jesus loves me,' and don't you remember how you told us that if we would give our hearts to Him, He would love us? It was that day that I gave myself to Jesus. And now I am going to be with Him, for the doctors say that I will die today."

The testimony of that little girl, in that neglected quarter of the city, did more to encourage me to sing on than anything else, for she was my first convert.

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Jesus Loves Me

Words by Anna B. Warner

Music by William B. Bradbury

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/c/51

1155

Jesus loves me! this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong;

They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me I

The Bible tells me so!

2 Jesus loves me! He who died

Heaven's gate to open wide:

He will wash away my sin,

Let His little child come in.

3 Jesus loves me! He will stay

Close beside me all the way:

If I love Him, when I die

He will take me home on high.

The Rev. Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, who for many years has been working in India, writes as follows regarding this hymn, long one of the most popular children's songs in the world, "Many years ago I translated into Telugu the children's hymn, 'Jesus loves me' and taught it to the children of our day school. Scarcely a week later, as I was going through the narrow streets of the native town on horseback, I heard singing that sounded natural, down a side street. I stopped to listen, cautiously drawing up to the corner, where unobserved I could look down the street and see and hear. And there was a little boy, with men and women standing around him, singing away at the top of his voice:

'Jesus loves me! This I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Yes, Jesus loves me!

The Bible tells me so!'

"As he completed the verse someone asked the question, 'Sonny, where did you learn that song?' 'Over at the Missionary School.' was the answer. 'Who is that Jesus, and what is the Bible?' 'Oh, the Bible is the book from God, they say, to teach us how to get to heaven, and Jesus is the name of the divine Redeemer that came into the world to save us from our sins; that is what the missionaries say.'

"'Well, the song is a nice one. Come, sing us some more.' And so the little boy went on ‒ an unbeliever himself, and singing to the unbelievers ‒ about Jesus and his love. 'That is preaching the Gospel by proxy,' I said to myself, as I turned my pony and rode away, well satisfied to leave my little proxy to tell his interested audience all he himself knew, and sing to them over and over that sweet song of salvation.'"

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Jewels

Words by the Rev. W. O. Cushing

Music by G. F. Root

Not in Hymnal.net

Try https://hymnary.org/text/when_he_cometh_when_he_cometh

1140

When He cometh, when He cometh.

To make up His jewels,

All His jewels, precious jewels.

His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,

His bright crown adorning,

They shall shine in their beauty,

Bright gems for His crown.

2 He will gather, He will gather,

The gems for His kingdom;

All the pure ones, all the bright ones,

His loved and His own.

3 Little children, little children,

Who love their Redeemer,

Are the jewels, precious jewels,

His loved and His own.

This hymn was written by the Rev. W. O. Cushing and set to music by G. F. Root, and is one of the most popular children's hymns in the world. He wrote many hymns for me, among the most popular of which may be mentioned, "Hiding in Thee" and "There'll be no Dark Valley."

The Rev. William Orcott Cushing was born in Hingham, Mass., 1823, and was converted while yet a child. He entered the ministry, and continued therein for many years, until he partly lost the power of speech. This caused him to give up preaching, but the prayer which he made, "Lord still give me something to do for Thee!" was wonderfully answered, and he was permitted to write hymns for children, many of which have been blessed to tens of thousands throughout the world, whom his voice as a preacher could never have reached.

A minister returning from Europe on an English steamer visited the steerage, and after some friendly talk, proposed a singing service ‒ if something could be started that "everybody" knew ‒ for there were hundreds of emigrants there from nearly every part of Europe.

"It'll have to be an American tune, then," said the steerage master. "Try 'His Jewels.'"

The minister struck out at once with the melody and words, and scores of the poor, half-fed multitude joined voices with him. Many probably recognized the music of the old glee, and some had heard the sweet air played in the church steeples at home. Other voices chimed in, male and female, catching the air and sometimes the words ‒ they were so easy and so many times repeated ‒ and the volume of song increased, till the singing minister stood in the midst of an international concert, the most novel that he ever led.

George Frederick Root, Doctor of Music, the author of the tune, was born in Sheffield, Mass., 1820, and died 1895.

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Just as I Am

Words by Charlotte Elliott

Music by William B. Bradbury

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1048

473

Just as I am ‒ without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come!

2 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, 1 come!

3 Just as I am ‒ Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,

Because thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come!

4 Just as I am ‒ Thy love unknown

Has broken every barrier down:

Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come!

Miss Charlotte Elliott was visiting some friends in the West End of London, and there met the eminent [Swiss] minister, Cesar Malan. While seated at supper, the minister said he hoped that she was a Christian. She took offense at this, and replied that she would rather not discuss that question. Dr. Malan said that he was sorry if he had offended her, that he always liked to speak a word for his Master, and that he hoped that the young lady would some day become a worker for Christ.

When they met again at the home of a mutual friend, three weeks later, Miss Elliott told the minister that ever since he had spoken to her she had been trying to find her Saviour, and that she now wished him to tell her how to come to Christ. "Just come to him as you are," Dr. Malan said. This she did, and went away rejoicing. Shortly afterward she wrote this hymn, "Just as I am, without one plea." It was first published in The Invalid's Hymn Book, in 1836.

"In all my preaching," said her brother, the Rev. H. V. Elliott, "I have not done so much good as my sister has been permitted to accomplish by writing her one hymn, 'Just as I am.'"

A little street waif in New York City came to a missionary with a tom and dirty piece of paper, on which this hymn was printed. "Please, sir," he said, "father sent me to get a clean copy like that."

The missionary learned that the child's sister had loved to sing it, and that this copy had been found in her pocket after her death. The father wanted to obtain a clean copy of the verses in order to frame them.

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Lead, Kindly Light

Words by John H. Newman

Music by John B. Dykes

(Not in 1200 Book)

Not on Hymnal.net

Try  https://hymnary.org/text/lead_kindly_light_amid_the_encircling_gl

1. Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on;

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on;

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.

2. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou

Shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path, but now

Lead Thou me on;

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,

Pride ruled my will; remember not past years.

3. So long Thy pow'r has blest me, sure it still

Wilt lead me on,

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone,

And with the morn those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

Dr. Newman wrote this hymn in 1833, just before he entered upon the Oxford movement in the Established Church. He had been at Rome, and stopping at Sicily on his homeward way, he there became dangerously ill of fever. Upon recovery, he took passage on an orange boat for Marseilles, being under the impression that he must return to England and begin a movement for the reformation of the Church in accord with his particular views.

The sailing vessel was becalmed for a week in the Strait of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia. It was on this vessel and under such circumstances, his body sweltering in the heat and his mind racked with conflicting views as to his duty in the contemplated mission to the Established Church, that he penned the lines of this now cherished hymn. Its original title was "The Pillar of the Cloud," the hymn appearing first in The British Magazine.

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Let the Lower Lights be Burning

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

Not in Hymnal.net

Try https://hymnary.org/text/brightly_beams_our_fathers_mercy

805

Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From His lighthouse evermore;

But to us He gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning!

Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

2 Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

3 Trim your feeble lamp, my brother:

Some poor seaman, tempest-tossed,

Trying now to make the harbour,

In the darkness may be lost.

The words of this hymn were suggested to Mr. Bliss on hearing Mr. Moody tell the following incident: "On a dark, stormy night, when the waves rolled like mountains and not a star was to be seen, a boat, rocking and plunging, neared the Cleveland harbor. 'Are you sure this is Cleveland?' asked the captain, seeing only one light from the lighthouse. 'Quite sure, sir,' replied the pilot. 'Where are the lower lights?' 'Gone out, sir.' 'Can you make the harbor?' 'We must, or perish, sir!'

"With a strong hand and a brave heart the old pilot turned the wheel. But alas, in the darkness he missed the channel, and with a crash upon the rocks the boat was shivered, and many a life lost in a watery grave. Brethren, the Master will take care of the great lighthouse; let us keep the lower lights burning!"

[WTP comment: lower lights are fixed harbor lights to guide the vessel in to safety.]

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Moment by Moment

Words by D. W. Whittle

Music by May Whittle Moody

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/486

615

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;

Living with Jesus a new life divine,

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine:

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love,

Moment by moment I've life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

2 Never a battle with wrong for the right,

Never a contest that He doth not fight;

Lifting above us His banner so white

Moment by moment I'm kept in His sight.

3 Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He doth not bear,

Never a sorrow that He doth not share:

Moment by moment I'm under His care.

4 Never a heartache, and never a groan,

Never a teardrop, and never a moan,

Never a danger ‒ but there on the throne

Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

5 Never a weakness that He doth not feel,

Never a sickness that He cannot heal

Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus, my Saviour, abides with me still.

While I was attending the World's Fair, in Chicago, Henry Varley, a lay preacher from London, said to Major Whittle, "I do not like the hymn 'I need Thee every hour' very well, because I need Him every moment of the day." Soon after, Major Whittle wrote this sweet hymn, having the chorus, 'Moment by moments.'

Mr. Whittle brought the hymn to me in manuscript a little later, saying that he would give me the copyright of both the words and music if I would print for him five hundred copies on fine paper, for distributing among his friends. His daughter, May Whittle, who later became the wife of Will R. Moody, composed the music. I did as Mr. Whittle wished; and I sent the hymn to England, where it was copyrighted on the same day as at Washington.

In England the hymn became very popular. Falling into the hands of the well-known Rev. Andrew Murray, of South Africa, then visiting London, he adopted it as his favorite hymn. A year later Mr. Murray visited Northfield, and while holding a meeting for men in the church he remarked, "If Sankey only knew a hymn which I found in London, and would sing it, he would find that it embraces my entire creed."

I was very anxious to know what hymn it was. and when he had recited it I said to him, "Doctor, that hymn was written within five hundred yards of where we are standing."

For years Dr. Murray had his wife sing this hymn in nearly all his meetings. It also became a great favorite in South Africa during the war.

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My Jesus, I Love Thee

Words by W. R. Featherstone

Music by A. J. Gordon

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/544

659

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine!

For Thee all the pleasures of sin I resign

My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou!

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now!

2 I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now!

3 I will love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

"If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now!"

4 In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,

"If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now!"

A Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Michigan once related the following incident to a large audience in one of the Rev. E. P. Hammond's meetings in St. Louis. "A young, talented and tender-hearted actress was passing along the street of a large city. Seeing a pale, sick girl lying upon a couch just within the half-open door of a beautiful dwelling, she entered, with the thought that by her vivacity and pleasant conversation she might cheer the young invalid.

The sick girl was a devoted Christian, and her words, her patience, her submission and heaven-lit countenance, so demonstrated the spirit of her faith that the actress was led to give some earnest thought to the claims of Christianity, and was thoroughly converted, and became a true follower of Christ.

She told her father, the leader of the theater troupe, of her conversion, and of her desire to abandon the stage, stating that she could not live a consistent Christian life and follow the life of an actress. Her father was astonished beyond measure, and told his daughter that their living would be lost to them and their business ruined, if she persisted in her resolution. Loving her father dearly, she was shaken somewhat in her purpose, and partially consented to fill the published engagement to be met in a few days.

She was the star of the troupe, and a general favorite. Every preparation was made for the play in which she was to appear. The evening came and the father rejoiced that he had won back his daughter, and that their living was not to be lost. The hour arrived, a large audience had assembled. The curtain rose, and the young actress stepped forward firmly amid the applause of the multitude. But an unwonted light beamed from her beautiful face. Amid the breathless silence of the audience she repeated:

'My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.'

This was all. Through Christ she had conquered, and, leaving her audience in tears, she retired from the stage, never to appear upon it again. Through her influence her father was converted, and through their united evangelistic labors many were led to God.

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Nearer, My God to Thee

Words by Sarah F. Adams

Music by Dr. Lowell Mason

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/614

581

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 to Thee!

2 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 to Thee!

3 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 to Thee!

4 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 to Thee!

5 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 to Thee!

Bishop Marvin, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was traveling during the Civil War in the wilds of Arkansas. He was feeling much depressed, for the Union troops had driven him from his home. As he approached a dilapidated old log cabin he heard someone singing, "Nearer, my God, to Thee." He alighted and entered the house. There he found a poor woman, widowed and old, who was singing in the midst of such poverty as he had never seen before. His despondency vanished and he went on his way happy and trustful, because of the faith which he had seen and the hymn which he had heard.

A little drummer boy was found, after the battle of Fort Donelson, by one who visited the field. The poor lad had lost an arm, which had been carried away by a cannon ball, but even as he lay there dying he was singing, "Nearer, my God, to Thee."

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Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

Words by the Rev. Robert Lowry

Music by the Rev. Robert Lowry

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1008

874

What can wash away my stain?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Oh, precious is the flow,

That makes me white as snow!

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

2 For my cleansing this I see:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

For my pardon this my plea:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

3 Nothing can for sin atone:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Naught of good that I have done:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

4 This is all my hope and peace:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

This is all my righteousness:

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

This very simple hymn was first introduced at a camp meeting in Ocean Grove, N. J., where it immediately took possession of the people. It has been found very useful in inquiry and prayer meetings. [WTP note: the first line is more generally worded "What can wash away my sin," as in the music link here.]

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O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Words by Charles Wesley

Music by Oliver Holden

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/163

Music here by C. G. Glaser

243

Oh for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer's praise;

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace.

2 My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim:

To spread thro' all the earth abroad:

The honours of Thy name.

3 Jesus, the Name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

'tis music in the sinner's ears,

'tis life, and health, and peace.

4 He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood avails for me.

When Charles Wesley consulted Peter Bohler as to the propriety of praising God, he replied, "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with all" ‒ an expression that is believed to have inspired the opening line of this hymn which Wesley wrote, in 1739, to commemorate the first anniversary of his new birthday, the day of his conversion. When John Wesley made his collection of hymns for the use of the Methodists, he selected this one to stand as the first hymn in the book. To this day it remains in that place of honor, and as the Rev. S. W. Duffield says, it "well deserves the prominence."

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O God, Our Help

Words by Isaac Watts

Music by H. W. Greatorex

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/607

Music here by William Croft

513

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home.

2 Under the shadow of Thy throne

Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is Thine arm alone,

And our defence is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God,

To endless years the same.

4 A thousand ages in Thy sight

Are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night

Before the rising sun.

5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,

Bears all its sons away;

They fly forgotten, as a dream

Dies at the opening day.

6 O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Be Thou our guard while life shall

And our eternal home. last,

This is Watts' version of the 90th Psalm. Its use has been universal, and is one of his best compositions. It has been translated into many languages. As written by Watts it began, "Our God, our help." This was changed by John Wesley to "O God, our help," etc.

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Pass Me Not

Words by Fanny J. Crosby

Music by W. H. Doane

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1054

488

Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,

Hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling,

Do not pass me by.

Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry

And while others Thou art calling,

Do not pass me by!

2 Let me at a throne of mercy

Find a sweet relief;

Kneeling there in deep contrition,

Help my unbelief.

3 Trusting only in Thy merit,

Would I seek Thy face;

Heal my wounded, broken spirit,

Save me by Thy grace.

4 Thou the spring of all my comfort,

More than life to me;

Whom have I on earth beside Thee?

Whom in heaven but Thee?

An earnest Christian pastor told of a young man about whom he had long felt much anxiety, as he had seemed so unconcerned about his soul, and was, in reality, a real cause of disturbance and interruption in the classes for other young men. Meeting him one day, the loving pastor sought once more to influence him, urging, "We want you for Christ and His service."

There was a certain change in his manner which did not escape the eye of the prayerful watcher for souls, and ‒ lacking time to do more ‒ he seized the opportunity to secure the presence of his young friend at a Christian Endeavor meeting soon to be held. True to his promise he was there. When an opportunity was given for some of the young men to choose a song, it was seen that he was urging his companion to select some particular hymn. The other, yielding to his request, asked if the hymn, "Pass me not, O gentle Saviour," might be sung; and both young men joined in the singing with evident interest and heartiness.

Later in the evening it was requested that all who were definitely on the Lord's side would confess their allegiance by standing. Whereupon the one over whom the heart of the pastor was specially yearning rose at once, and with decision.

"Tell me about your conversion," the thankful pastor requested at the close of the meeting, when hands were clasped in glad, brotherly welcome and recognition.

"Oh, yes," assented the other. "It was all through that hymn we have just sung. I was working on the canal at G‒‒‒, and there was a meeting being held at the Mariner's Chapel, nearby. The words floated out over the water, and from the tug where I was working I could hear them plainly enough. When they were just going to sing those lines, 'While on others Thou are calling, Do not pass me by!' a great fear came over me, and I thought, 'Oh, if the Lord were to pass me by, how terrible it would be! 'Then and there, on the tug, I cried out, "O Lord, do not pass me by! And" ‒ with a bright smile ‒ "He didn't pass me by. I am saved."

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Rock of Ages

Words by A. M. Toplady

Music by Dr. Thomas Hastings

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1058

237

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save me from its guilt and power.

2 Not the labour of my hands

Can fulfil Thy law's demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears for ever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

3 Nothing in my hand I bring;

Simply to Thy Cross I cling!

Naked, come to Thee for dress;

Helpless, look to Thee for grace:

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

4 While I draw this fleeting breath,

When mine eyes shall close in death,

When I soar to worlds unknown,

See Thee on Thy Judgment-throne;

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

In the year 1756 a young man of sixteen, while visiting with his mother in Ireland, attended an evangelistic meeting held in a barn at the little village of Codymain. At this meeting the young man was converted. He was none other than Augustus Montague Toplady, who afterwards wrote this famous hymn. Of his conversion the author says, "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought right unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, midst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his own name. Surely it was the Lord's doing, and is marvelous."

At the age of twenty-two Toplady received orders in the Church of England. He was the author of many popular hymns. He died in 1778. "Rock of Ages" was first published in 1776, in The Gospel Magazine, of which he was the editor. The hymn has been slightly altered and rearranged several times since then, but the sentiment remains the same.

It was to this hymn that the beloved Prince Consort, Albert of England, [husband of Queen Victoria] turned, repeating it constantly upon his deathbed. "For," said he, "if in this hour I had only my worldly honors and dignities to depend upon, I should be poor indeed."

Years ago, when a ship sank in the Bay of Biscay, a man who was saved was asked what the passengers were doing when the ship went down. He said that the last he heard was "Rock of Ages," sung by all who could join in it.

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Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Words by Fanny J. Crosby

Music by W. H. Doane

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/679

57

Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe on His gentle breast,

There by His love o'ershaded,

Sweetly my soul shall rest.

Hark! 'tis the voice of angels

Borne in a song to me,

Over the fields of glory,

Over the jasper sea.

Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe on His gentle breast;

There by His love o'ershaded,

Sweetly my soul shall rest.

2 Safe in the arms of Jesus,

Safe from corroding care,

Safe from the world's temptations,

Sin cannot harm me there.

Free from the blight of sorrow,

Free from my doubts and fears;

Only a few more trials,

Only a few more tears.

3 Jesus, my heart's dear refuge,

Jesus has died for me;

Firm on the Rock of Ages

Ever my trust shall be.

Here let me wait with patience,

Wait till the night is o'er;

Wait till I see the morning

Break on the golden shore.

Mr. Doane came into a room in New York, once, where Fanny Crosby was talking with Mr. Bradbury, the father of Sunday school music, and said to her, "Fanny, I have written a tune and I want you to write words for it."

"Let me hear how the tune goes," she replied.

After Mr. Doane had played it over for her on a small organ, she at once exclaimed, "Why, that tune says, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus.' I will see what I can do about it."

She at once retired to an adjoining room, where she spent half an hour alone. On returning she quoted to Mr. Doane the words of this now immortal hymn. It was first published in the book entitled Songs of Devotion.

A party of steerage passengers were gathered one foggy day below decks on an Allan liner near the entrance of the Belle Isle Straits. They were cold and cheerless and weary of the voyage, though only two days out, and a lady had come down to talk and sing to them. The subject was "Stepping over the line," and the song was "Safe in the arms of Jesus." She told the story of a young sailor, who was summoned to his mother's deathbed. "Willie," said the mother, looking up at him with tearful eyes, "sing to me once more 'Safe in the arms of Jesus.'"

"Mother," he replied, "I can't sing that song. It would be a lie; I am not safe, and I can't sing a lie."

The speaker said that she thanked God that the young sailor afterward stepped over the line and was safe. After the story was told and a hymn sung, a man suddenly left his place among the listeners. The lady was troubled. Had she offended him, or was his conscience stricken? She watched for him day after day, but a storm succeeded the fog, and it was not until the last day of the voyage that she saw him again. Then, while the vessel was moored in Moville Harbor, and all was bustle on deck, the tall Scotchman sought her, saying:

"Oh, I am so glad that I have found you again! I could not leave without thanking you for those words you sang, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus.' I felt that I could not sing that hymn, as I was not safe. I have been to church all my life, and have taken the sacrament; but I was not safe, and I could not sing it. Then came the storm and I was miserable, for I thought we might go to the bottom and I should be lost."

"And what did you do then?" asked the lady.

"Why, I remembered how you said that we might trust the Lord Jesus to save us now ‒ and I did trust Him right there in my berth. I stepped over the line, and now I can praise Him, for I am safe in His arms, and I wish to live to His glory."

Two little girls were playing in a comer of the nursery with their dolls, and singing as they played," Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast." Their mother was writing, only stopping now and then to listen to the little ones talk, unobserved by them.

"Sister, how do you know that you are safe?" asked Nellie, the youngest.

"Because I am holding Jesus with both my hands ‒ tight!" was the reply.

"Ah, that is not safe," said Nellie. "Suppose Satan came along and cut your two hands off!"

The sister looked much troubled for a few moments, dropped her doll and thought deeply. Suddenly her face shone with joy, and she cried out, "Oh! I forgot! I forgot! Jesus is holding me with His two hands, and Satan can't cut His hands off; so I am safe!"

Dr. John Hall, of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, in New York, said of this hymn, in a great Sunday school convention in Brooklyn, that it gave more peace and satisfaction to mothers who had lost their children than any other hymn he had ever known. It has become very famous throughout the world, and was one of the first American hymns to be translated into foreign languages.

Fanny Crosby is one of the most celebrated of hymn writers, and has written more than five thousand hymns, many of which have become very widely known. She was born in 1820, and lost her eyesight when six months old, through the ignorant application of a hot poultice to her eyes. In 1835 she entered the New York Institution for the Blind, where she was graduated in 1842. She was a teacher at this institution from 1847 to 1858, when she was married to Mr. Alexander Van Alstyne, who also was blind. Mrs. Van Alstyne has written her hymns under her maiden name.

The Rev. Dr. George Duffield, just before his death, said of her work, "I rather think her talent will stand beside that of Watts and Wesley, especially if we take into consideration the number of hymns she has written." At her present age of eighty-five she is still active, and she is always happy.

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Sun of My Soul

Words by John Keble

Music by Peter Ritter, 1798

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/374

Music by Katholisches Gesangbuch

302

Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,

It is not night if Thou be near;

Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise,

To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes!

2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep

My wearied eyelids gently steep,

Be my last thought: How sweet to rest

For ever on my Saviour's breast!

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,

For without Thee I cannot live;

Abide with me when night is nigh,

For without Thee I dare not die.

4 If some poor wandering child of Thine

Have spurned today the voice Divine,

Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;

Let him no more lie down in sin.

5 Come near and bless us when we wake,

Ere through the world our way we take;

Till, in the ocean of Thy love,

We lose ourselves in heaven above.

This is taken from Mr. John Keble's evening hymn, which originally consisted of fourteen verses and was published in The Christian Year in 1827. It was based upon the words found in Luke 24: 29, "Abide with us; for it is toward evening and the day is far spent." Keble was born in Gloucestershire, 1792, and died in 1866.

The old English tune to which the hymn is sung was written in 1798.

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Sweet By-and-By

Words by S. Fillmore Bennett

Music by Joseph P. Webster

Not in Hymnal.net

Try  https://hymnary.org/text/theres_a_land_that_is_fairer_than_day_an

964

There's a land that is fairer than day,

And by faith we can see it afar,

For the Father waits over the way,

To prepare us a dwelling-place there.

In the sweet by-and-by,

We shall meet on that beautiful shore;

In the sweet by-and-by,

We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

2 We shall sing on that beautiful shore

The melodious songs of the blest;

And our spirits shall sorrow no more:

Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

3 To our bountiful Father above

We will offer the tribute of praise,

For the glorious gift of His love,

And the blessings that hallow our days.

Mr. Bennett, the author of this world-famed hymn, has this to say about its origin, "In 1861 I became a resident of the village of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, the home of the composer, J. P. Webster; and shortly after became associated with him in the production of sheet music (songs) and other musical works. In the summer or fall of the year 1867 we commenced work on The Signet Ring. One of the songs written for that book was 'Sweet By-and-By.' Mr. Webster, like many musicians, was of an exceedingly nervous and sensitive nature, and subject to periods of depression, in which he looked upon the dark side of all things in life.

"Next year the publishers of The Signet Ring heralded its advent by distributing a large number of circulars upon which selections from the work were printed, among them 'Sweet By-and-By.' These circulars first brought the hymn to the notice of the public, and created the principal demand for the book. Toward the close of that year the hymn was published in sheet-music form. It is now in numerous collections of vocal music in America, and, as a newspaper account says, 'It is translated into various foreign languages and sung in every land under the sun.'

"Webster, Crosby and Carswell are dead. S. E. Bright, of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and myself are the only remaining living witnesses to the birth of 'Sweet By-and-By.'"

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Take Me as I Am

Words by Eliza H. Hamilton

Music by Ira D. Sankey

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1056

476

Jesus, my Lord, to Thee I cry;

Unless Thou help me, I must die:

Oh, bring Thy free salvation nigh,

And take me as I am!

And take me as I am!

And take me as I am!

My only plea ‒ Christ died for me!

Oh, take me as I am!

2 Helpless I am, and full of guilt;

But yet for me Thy blood was spilt,

And Thou canst make me what Thou wilt,

And take me as I am!

3 No preparation can I make,

My best resolves I only break,

Yet save me for Thine own name's sake,

And take me as I am!

4 Behold me, Saviour, at Thy feet,

Deal with me as Thou seest meet;

Thy work begin, Thy work complete,

But take me as I am!

Years ago, while revival meetings were being held in one of the large towns in Scotland, a young girl became anxious about her spiritual condition. Returning from one of the meetings, she went to her own minister and asked him how she might be saved.

"Ah, lassie," he said, "don't be alarmed! Just read your Bible and say your prayers, and you will be all right."

But the poor, illiterate girl cried out, "O Minister, I canna read, I canna pray! Lord Jesus, take me as I am!"

In this way the girl became a follower of Christ; and a lady who heard of the girl's experience wrote this hymn, "Take Me as I Am." I found the verses in a religious newspaper, and set them to the simple music by which they are now most generally known.

A minister in England writes to me about a Christian woman, a shoemaker's wife, who had a lodger that was an obstinate unbeliever. "The good woman often tried to induce him to go to meetings, but in vain. Tracts which she placed on the table in his room she found crushed on the floor. She would smooth them out and again place them so as to attract his attention, but he would read nothing but his novels and newspapers.

One spring the old man fell ill with bronchitis. The good woman acted as his nurse, for he had no relatives who cared for him. She used the opportunity, often speaking to him about his soul and reading the Word of God; but she could make no impression upon him. One day she was reading the hymn 'Jesus, my Lord, to Thee I cry.' When she came to the refrain, the old man called out to her sharply: 'That's not in the book!'

'The woman answered, "Why, yes, it is.'

He declared again that he did not believe it was in the book. The good woman told him that he could read it for himself. He asked for his glasses, and read with wonder and amazement, again and again, 'My only plea ‒ Christ died for me! Oh, take me as I am.' A few weeks afterward he said to the woman one morning, 'I am going home today, and I am so happy, so happy.' In an hour or two he passed away, repeating these words to the last."

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Take Time to be Holy

Words by W. D. Longstaff

Music by Geo. C. Stebbins

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/643

First line here: "Take time to behold Him."

608

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.

Make friends of God's children; help those who are weak;

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

2 Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone:

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

3 Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;

And run not before Him, whatever betide;

In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,

And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

4 Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul;

Each thought and each temper beneath His control:

Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,

Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

Mr. Longstaff, of Sunderland, England, wrote this hymn after hearing a sermon at New Brighton on "Be ye holy as I am holy." "Take Time to be Holy" was first published in Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs and Solos, in 1891.

It has been much used in holiness meetings, both in this country and Great Britain. Mr. Longstaff was the treasurer of Bethesda Chapel, in Sunderland, when we held our first meetings in that town, and was the first one to write anything in relation to our meetings in Great Britain.

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Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Words by Miss Kate Hankey

Music by W. H. Doane

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1075

1131

Tell me the Old, Old Story

Of unseen things above,

Of Jesus and His glory,

Of Jesus and His love.

Tell me the Story simply,

As to a little child,

For I am weak and weary,

And helpless and defiled

Tell me the Old, Old Story

Tell me the Old, Old Story

Tell me the Old, Old Story

Of Jesus and His love.

2 Tell me the Story slowly,

That I may take it in:

That wonderful redemption,

God's remedy for sin.

Tell me the Story often,

For I forget so soon;

The "early dew" of morning

Has passed away at noon.

3 Tell me the Story softly,

With earnest tones and grave;

Remember! I'm the sinner

Whom Jesus came to save.

Tell me that Story always,

If you would really be,

In any time of trouble,

A comforter to me.

4 Tell me the same Old Story,

When you have cause to fear

That this world's empty glory

Is costing me too dear.

Yes, and when that world's glory

Is dawning on my soul,

Tell me the Old, Old Story:

"Christ Jesus makes thee whole."

This excellent hymn by Miss Hankey, of London, has been translated into many languages, and has been set to several tunes. Dr. Doane has this to say regarding the music by which it has become popular, and the occasion on which he composed it:

"In 1867 I was attending the International Convention of the Young Men's Christian Association, in Montreal. Among those present was Major-General Russell, then in command of the English forces during the Irish Republican Brotherhood troubles. He arose in the meeting and recited the words of this song from a sheet of foolscap paper, tears streaming down his bronzed cheeks as he read.

I wrote the music for the song one hot afternoon while on the stagecoach between the Glen Falls House and the Crawford House in the White Mountains. That evening we sung it in the parlors of the hotel. We thought it pretty, although we scarcely anticipated the popularity which was subsequently accorded it."

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That Will be Heaven for Me

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by James McGranahan

Not in Hymnal.net

Try  https://hymnary.org/text/i_know_not_the_hour_when_my_lord_will_co

980

I know not the hour when my Lord will come

To take me away to His own dear home;

But I know that His presence will lighten the gloom,

And that will be glory for me.

And that will be glory for me;

Oh, that will be glory for me;

But I know that His presence will lighten the gloom,

And that will be glory for me.

2 I know not the song that the angels sing,

I know not the sound of the harps' glad ring;

But I know there'll be mention of Jesus our King,

And that will be music for me.

And that will be music for me.

3 I know not the form of my mansion fair,

I know not the name that I then shall bear;

But I know that my Saviour will welcome me there,

And that will be heaven for me.

And that will be heaven for me.

A wealthy Quaker lady heard this hymn in Newcastle-on-Tyne, sung in connection with Mr. Moody's lecture upon "Heaven." She was so much impressed by it that she went home and induced her husband to attend the meetings. She soon became one of the most successful workers in our subsequent meetings there and in London, taking lodgings near so as to more efficiently work in the inquiry meetings.

At the time when Mr. Bliss and his wife were lost in the railroad accident at Ashtabula I was living in a hotel in Chicago. I had engaged a room near mine for him, and was awaiting his arrival, when a friend came into my room and, putting his hand on my shoulder, said, "Bliss is dead."

The next Sunday we held a great memorial service in the Tabernacle, to give expression to our sorrow. While I was singing "That will be Heaven for Me" as a solo, the two small crowns of flowers which had been placed in front of the organ on the platform were taken away, as it was discovered that their two little children, Paul and George, who were supposed to have been lost with their parents, had been left at home at Towanda, Pennsylvania, and were safe.

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The Lily of the Valley

Words by C. W. Fry

Arr. by Ira D. Sankey

This version not in Hymnal.net

Try  https://hymnary.org/text/i_have_found_a_friend_in_jesus_hes_every

Music here by W. S. Hayes

104

I've found a friend in Jesus, He's everything to me;

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

The "Lily of the Valley," in Him alone I see

All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole;

In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay;

He tells me every care on Him to roll:

He's the "Lily of the Valley," the "Bright and Morning Star";

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay;

He tells me every care on Him to roll:

He's the "Lily of the Valley," the "Bright and Morning Star;"

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

2 He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;

In temptation He's my strong and mighty tower;

I've all for Him forsaken, I've all my idols torn

From my heart ‒ and now He keeps me by His power.

Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,

Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal.

He's the "Lily of the Valley," the "Bright and Morning Star;"

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

3 He'll never, never leave me nor yet forsake me here,

While I live by faith, and do His blessed will;

A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear:

With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.

When crowned at last in glory, I'll see His blessed face,

Where rivers of delight shall ever roll.

He's the "Lily of the Valley," the "Bright and Morning Star;"

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

A young Jewish woman had been converted in London through her German governess. She had been forbidden to read the New Testament by her parents, who were ardent Jews; but while reading Isaiah 53 she found the Messiah, and was soon expelled from her home. She then went to Germany, and herself acted as governess for several years.

When she heard of Mr. Moody's work at Northfield, she decided to go there. Having been entertained in London for a few weeks by Mr. Denny, a prominent layman, this gentleman asked me one day in London, as I was about to sail for America, if I would see her safely across the ocean, which I promised to do.

In Louisville she first saw Mr. Moody. On leaving Louisville she went to New York and applied to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions for appointment as a foreign missionary. There being some delay in accepting her application, she decided to go with the Rev. Hudson Taylor, whom she had met at Northfield. On arriving in China she adopted the garb of the Chinese women, and became a faithful and useful worker. After two years she was married to a missionary from Scotland. They are still engaged in missionary work in Northern China.

Mr. Fry is one of the leaders of the Salvation Army in London. In addition to writing the words, he also set the hymn to music, and later arranged it to slower time and published it in Gospel Hymns.

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The Ninety and Nine

Words by E. C. Clephane

Music by Ira D. Sankey

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1077

(Not in SS&S)

There were ninety and nine that safely lay

In the shelter of the flock;

But one was out on the hills away,

Far off in the cold and dark;

Away on the mountains wild and bare;

Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

2 "Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;

Are they not enough for Thee?"

But the Shepherd made answer: "This of Mine

Has wandered away from Me.

And although the road be rough and steep,

I go to the desert to find My sheep."

3 But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through

Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

Out in the desert He heard its cry;

'Twas sick and helpless and ready to die.

4 "Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way,

That mark out the mountain's track?"

"They were shed for one who had gone astray

Ere the Shepherd could bring him back."

"Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?"

"They're pierced tonight by many a thorn."

5 And all through the mountains, thunder-riven,

And up from the rocky steep,

There arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven,

"Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"

And the angels echoed around the throne,

"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"

It was in the year 1874 that the poem, "The Ninety and Nine," was discovered, set to music, and sent out upon its world-wide mission. Its discovery seemed as if by chance, but I cannot regard it otherwise than providential. Mr. Moody had just been conducting a series of meetings in Glasgow, and I had been assisting him in his work as director of the singing.

We were at the railway station at Glasgow and about to take the train for Edinburgh, whither we were going upon an urgent invitation of ministers to hold three days of meetings there before going into the Highlands. We had held a three months' series in Edinburgh just previous to our four months' campaign in Glasgow. As we were about to board the train I bought a weekly newspaper, for a penny. Being much fatigued by our incessant labors at Glasgow, and intending to begin work immediately upon our arrival at Edinburgh, we did not travel second- or third-class, as was our custom, but sought the seclusion and rest which a first-class railway carriage in Great Britain affords.

In the hope of finding news from America I began perusing my lately purchased newspaper. This hope, however, was doomed to disappointment, as the only thing in its columns to remind an American of home and native land was a sermon by Henry Ward Beecher.

I threw the paper down, but shortly before arriving in Edinburgh I picked it up again with a view to reading the advertisements. While thus engaged my eyes fell upon a little piece of poetry in a corner of the paper. I carefully read it over, and at once made up my mind that this would make a great hymn for evangelistic work ‒ if it had a tune. So impressed was I that I called Mr. Moody's attention to it, and he asked me to read it to him. This I proceeded to do with all the vim and energy at my command.

After I had finished I looked at my friend Moody to see what the effect had been, only to discover that he had not heard a word, so absorbed was he in a letter which he had received from Chicago. My chagrin can be better imagined than described. Notwithstanding this experience, I cut out the poem and placed it in my musical scrapbook ‒ which, by the way, has been the seed plot from which sprang many of the Gospel songs that are now known throughout the world.

At the noon meeting on the second day, held at the Free Assembly Hall, the subject presented by Mr. Moody and other speakers was "The Good Shepherd" When Mr. Moody had finished speaking he called upon Dr. Bonar to say a few words. He spoke only a few minutes, but with great power, thrilling the immense audience by his fervid eloquence. At the conclusion of Dr. Bonar's words Mr. Moody turned to me with the question, "Have you a solo appropriate for this subject, with which to close the service?"

I had nothing suitable in mind, and was greatly troubled to know what to do. The Twenty-third Psalm occurred to me, but this had been sung several times in the meeting. I knew that every Scotsman in the audience would join me if I sang that, so I could not possibly render this favorite psalm as a solo. At this moment I seemed to hear a voice saying, "Sing the hymn you found on the train!" But I thought this impossible, as no music had ever been written for that hymn. Again the impression came strongly upon me that I must sing the beautiful and appropriate words I had found the day before, and placing- the little newspaper slip on the organ in front of me, I lifted my heart in prayer, asking God to help me so to sing that the people might hear and understand.

Laying my hands upon the organ I struck the key of A flat, and began to sing. Note by note the tune was given, which has not been changed from that day to this. As the singing ceased a great sigh seemed to go up from the meeting, and I knew that the song had reached the hearts of my Scottish audience. Mr. Moody was greatly moved. Leaving the pulpit, he came down to where I was seated. Leaning over the organ, he looked at the little newspaper slip from which the song had been sung, and with tears in his eyes said, "Sankey, where did you get that hymn? I never heard the like of it in my life."

I was also moved to tears and arose and replied, "Mr. Moody, that's the hymn I read to you yesterday on the train, which you did not hear." Then Mr. Moody raised his hand and pronounced the benediction, and the meeting closed. Thus "The Ninety and Nine" was born.

A short time afterward I received, at Dundee, a letter from a lady who had been present at the meeting, thanking me for having sung her deceased sister's words. From correspondence that followed I learned that the author of the poem was Elizabeth C. Clephane, a resident of Melrose, Scotland, one of three sisters, all members of a refined Christian family. She was born in Edinburgh in 1830.

Her sister, in describing Elizabeth, says, "She was a very quiet little child, shrinking from notice and always absorbed in books. The loss of both parents, at an early age, taught her sorrow. As she grew up she was recognized as the cleverest of the family. She was first in her class and a favorite with the teacher. Her love for poetry was a passion. Among the sick and suffering she won the name of 'My Sunbeam.' She wrote 'The Ninety and Nine' for a friend, who had it published in The Children's Hour. It was copied from thence into various publications, but was comparatively little noticed. She died in 1869."

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The Solid Rock

Words by the Rev. Edward Mote

Music by William B. Bradbury

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/298

902

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

2 When darkness hides His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

3 His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the 'whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

4 When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found,

Clothed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

"I went astray from my youth," said the author of this hymn. "My Sundays were spent on the street in play. So ignorant was I that I did not know there was a God." He was a cabinet-maker, and was converted under the preaching of the Rev. John Hyatt. The refrain came into the author's mind one morning in 1834, as he was walking up Holborn Hill, London, on his way to work.

Four stanzas were completed that day and two more on the following Sunday. In 1852 Mr. Mote became the pastor of a Baptist church in Horsham, Sussex, where he continued to minister for more than twenty years. In his eighty-first year his health declined. "I think I am going to heaven," he said. "Yes, I am nearing port. The truths I have preached I am now living upon, and they will do to die upon. Ah! the precious blood! The precious blood which takes away all our sins; it is this which makes peace with God." And so he passed peacefully away, his hope "built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

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There is a Fountain

Words by the Rev. William Cowper

Music by Dr. Lowell Mason

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1006

Music: early American melody

129

There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

2 The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day;

And there may I, though vile as he,

Wash all my sins away.

3 E'er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die.

4 Then in a nobler, sweeter song

I'll sing Thy power to save,

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave.

Born of a personal experience when the author was forty years old, this hymn of faith for more than a century has been eminently useful in the practical work of evangelizing the world.

Along the streets of Glasgow, shortly after our first visit to Scotland, a little boy passed one evening, singing "There is a fountain filled with blood." A Christian policeman joined in the song, and when he had finished his beat he asked the boy if he understood what he was singing. "Oh, yes," said the little fellow, "I know it in my heart, and it is very precious."

A few evenings afterward, someone asked the policeman, "Do you know that a woman standing where we are, was awakened and saved the other night by hearing, 'There is a fountain,' sung by a policeman and a boy?"

A lieutenant in the Union army, having received his death wound in a gallant charge at the head of his regiment, was visited in the hospital by the chaplain, who inquired how he felt. He said he had always been cheerful, and was now ready to meet God in peace. "Chaplain," he added, "I was passing through the streets of New York once on a Sunday night, and I heard singing. I went in and saw a company of poor people. They were singing 'There is a fountain filled with blood.' I was overpowered with the impression the hymn made upon me, and I gave my heart to God. Since then I have loved Jesus, and I love Him now." That was his last speech.

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There is a Green Hill far away

Words by Cecil F. Alexander

Music by George C. Stebbins

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/995

1134

There is a green hill far away,

Without a city wall,

Where the dear Lord was crucified,

Who died to save us all.

2 We may not know, we cannot tell,

What pains He had to bear;

But we believe it was for us

He hung and suffered there.

3 He died that we might be forgiven,

He died to make us good,

That we might go at last to heaven,

Saved by His precious blood.

4 There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin;

He only could unlock the gate

Of heaven, and let us in.

5 Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved!

And we must love Him too;

And trust in His redeeming blood,

And try His works to do.

While holding meetings with Mr. Moody, at Cardiff, Wales, in 1883, I visited the ruins of Tintern Abbey with Professor Drummond. While there I sang this song, which the professor said to me was one of the finest hymns in the English language. A number of years later I sang it on the green hill believed to be Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Mrs. Alexander was the wife of the Most Reverend W. Alexander, D. D., Archbishop of Armagh. She first published "There is a green hill far away" in her Hymns for Little Children in 1848. It is a popular children's hymn in England. Mr. Stebbins set it to a new tune in 1884. Mrs. Alexander wrote about four hundred hymns and poems for children.

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Trust and Obey

Words by the Rev. J. H. Sammis

Music by D. D. Towner

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/582

642

When we walk with the Lord

In the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will.

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey,

For there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey.

2 Not a shadow can rise

Not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt nor a fear,

Not a sigh nor a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

3 Not a burden we bear,

Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief nor a loss,

Not a frown nor a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

4 But we never can prove

The delights of His love,

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favour He shows,

And the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

5 Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet,

Or we'll walk by His side in the way;

What He says we will do,

Where He sends we will go,

Never fear, only trust and obey.

"Some years ago," says Professor Towner, musical director of the Moody Bible Institute, "Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting, and said, "I am not quite sure ‒ but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.' I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with the little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born. The chorus, 'Trust and obey,' was written before the hymn was."

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What a Friend we have in Jesus

Words by Joseph Scriven

Music by Charles C. Converse

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/789

319

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear:

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

2 Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a Friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness:

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

3 Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Saviour, still our refuge

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer;

In His arms He'll take and shield

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Thousands have been cheered in time of trouble, and so led nearer to Christ, by this sweet and simple hymn; for very few hymns have been more widely published or more frequently sung. The author was born in Dublin in 1820, and came to Canada when he was twenty-five. There he lived a useful life until his death in 1886. The young lady to whom he was to be married was accidentally drowned on the eve of their wedding day. This led him to consecrate his life and fortune to the service of Christ.

Though a graduate of Trinity College and a man of refinement, he chose humble duties. One afternoon he was seen walking down the streets of Port Hope, where he lived, dressed as a plain workingman and carrying a saw-horse and a saw on his mission of help.

A citizen, noticing that a friend recognized him, said, "Do you know that man? What is his name and where does he live? I want someone to cut wood, and I find it difficult to get a sober man to do the work faithfully."

"But you can't get that man," was the reply. "That is Mr. Scriven. He won't cut wood for you."

"Why not?" queried the gentleman.

"Because you are able to pay for it. He only saws wood for poor widows and sick people."

Until a short time before his death it was not known that he had a poetic gift. A neighbor, sitting up with him in his illness, happened upon a manuscript copy of "What a friend we have in Jesus." Reading it with great delight and questioning Mr. Scriven about it, he said that he had composed it for his mother, to comfort her in a time of special sorrow, not intending that anyone else should see it.

Some time later, when another Port Hope neighbor asked him if it was true that he composed the hymn, his reply was, "The Lord and I did it between us."

As published in the small Richmond hymnal, the authorship of the words was erroneously attributed to the great Scotch preacher and hymn writer, Dr. Horatius Bonar. It was not until six or eight years after the hymn first appeared in our collection that we learned who the author really was.

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When I survey the Wondrous Cross

Words by Isaac Watts, Arr.

Music by Ira D. Sankey

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/101

Words changed to "When we survey..." etc.

Traditional tune by Edward Miller

Traditional words:

https://hymnary.org/text/when_i_survey_the_wondrous_cross_watts

Tune by Lowell Mason

115

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God:

All the vain things that charm me

I sacrifice them to His blood, most,

3 See! from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small:

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

This beautiful hymn was founded on Paul's word in Galatians 6:14, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The author occupies one of the highest positions among all the hymn writers who ever lived. Wesley and Watts stand on the highest pedestal of fame together. Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born at Southampton, 1674. He belonged to a family of nonconformists, who were very pious and godly people. He was educated by a clergyman in his home city, and later by an Independent minister in London. He became minister to an Independent congregation in London, where he continued to preach for fourteen years.

In the year 1712 he paid a visit to some friends in Hertfordshire, for the purpose of regaining his health, which, on account of excessive study, had suffered. While here Sir Thomas and Lady Abney became so interested in him and took such a liking to him that they insisted upon his staying with them in their beautiful home. He accepted their kind offer, and for thirty-six years he lived in their house, being a constant source of joy and blessing to his benefactors. It was here he wrote many of the most useful and popular hymns now used by the Christian churches throughout the world.

He died 1748. Just before passing away he said, "If God has no more service for me to do through grace, I am ready; it is a great mercy to me that I have no manner of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please, lay my head back and die without alarm this afternoon or night. My chief supports are from my view of eternal things, and my sins are pardoned through the blood of Jesus Christ." In this happy frame of mind the great hymnist entered into his last rest.

At least a score of different melodies have been written to the words, but Lowell Mason's "Hamburg" is no doubt the most popular.

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When the Roll is Called up Yonder

Words by J. M. Black

Music by J. M. Black

Not in Hymnal.net

Try  https://hymnary.org/text/when_the_trumpet_of_the_lord_shall_black

983

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound,

And time shall be no more,

And the morning breaks, eternal, bright, and fair;

When the saved of earth shall gather

Over on the other shore,

And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the roil is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder,

When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

2 On that bright and cloudless morning,

When the dead in Christ shall rise,

And the glory of His resurrection share;

When His chosen ones shall gather

To their home beyond the skies,

And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

3 Let me labour for the Master from

The dawn till setting sun,

Let me talk of all His wondrous love and care;

Then, when all of life is over,

And my work on earth is done,

And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

"While a teacher in a Sunday school and president of a young people's society," says the author of this hymn, "I one day met a girl, fourteen years old, poorly clad and the child of a drunkard. She accepted my invitation to attend the Sunday school, and joined the young people's society. One evening at a consecration meeting, when members answered the roll call by repeating Scripture texts, she failed to respond. I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lamb's Book of Life, if one of us should be absent; and I said, 'O God, when my own name is called up yonder, may I be there to respond!'

"I longed for something suitable to sing just then, but I could find nothing in the books. We closed the meeting, and on my way home I was still wishing that there might be a song that could be sung on such occasions. The thought came to me, 'Why don't you make it?'

I dismissed the idea, thinking that I could never write such a hymn. When I reached my house my wife saw that I was deeply troubled, and questioned me, but I made no reply. Then the words of the first stanza came to me in full. In fifteen minutes more I had composed the other two verses. Going to the piano, I played the music just as it is found today in the hymnbooks, note for note, and I have never dared to change a single word or a note of the piece since."

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Whosoever Will

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1034

389

"Whosoever heareth!" shout, shout the sound!

Send the blessed tidings all the world around;

Spread the joyful news wherever man is found,

"Whosoever will may come."

"Whosoever will!"

"whosoever will!"

Send the proclamation over vale and hill;

'tis a loving Father calls the wanderer home:

"Whosoever will may come."

2 Whosoever cometh need not delay;

Now the door is open, enter while you may;

Jesus is the True, the only Living Way:

"Whosoever will may come."

3 "Whosoever will," the promise is secure;

"Whosoever will," for ever shall endure;

"Whosoever will," 'tis life for evermore:

"Whosoever will may come."

Henry Moorehouse, the English evangelist, preached seven sermons on John 3:16 in Chicago during the winter of 1869-70. Those sermons made a very deep impression on Mr. Bliss, Mr. Moody and others, and from that time a new and clearer view of the love of God was experienced by many who went forth to preach ‒ perhaps not less about the law, but surely more about the boundless love of God in Jesus Christ. As an outcome of this experience the hymn was written at that time.

In singing it, Bliss put special emphasis on the word "whosoever!" So he helped many to believe in the magnificent offer of salvation, and ‒ like Richard Baxter, the famous London preacher ‒ to praise the Lord. "I thank God," he said, "for the word 'whosoever.' If God had said that there was mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so vile a sinner that I would have thought He meant some other Richard Baxter; but when He says 'whosoever,' I know that it includes me, the worst of all Richard Baxters."

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Wonderful Words of Life

Words by Philip P. Bliss

Music by Philip P. Bliss

Not in Hymnal.net

Try https://hymnary.org/text/sing_them_over_again_to_me_wonderful

272

Sing them over again to me,

Wonderful words of Life!

Let me more of their beauty see,

Wonderful words of Life!

Words of life and beauty,

Teach me faith and duty!

Beautiful words! Wonderful words!

Wonderful words of Life!

Beautiful words! Wonderful words!

Wonderful words of Life!

2 Christ, the blessed One, gives to all

Wonderful words of Life!

Sinner, list to the loving call,

Wonderful words of Life!

All so freely given,

Wooing us to heaven!

3 Sweetly echo the gospel call!

Wonderful words of Life!

Offer pardon and peace to all!

Wonderful words of Life!

Jesus, only Saviour,

Sanctify for ever!

"While visiting an old man, who suffered much from rheumatic gout," narrates a Methodist minister of Birmingham, England, "I was led to start up, 'Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of Life.' When I had finished and while the tears were coursing down his cheeks, he exclaimed, 'Oh, sing them over again to me, those wonderful words of life! for they take my pain away.' And so I repeated that God-sent message to the poor old sufferer, who soon afterward passed away to the land where there is no more pain.

"On another occasion this hymn became very useful to me. I was preaching to a crowded audience at Dartmouth on a Sunday evening, when a young man fell from his seat near the pulpit, and the service was in danger because of the confusion. I started singing, 'Wonderful Words of Life' in which the whole congregation joined heartily. By the time we had sung the hymn through the young man had recovered consciousness and found his seat again, listening earnestly to my sermon on the theme, 'In God's Word there are spirit and life.' Those present thought his case a living illustration of the song and sermon."

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Work, for the Night is Coming

Words by A. L. Walker Coghill

Music by Dr. Lowell Mason

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/8661

778

Work, for the night is coming,

Work through the morning hours;

Work while the dew is sparkling,

Work 'mid springing flowers;

Work when the day grows brighter,

Work in the glowing sun;

Work, for the night is coming,

When man's work is done.

2 Work, for the night is coming,

Work through the sunny noon;

Fill brightest hours with labour,

Rest comes sure and soon;

Give very flying minute

Something to keep in store;

Work, for the night is coming,

When man works no more.

3 Work, for the night is coming,

Under the sunset skies;

While their bright tints are glowing,

Work, for daylight flies;

Work till the last beam fadeth,

Fadeth to shine no more;

Work while the night is darkening,

When man's work is o'er.

This splendid work-hymn was written by Anna L. Walker, a resident of Canada, and first published in her Poems, in 1868. It was suggested to her by the words of Jesus, "The night cometh, when no man can work." The music was written by Dr. Lowell Mason. It was often used in our meetings both in Great Britain and America.

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Yield Not to Temptation

Words by H. R. Palmer

Music by H. R. Palmer

Not in Hymnal.net

Try https://hymnary.org/text/yield_not_to_temptation

698

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin,

Each victory will help you some other to win;

Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue,

Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.

Ask the Saviour to help you,

Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;

He is willing to aid you,

He will carry you through.

2 Shun evil companions, bad language disdain,

God's name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain:

Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true;

Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.

3 To him that o'ercometh God giveth a crown;

Through faith we shall conquer, though often cast down;

He who is our Saviour our strength will renew;

Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.

Mr. Palmer says, "This song was an inspiration. I was at work on the dry subject of 'Theory' when the complete idea flashed upon me, and I laid aside the theoretical work and hurriedly penned both words and music as fast as I could write them. I submitted them to the criticism of a friend afterward, and some changes were made in the third stanza, but the first two are exactly as they came to me.

The music was first written in A flat; but I soon saw that B flat was better, and for many years it has appeared in that key. I am reverently thankful it has been a power for good."

A friend contributes this incident: "Twenty years ago, when the State prison at Sing Sing, New York, had women as well as men within its walls, a lady used to visit the women's department. Every Sunday afternoon the inmates were permitted to come out and sit in the corridor to hear her talk, and to sing hymns with her. One day some of the women rebelled against an order of the matron, and a terrible scene followed.

Screams, threats, ribaldry and profanity filled the air. It was said, by those who knew, that an uprising among the women prisoners was worse and more difficult to quell than one among the men. The matron hastily sent to the men's department for help. Suddenly a voice rose clear and strong above the tumult, singing a favorite song of the prisoners,

'Yield not to temptation,

For yielding is sin;

Each victory will help you

Some other to win.

Fight manfully onward,

Dark passions subdue;

Look ever to Jesus,

He'll carry you through.'

There was a lull; then one after another joined in the sacred song; and presently, with one accord, all formed into line and marched quietly to their cells."

"Some twenty-four years ago," writes James A. Watson, of Blackburn, England, "the Presbyterian church of England was preparing to issue a new book of praise, The Church Praise now in use. I was asked to send in a suitable list of hymns for the young. Among the number I sent 'Yield not to temptation' but to my regret, when I got a draft copy of the proposed hymnbook, that hymn was not in it.

"Three or four Sundays afterward I was requested by the teacher of the infant class in the St. George's School, where I have been superintendent for over forty years, to visit a dying boy. I found him unconscious. All that his widowed mother could tell me about him was that he had kept saying, 'He'll carry me through.' When I asked her if she knew what he meant, she told me that she did not. She did not attend church or school.

"I told her that it was the chorus of a hymn, and pointed out how the good Shepherd was carrying her little boy through the valley; how He was gathering her lamb in His loving arms. I also told her that the Saviour would carry her through her trouble, would comfort, strengthen and keep her, and at last bring her to the happy land where death-divided ones will meet to part no more.

"I was so much impressed by the incident that I wrote to the convener of the hymnbook committee, and pleaded for the insertion of the hymn in the new book. The committee put it in, and for twenty-three years the young people of our Presbyterian church have been able to sing it when wanted, all through the comfort it had been to a little dying boy, the only son of a widow, on a back street of Blackburn."

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THE END

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White Tree Publishing publishes mainstream evangelical Christian literature for people of all ages. We aim to make our eBooks available free for all eBook devices, but some distributors will only list our books free at their discretion, and may make a small charge for some titles ― but they are still great value! All our books are fully typeset. No "photocopies" or bad OCR. So check for our name, White Tree Publishing, before downloading! Long sentences and paragraphs are broken into shorter lengths, and modern punctuation is used for easier reading. Many books are sensitively abridged, but in our non-fiction books no doctrine or teaching is changed.

More than 100 Christian books from White Tree Publishing (Non-fiction, Fiction and Younger Readers) are on our website www.whitetreepublishing.com. Please visit there regularly for updates.

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Christian non-fiction

Christian Fiction

Younger Readers

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Christian Non-Fiction

All our books are in eBook format only, unless otherwise stated

Rifted Clouds

Bella Cooke

All Three Parts

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-08-7

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-09-4

Deeper Experiences

of Famous Christians

James Gilchrist Lawson

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-15-5

Secrets of Happy Home Life

JR Miller

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-16-2

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-25-4

Help for the Day

JR Miller

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-29-2

Coming in 2020

A Gentle Heart

JR Miller

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-46-9

Be Still

Bible Words of Peace and Comfort

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-4-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9932760-7-1

Four short books of help in the Christian life:

Chris Wright

So, What Is a Christian?

Chris Wright

An introduction to a personal faith.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-2-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9927642-2-7

Starting Out

Chris Wright

Help for new Christians of all ages.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-0-2

Paperback ISBN 978-1-4839-622-0-7

Help!

Chris Wright

Explores some problems we can encounter with our faith.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-1-9

Paperback ISBN 978-0-9927642-2-7

Running Through the Bible

Chris Wright

A simple understanding of what's in the Bible.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-3-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9927642-6-5

The Gospels and Acts

In Simple Paraphrase

with Helpful Explanations

together with

Running Through the Bible

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-9-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-0995454958

English Hexapla

The Gospel of John

(Paperback only)

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-1-8

Leaves from

My Notebook

William Haslam

White Tree Publishing Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-2-7

Haslam's Journey

Chris Wright

White Tree Publishing Edition

Previously published 2005 by Highland Books

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-8-5

Building From the Top

William Haslam

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-12-4

A Previously Unpublished Book

The Simplicity of the Incarnation

J Stafford Wright

Foreword by J I Packer

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9932760-5-7

Paperback ISBN: 9-780-9525-9563-2

Bible People Real People

An Unforgettable A-Z of Who is Who in the Bible

J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-7-1

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-5-6

Christians and the Supernatural

J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9932760-4-0

Paperback ISBN 13: 9-780-9525-9564-9

The Authority and

Interpretation

of the Bible

J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-9-6

Psalms,

A Guide Psalm By Psalm

J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN 978-0-9957594-2-8

Howell Harris

His Own Story

Foreword by J. Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-9-5

Roddy Goes to Church

Church Life and Church People

Derek Osborne

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-0-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-09927642-0-3

Heaven Our Home

William Branks

White Tree Publishing Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-8-8

I Can't Help Praising the Lord

The Life of Billy Bray

Chris Wright

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-01-8

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-00-1

Blunt's Scriptural Coincidences

Gospels and Acts

J. J. Blunt

White Tree Publishing New Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-5-8

From the Streets of London

to the Streets of Gold

The Life Story of

Brother Clifford Edwards

A True Story of Love

by Brother Clifford Edwards

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9933941-8-8

Seven Steps to

Walking in Victory

Lin Wills

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-3-5

Also available from the author as a printed booklet

Seven Keys to

Unlock Your Calling

Lin Wills

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-2-3

Also available from the author as a printed booklet

Seven Ways to

Prepare for Revival

Lin Wills

e-Book ISBN: 978-1-912529-21-6

Also available from the author as a printed booklet

I See Men as Trees, Walking

Roger and Janet Niblett

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-1-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1508674979

Fullness of Power

in Christian Life and Service

Home and Group Questions for Today Edition

R. A. Torrey

Questions by Chuck Antone, Jr.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-8-9

Faith that Prevails

The Early Pentecostal Movement

Home and Group Questions for Today Edition

Smith Wigglesworth

Study Questions by Chuck Antone, Jr.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-4-1

Ebenezer and Ninety-Eight Friends

Musings on Life, Scripture

and the Hymns

Marty Magee

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-1-1

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9954549-1-0

Twenty-five Days Around the Manger

A Light Family Advent Devotional

Marty Magee

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-1-0

Also in full colour paperback

ISBN: 978-1-4923248-0-5

The Christian's Secret

of a Happy Life

Hannah Whitall Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-6-6

Every-Day Religion

Hannah Whitall Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-0-9

Living in the Sunshine:

The God of All Comfort

Hannah Whitall Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-3-0

Evangelistic Talks

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-7-8

My Life and Work

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-4-7

Real Religion

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-10-0

As Jesus Passed By

Gipsy Smith

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-05-6

The Lost Christ

Gipsy Smith

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-20-9

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Christian Fiction

The majority of these books are Victorian classic romances that have been sensitively edited and abridged for today's readers.

The Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romances are brand new!

A Gamble with Life

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-42-1

The Lost Lode

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-45-2

The Scarlet Clue

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-53-7

Rex Raynor, Artist

Silas K. Hocking

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-60-5

Keena Karmody

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-5-4

Hazel Haldene

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-8-5

Rollica Reed

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-6-1

The Secret of Ashton Manor House

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-11-7

The Mystery of

Grange Drayton

Eliza Kerr

White Tree Publishing Edition

e-Book ISBN: 978-1-912529-22-3

Gildas Haven

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-7-2

Amaranth's Garden

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-6-5

Rose Capel's Sacrifice

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-3-4

Una's Marriage

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-5-9

Miss Elizabeth's Niece

Margaret Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-7-3

Silverbeach Manor

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9935005-4-1

The Clever Miss Jancy

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-9-7

Freda's Folly

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-02-5

Sybil's Repentance

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-04-9

Sister Royal

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-03-2

Iona

Margaret S. Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-14-8

The Lady of the Chine

Margaret S Haycraft

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-912529-19-3

A Previously Unpublished Book

Locked Door Shuttered Windows

A Novel by J Stafford Wright

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9932760-3-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9927642-4-1

When it Was Dark

Guy Thorne

Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-0-3

The Lost Clue

Mrs. O. F. Walton

White Tree Publishing Edition

A Romantic Mystery

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-2-6

Doctor Forester

Mrs. O. F. Walton

White Tree Publishing Edition

A Romantic Mystery

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-0-2

Was I Right?

Mrs. O. F. Walton

Abridged Edition

A Victorian Romance

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-1-9

In His Steps

Charles M. Sheldon

Abridged Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9927642-9-6

Paperback ISBN 13: 978-19350791-8-7

A Daughter of the King

Mrs Philip Barnes

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-8-0

Stepping Heavenward

Elizabeth Prentiss

White Tree Publishing Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-23-0

Tall Men and Strangers

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #1

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-48-3

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-54-4

Poetry and Mayhem

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #2

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-49-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-55-1

Cake and Calamity

Lizzie Lewis

An Abi Button Cozy Mystery Romance #3

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-50-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-56-8

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Books for Younger Readers

(and older readers too!)

The Merlin Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-2-7

Paperback ISBN: 9785-203447-7-5

The Hijack Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-6-5

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-0-5

The Seventeen Steps Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-7-2

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-6-7

The Two Jays Adventure

The First Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9954549-8-9

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5203448-8-1

The Dark Tunnel Adventure

The Second Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-0-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5206386-3-8

The Cliff Edge Adventure

The Third Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9957594-4-2

Paperback ISBN: 9781-5-211370-3-1

The Midnight Farm Adventure

The Fourth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9997899-1-6

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5497148-3-2

The Old House Adventure

The Fifth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-07-0

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-06-3

The Lost Island Adventure

The Sixth Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-17-9

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-18-6

The Black Lake Adventure

The Seventh Two Jays Story

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-28-5

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912529-27-8

The Hidden Room Adventure

The Eighth Two Jays Adventure

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-39-1

Also available in paperback

ISBN: 978-1-912529-40-7

The Holy Land Adventure

An Adventure Book

with optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

Gold Medal Winning Book!

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-1-912529-36-0

Also available as a paperback

ISBN: 978-1-912529-34-6

Mary Jones and Her Bible

An Adventure Puzzle Book

Chris Wright

The true story of Mary Jones's and her Bible

with a clear Christian message and optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

eBook ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-9933941-5-7

Paperback ISBN 978-0-9525956-2-5

Pilgrim's Progress

An Adventure Puzzle Book

Chris Wright

A similar format to Mary Jones

with optional puzzles

(Some are easy, some tricky, and some amusing)

eBook ISBN 13: 978-0-9933941-6-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-6-3

Pilgrim's Progress

Special Edition

The original story retold

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-8-8

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-7-0

Zephan and the Vision

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9932760-6-4

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-9-4

Agathos, The Rocky Island,

And Other Stories

Chris Wright

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9927642-7-2

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9525956-8-7

Please visit our website www.whitetreepublishing.com for full details on all these books, and their availability.

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