HymnPod

This hymn reminds us of the Sovereignty of God. God is still on the throne no matter what happens in this world.

Lyrics and Music: Kittie L. Suffield

Have you started for glory and Heaven?
Have you left this old world far behind?
In your heart is the Comforter dwelling?
Can you say, “Praise the Lord, He is mine”?
Have the ones that once walked on the highway
Gone back, and you seem all alone?
Keep your eyes on the prize, for the home in the skies;
God is still on the throne.

Refrain:
God is still on the throne,
And He will remember His own;
Tho’ trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He never will leave us alone;
God is still on the throne,
He never forsaketh His own;
His promise is true, He will not forget you,
God is still on the throne.

Burdened soul, is your heart growing weary
With the toil and the heat of the day?
Does it seem that your path is more thorny
As you journey along on life’s way?
Go away and in secret before Him
Tell your grief to the Savior alone;
He will lighten your care, for He still answers prayer;
God is still on the throne.

You may live in a tent or a cottage,
Unnoticed by those who pass by;
But a mansion for you He is building
In that beautiful city on high;
It will outshine the wealth and the splendor
Of the richest on earth we have known;
He’s the Architect true, and He’s building for you;
God is still on the throne.

He is coming again, is the promise
To disciples when He went away;
In like manner as He has gone from you,
You will see Him returning some day;
Does His tarrying cause you to wonder,
Does it seem He’s forgotten His own?
His promise is true, He is coming for you;
God is still on the throne.

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This hymn was written by an anonymous person with the initials J. H. This version goes out specially to Sam from South Africa.

Lyrics: J. H.
Music: Asa Hull

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Oh, what words I hear Him say!
Happy place! so near, so precious!
May it find me there each day;
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
I would look upon the past;
For His love has been so gracious,
It has won my heart at last.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
Where can mortal be more blest?
There I lay my sins and sorrows,
And, when weary, find sweet rest;
Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
There I love to weep and pray;
While I from His fullness gather
Grace and comfort every day.

Bless me, O my Savior, bless me,
As I sit low at Thy feet;
Oh, look down in love upon me,
Let me see Thy face so sweet;
Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus,
Keep me holy as He is;
May I prove I’ve been with Jesus,
Who is all my righteousness.

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Suffield was a talented musician and singer. After marrying Fred Suffield, she and her husband were traveling evangelists, and some times worked with George Beverly Shea.

This hymn goes out specially to Neal from North Mississippi.

Lyrics and Music: Kittie L. Suffield

In the harvest field now ripened
There’s a work for all to do;
Hark! the voice of God is calling
To the harvest calling you.

Refrain:
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown—and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ Name.

In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus’ love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.

Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.

Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.

When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
“Welcome home, My child—well done!”

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Here’s another bright and cheerful hymn by Eliza that is guaranteed to cheer you up.

Lyrics: Eliza E. Hewitt
Music: William J. Kirkpatrick

The trusting heart to Jesus clings,
Nor any ill forebodes,
But at the cross of Calv’ry, sings,
Praise God for lifted loads!

Refrain:
Singing I go along life’s road,
Praising the Lord, praising the Lord,
Singing I go along life’s road,
For Jesus has lifted my load.

The passing days bring many cares,
“Fear not,” I hear Him say,
And when my fears are turned to prayers,
The burdens slip away.

He tells me of my Father’s love,
And never slumb’ring eye,
My everlasting King above
Will all my needs supply.

When to the throne of grace I flee,
I find the promise true,
The mighty arms upholding me
Will bear my burdens too.

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This hymn was written by Eliza following a study on Jn 14: 1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Lyrics: Eliza E. Hewitt
Music: Emily D. Wilson

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place.

Refrain:
When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when traveling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.

Let us remember that heaven is our final home and that we are but pilgrims on earth. Amen.

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This is one of the happiest sounding hymns in the whole hymnal.

Eliza Hewitt was a school teacher who taught at the Northern Home for Friendless Children. At age 35, she was struck by an unruly student with a slate, severely injuring her back. The doctors put her in a heavy cast for six months. When the cast was removed, she was told to take a short walk in the nearby Fairmont Park. She was overcome with joy that she could walk and wrote this hymn.

Lyrics: Eliza E. Hewitt
Music: John R. Sweney

There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my Light.

Refrain:
O there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine,
When the peaceful, happy moments roll;
When Jesus shows His smiling face,
There is sunshine in the soul.

There is music in my soul today,
A carol to my King,
And Jesus, listening, can hear
The songs I cannot sing.

There is springtime in my soul today,
For, when the Lord is near,
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear.

There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope and praise and love,
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys laid up above.

This hymn marks the completion of a Masters Degree in Music Technology with the University of Newcastle. The hymn accompaniments that you are listening to are part of the final project. Special thanks to Trevor.

Although the final project has ended, the hymn accompaniments podcast will still continue for the benefit of God’s people.

Soli Deo Gloria.

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Enjoy this piano and flute version.

Piano only version:

http://www.hymnpod.com/2009/01/03/i-am-thine-o-lord/

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This hymn was inspired by a story told by Daniel Whittle from the American Civil War:

Just before [Will­iam Te­cum­seh] Sher­man be­gan his fa­mous march to the sea in 1864, and while his ar­my lay camped in the neigh­bor­hood of Atlanta [Georgia] on the 5th of Oc­to­ber, the ar­my of Hood, in a care­ful­ly pre­pared move­ment, passed the right flank of Sher­man’s ar­my, gained his rear, and com­menced the de­struction of the rail­road lead­ing north, burn­ing block­houses and cap­tur­ing the small gar­ri­sons along the line. Sher­man’s ar­my was put in ra­pid mo­tion pur­su­ing Hood, to save the sup­plies and larg­er posts, the prin­ci­pal one of which was lo­cat­ed at Al­too­na Pass. Gen­er­al Corse, of Il­li­nois, was sta­tioned there with about fif­teen hun­dred men, Col­o­nel Tour­te­lotte be­ing se­cond in com­mand. A mil­lion and a half ra­tions were stored here and it was high­ly im­port­ant that the earth­works com­mand­ing the pass and pro­tect­ing the sup­plies be held. Six thou­sand men un­der com­mand of Gen­e­ral French were de­tailed by Hood to take the po­si­tion. The works were com­plete­ly sur­round­ed and sum­moned to sur­rend­er. Corse re­fused and a sharp fight com­menced. The de­fend­ers were slow­ly driv­en in­to a small fort on the crest of the hill. Ma­ny had fall­en, and the re­sult seemed to ren­der a pro­long­a­tion of the fight hop­eless. At this mo­ment an of­fi­cer caught sight of a white sig­nal flag far away across the val­ley, twen­ty miles dis­tant, up­on the top of Ken­e­saw Mount­ain. The sig­nal was an­swered, and soon the mes­sage was waved across from moun­tain to moun­tain:

“Hold the fort; I am coming. W. T. Sher­man.”

Cheers went up; every man was nerved to a full ap­pre­ci­a­tion of the po­si­tion; and un­der a mur­der­ous fire, which killed or wound­ed more than half the men in the fort-Corse him­self bei­ng shot three times through the head, and Tour­te­lotte tak­ing com­mand, though himself bad­ly wound­ed-they held the fort for three hours un­til the ad­vance guard of Sherman’s ar­my came up. French was obliged to re­treat.

Lyrics and Music: Philip P. Bliss

Ho, my comrades! see the signal
waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing,
victory is nigh.

Refrain:
Hold the fort, for I am coming,
Jesus signals still;
Wave the answer back to Heaven,
By Thy grace we will.

See the mighty host advancing,
Satan leading on;
Mighty ones around us falling,
courage almost gone!

See the glorious banner waving!
Hear the trumpet blow!
In our Leader’s Name we triumph
over ev’ry foe.

Fierce and long the battle rages,
but our help is near;
Onward comes our great Commander,
cheer, my comrades, cheer!

Although Philip Bliss did not consider this to be one of his better hymns, his monument at Rome, Pennsylvania bears this inscription: “P. P. Bliss, author of ‘Hold The Fort'”

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Horatio Palmer was one of New York’s favourite musicians. He was born in 1834 and grew up in a musical family. He was a music professor at Rushford Academy and later served as a choir director for the local Baptist Church.

Palmer’s account of how this hymn was written is as follows: 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 – I am reverently thankful it has been a power for good.

Lyrics and Music: Horatio R. Palmer

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.

Refrain:
Ask the Savior to help you,
Comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad language disdain,
God’s Name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain;
Be thoughtful and earnest, kindhearted and true,
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

To him that o’ercometh, God giveth a crown;
Through faith we shall conquer, though often cast down;
He Who is our Savior our strength will renew;
Look ever to Jesus, He’ll carry you through.

This hymn encourages us to say no to sinful things. Another lesser known hymn written by Palmer on the same subject is entitled “Have Courage to Say No”.

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Helen Lemmel was born in England in 1863. She was the daughter of a Wesleyan minister who immigrated to America. At age 55, Helen heard a statement that deeply impressed her: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”

The chorus came to Helen with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody.

Lyrics and Music: Helen H. Lemmel

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion-
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you-He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Helen wrote nearly 500 hymns during her lifetime and died in Seattle in 1961.

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