HymnPod

William O. Cushing said that when he wrote this hymn text in 1876, “it was the outgrowth of many tears, many heart conflicts and yearnings of which the world could know nothing.” After the death of his wife in middle age, Cushing was forced to retire from an active ministry because of poor health. He had been a successful pastor in the eastern areas of the United States. He began to be intensely interested in writing hymns, collaborating with many of the leading gospel musicians of that time. One day when Ira Sankey made a special request for a song in his gospel work, Cushing felt it was a direct call from God. He explained:

I prayed, “Lord, give me something that may glorify Thee.” It was while thus waiting that “Hiding in Thee” pressed to make itself known. Mr. Sankey called forth the tune and by his genius gave the hymn wings, making it useful in the Master’s work.

William Cushing knew personally the sorrows and turmoil of life, but he also knew where he could find safety and rest-in the “blest Rock of Ages.” When this hymn was first published, the author prefaced it with Psalm 31:2-“Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.”

Lyrics: William O. Cushing
Music: Ira Sankey

O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;
So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine, would I be;
Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

Refrain:
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow’s lone hour,
In times when temptation casts o’er me its power;
In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe;
How often, when trials like sea billows roll,
Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.

An interesting point to note is that William O. Cushing had serious trouble with his voice, meaning that he probably could not sing his own hymns out loud, but only in his heart.

Thank God for this hymn that has ministered to many.

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I liked this hymn the first time I heard it. There is a sense of freedom and security both in the lyrics and in the melody.

The author of this hymn, William Orcutt Cushing, born in 1823, was a Christian pastor in New York. His wife died, and later, he had severe problems with his voice. He was forced out of the pastorate.

He asked God for a way to serve Him and turned to hymn writing. William wrote more than 300 hymns in this lifetime.

Lyrics: William O. Cushing
Music: Ira D. Sankey

Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Refrain:
Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed.

Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.

In the Revival Hymns and Choruses, it has been renamed to:

Under the Care of My God, The Almighty

Lyrics: based on Psalm 91, United Presbyterian Bible Songs Hymnal, 1927
Music: Ira Sankey

Under the care of my God, the Almighty,
Safe in the secret place of the Most High!
He is my Refuge, the Lord is my Fortress,
Him I am trusting when trouble is nigh.

Refrain:
Under his wings, under his wings,
Safe in the refuge hide thee;
Trusting his truth and faithfulness,
No evil can betide thee.

Be not afraid for the terror of midnight,
Nor for the arrow that hasteth to slay;
Fear not the pestilence walking in darkness,
Nor the destroyer that wasteth by day.

Seek the Most High for thy sure habitation,
Unto Jehovah for refuge now fly;
There shall no evil befall thee nor harm thee,
Unto thy dwelling no plague shall come nigh.

Love thou the Lord, surely he will deliver;
He will exalt thee and answer thy prayer;
He will be with thee to honor and give thee
Life without end, his salvation to share.

May God help us amidst all the storms and trials of life.

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This hymn goes out to Rev Tan Chor Kiat and Elder Peter Yeo. Thanks for all the encouragement with this project. May God help the ministry at Ju Eng Home.

Willing O. Cushing details how this hymn came about:

“I wrote this hymn in 1878,” the Rev. W. O. Cushing tells me. (Sankey) “Longing to give up all for Christ who had given his life for me, I wanted to be willing to lay everything at his feet, with no wish but to do his will, to live hence­forth only for his glory. Out of this feeling came the hymn, ‘Follow On.’ It was written with the prayer and the hope that some heart might by it be led to give up all for Christ. Much of the power and usefulness of the hymn, how ever, are due to Mr. Lowry, who put it into song.”

Lyrics: William O. Cushing
Music: Robery Lowry

Down in the valley with my Savior I would go,
Where the flowers are blooming and the sweet waters flow;
Everywhere He leads me I would follow, follow on,
Walking in His footsteps till the crown be won.

Refrain:
Follow! follow! I would follow Jesus!
Anywhere, everywhere, I would follow on!
Follow! follow! I would follow Jesus!
Everywhere He leads me I would follow on!

Down in the valley with my Savior I would go,
Where the storms are sweeping and the dark waters flow;
With His hand to lead me I will never, never fear,
Danger cannot fright me if my Lord is near.

Down in the valley, or upon the mountain steep,
Close beside my Savior would my soul ever keep;
He will lead me safely in the path that He has trod,
Up to where they gather on the hills of God.

http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bcushing.html

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As mentioned in my previous post, Fanny Crosby was converted when she heard this hymn being played. This was in 1850 when she was 30 years old.

In her own words:

And when they reached the 3rd line of the last verse:

“Here, Lord, I give myself away;
‘Tis all that I can do.”

I surrendered myself to the Saviour, and my very soul was flooded with celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting “Hallelujah.”

Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Music: Hugh Wilson
Harmony: Robert A. Smith
Tune: MARTYRDOM

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut its glories in,
When God, the mighty maker, died
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
Tis all that I can do.

I think it was probably this tune they used instead of the one in my previous post. Does anyone out there know for sure?

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This great consecration hymn by Isaac Watts had a major role to play in the conversion of American hymn writer Fanny Crosby.

The following is Fanny Crosby’s own account:

[In] the autumn of 1850…revival meetings were being held in the Thirtieth Street Methodist Church [, New York City]. Some of us went down ev­ery evening; and, on two occasions, I sought peace at the atlar, but did not find the joy I craved, until one evening, November 20, 1850, it seemed to me that the light must in deed come then or never; and so I arose and went to the altar alone. After a prayer was offered, they began to sing the grand old consecration hymn, “Alas, and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die?” And when they reached the third line of the fourth stanza, “Here Lord, I give my self away,” my very soul was flooded with a celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting “Hallelu­jah,” and then for the first time I realized that I had been trying to hold the world in one hand and the Lord in the other.

Lyrics: Isaac Watts
Chorus: Ralph E. Hudson
Music: Ralph E. Hudson

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Refrain:
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!

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
‘Tis all that I can do.

There is another tune to this hymn without the refrain which I will be publishing in my next post.

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The following is Fanny Crosby’s own story of how this hymn came about:

As I was ad­dress­ing a large com­pa­ny of work­ing men one hot Au­gust ev­en­ing, the thought kept forc­ing it­self up­on my mind that some mo­ther’s boy must be res­cued that ve­ry night or per­haps not at all. So I re­quest­ed that, if there was any boy pre­sent, who had wan­dered away from mo­ther’s teach­ing, he would come to the plat­form at the con­clu­sion of the ser­vice. A young man of eight­een came forward and said, “Did you mean me? I have prom­ised my mo­ther to meet her in hea­ven; but as I am now liv­ing that will be im­pos­si­ble.” We prayed for him; he fin­al­ly arose with a new light in his eyes; and ex­claimed tri­umph­ant­ly, “Now, I can meet mo­ther in hea­ven; for I have found her God.”

A few days be­fore, Mr. Doane had sent me the sub­ject “Rescue the Per­ish­ing,” and while I sat there that ev­ening the line came to me, “Res­cue the per­ish­ing, care for the dyi­ng.” I could think of no­thing else that night. When I ar­rived it my home I went to work on it at once; and be­fore I re­tired the entire hymn was rea­dy for a mel­o­dy. The next day my words were writ­ten and for­ward­ed to Mr. Doane, who wrote the beau­ti­ful and touch­ing music as it now stands.

In November, 1903, I went to Lynn, Mass­a­chu­setts, to speak be­fore the Young Men’s Christ­ian As­so­ci­a­tion. I told them the in­ci­dent that led me to write “Res­cue the Per­ish­ing,” as I have just re­lat­ed it. Af­ter the meet­ing a large num­ber of men shook hands with me, and among them was a man, who seemed to be deep­ly moved. You may imag­i­ne my sur­prise when he said, “Miss Cros­by, I was the boy, who told you more than thir­ty-five years ago that I had wan­dered from my mother’s God. The ev­en­ing that you spoke at the mis­sion I sought and found peace, and I have tried to live a con­sist­ent Christ­ian life ev­er since. If we ne­ver meet again on earth, we will meet up yon­der.” As he said this, he raised my hand to his lips; and be­fore I had re­covered from my sur­prise he had gone; and re­mains to this day a name­less friend, who touched a deep chord of sym­pa­thy in my heart. It is these notes of sym­pa­thy that vi­brate when a voice calls them forth from the dim mem­o­ries of the past, and the music is ce­les­ti­al.

Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby
Music: William H. Doane

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

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Well, this isn’t by Fanny Crosby, but it is a popular Sunday School song by Frances Towle Rath. I’m trying to find out which hymn book this appeared in originally. Anyone out there know?

This is sung by my 11 year old daughter Emily. Enjoy!

Piano version and lyrics are available at:

http://www.hymnpod.com/2009/01/02/did-you-ever-talk-to-god-above/

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This hymn was originally called “Praise for Redemption” and appeared in a small hymnal titled Brightest and Best by William Doane and Robert Lowry. It lay hidden for eighty years, and was almost forgotten.

It was revived in 1954, in a volume titled Greater London Crusade Song Book which was compiled by Cliff Barrows. It was sung at Harringay Arena and sparked a sense of revival across Great Britain. Ever since then, it has been included in virtually every hymnal.

Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby
Music: William H. Doane

To God be the glory, great things he hath done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the lifegate that all may go in.

Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
to every believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes,
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

It is quite amazing what a change in the name of the hymn can do to its popularity. Nevertheless, this hymn has an exuberant chorus.

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This hymn was written by Fanny Crosby in 1868 in conjunction with William Doane. Doane was a successful business man. At the age of 30, he suffered a heart attack and almost died. He felt that this was God’s chastening him for not devoting his time to writing gospel music.

Doane was a gifted musician, but need someone to write lyrics for his tunes. One day, as he was praying, he received a poem from Fanny Crosby – “More like Jesus would I be Let my Savior dwell with me”. This was quickly made into a hymn.

Thus began a fruitful partnership with Fanny Crosby, producing many hymns such as this one.

Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby
Music: William H. Doane

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain:
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in Heav’n but Thee?

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This hymn was composed in only half an hour on Apr 30, 1868. Howard Doane went to Fanny’s apartment on that day and said, “I have exactly forty minutes before I must meet a train for Cincinnati. I have a tune for you. See if it says anything to you. Perhaps you can commit it to memory and then compose a poem to match it”. He then hummed the tune to her.

Fanny exclaimed, “Why, that says, ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus!'” Fanny prayed, and within half and hour, she had finished writing and dictating the poem to Doane, who rushed off to catch his train.

This hymn is especially comforting to the bereaved.

Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby
Music: William H. Doane

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.

Refrain:
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast;
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.

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!

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.

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