p. 12 | The Origin of Some Familiar Songs by Lora Clement

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 18, 1912

The Origin of Some Familiar Songs

By Lora Clement

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

THIS beautiful hymn was written by Charles Wesley, one of England's noblest and most gifted writers of song. It is said that as he stood by an open window one summer day, a little bird, pursued by a hawk, sought refuge in his bosom, and this incident led him to pen the words which have so often come as a benediction to human souls in their night-time of sorrow.

Countless incidents connected with this hymn might be recited. Henry Ward Beecher said of it: "I should rather have written that hymn than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on the earth. It is more glorious; it has more power in it. It will go singing until the last trump brings forth the angel band; and then, I think, it will mount up on some lips to the very presence of God."

"On an intensely warm day," Mr. H. P. Ford relates, "as I stood on the corner of a sun-baked street in Philadelphia, waiting for a car to take me to the cool retreats of Fairmount Park, I heard a low, quavering voice singing, with inexpressible sweetness, 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul.' Looking up to an open window whence the sound came, I saw on the sill a half-withered plant,—a pathetic oasis of green in a desert of brick and mortar,—and resting tenderly and caressingly upon it was an emaciated hand. I could not see the person, but that was unnecessary; the story was all too clearly revealed. I knew that within that close, uncomfortable room a human soul was struggling with the great problem of life and death, and I knew that the life was going out serenely and triumphantly as these words were borne to me on the oppressive air:—

" 'Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, O, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me!' "

"Some years ago a ship was being dashed to pieces on a lee shore. As she drew nearer in the thralldom of relentless breakers, and as the brief winter twilight faded into night, a few men could be dimly seen desperately clinging to the rigging. A small boat could not live in such a sea, and there was no other human means of rendering aid. One by one the sailors gave up the struggle that was beyond mortal endurance, and their bodies were cast upon the beach. The watchers on the shore thought that all had perished, when, in a momentary lull in the roar of the wind and the booming of the waves, a man's voice was heard, full of pleading, away off in the blackness, singing—

" 'Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life be past; Safe into the haven guide; O, receive my soul at last!' "

And then the brave voice was stilled forever. Tender hands drew his body from the surf, and buried it in the village churchyard. When the humble fisher folk gather for worship, the story of the storm and song is often repeated.

The words of this matchless hymn, so full of comfort and assurance, pointing out the soul's one sure place of refuge in time of need, will continue to sound through the years, making the world better, faith stronger, and God more real until time shall be no more.

This history would not be complete without a few words concerning the beautiful tune to which the hymn is sung. The music was composed by Simeon B. Marsh, a singing-school teacher of New York State. "One morning in the autumn of 1834 he started on his weekly

circuit of singing-schools. As he journeyed, the fire of inspiration burned within him, and at the foot of Tribes Hill, a few miles west of Amsterdam, he dismounted, and leaving his horse to graze near by, seated himself beneath an elm-tree which stood where now the four tracks of the New York Central Railway bear a mighty commerce to the sea, and jotted down on such paper as he chanced to have, the tune 'Martyn.' Arriving at the place of his next appointment, he wrote the new tune on the blackboard for the children's class." Encouraged by the welcome it received from his singing classes, Mr. Marsh taught it to his choir, and for the first time it was used in public worship. "The appreciation of the music-loving congregation was instant; but they little dreamed that the fame of the tune which they had just heard would be more wide-spread and enduring than the hills encircling their classic valley, and that its ministry of service would extend through time and eternity."