Dear friend,
This is going to be a unique post. I am basically asking for your prayers as I have been going through one of the most dificult personal times I have had in my life since late last week. If you're familiar with the term, "the dam finally broke" suddenly on Monday as a friend started to pray for me over the phone. (I'v only cried like that a few times in my life.) I thought I by then I had come a long way in processing it all but it's still not done. Praise God, I can sense His going with me through the process, but there is still hurt and confusion, but I do feel like I'm getting there. PLEASE PRAY that I God's will would be I come through this time very soon.
One of the things that has ministered to me is to go over a collection of hymns that I don't get around to enough and which seems to have almost disappeared from church worship services - which I am tenpted to call a sin against God. Anyway, one of the ones I came across is the one below. If you're not familiar with it, note the "Play MIDI" link at the end of the posted lyrics to hear the melody. I hope you also enjoy the story behind the hymn. It's a reminder that pain is part of living in this fallen world and it's not necessarily a question of how spiritually on top of things you are. There are just times when people and circumstances cause a great hurt but thank God He is there to take you through it. It's time like this in my life that make me wonder how anyone can try to make it through life without a relationship with Him. As insane as our world can be so often, THAT is the real insanity to me.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading the words of (and I hope listening as well to the accompanyment) of this great hymn. May it and the many other great hymns of the church be kept from disappearing from our worship litergy. THANK YOU for your prayers, Stan
Day by Day (the hymn)
1. Day by day, and with [every] passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.
2. Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose Name is Counselor and Pow'r;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose Name is Counselor and Pow'r;
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.
3. Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Your promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Your holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
So to trust Your promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Your holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.
Lyrics: Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell Berg
Music: Oscar Ahnfelt
Music: Oscar Ahnfelt
Lina Sandell Berg, 1832–1903
Translated by Andrew L. Skoog, 1856–1934
Translated by Andrew L. Skoog, 1856–1934
“Day by Day” was written by a young Swedish woman who learned early in life the all-important lesson of living each day with the conscious presence and strength of her Lord. Lina Sandell has often been called the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden” for her many contributions to gospel hymnody. From her pen flowed approximately 650 hymns which strongly influenced the waves of revival that swept the Scandinavian countries during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
At the age of twenty-six Lina had an experience that greatly influenced her life. She was accompanying her father aboard ship to the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, across Lake Vattern. The ship gave a sudden lurch and Lina’s father, a Lutheran minister, fell overboard and drowned before the eyes of his devoted daughter. Although Lina had written many hymn texts prior to this tragic experience, now more than ever poetic thoughts that expressed a tender, child-like trust in her Lord began to flow freely from her broken heart.
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