HE KEEPS ME SINGING

As I search the history of the writing of various hymns, I am continually impressed with the number of hymns that are the result of sorrow and tragedy.  Over the years the Lord has often used such events to stir the writing of music that has spoken and helped so many people.  Luther B. Bridges (1484 -1948) began preaching at the age of seventeen and was ordained as a Methodist Minister. He then served as an evangelist in the American South and in mission work in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Russia. He pastored in Georgia and North Carolina before retiring in 1945 in Gainesville, Georgia.  As a teen he  met Sarah Vetch and they reportedly fell in love at first sight. They were both younger than twenty years old when they married. They had three boys.  In 1910 Bridges accepted an invitation to minister at a conference in Kentucky, so he left his family in the care of his father-in-law and made the trip to Kentucky. There he had two wonderful weeks of ministry. He closed the last service with great joy and was excited to be called to the telephone. He couldn't wait to tell his wife about all the blessings. But it wasn't her voice on that long distance line. Instead he listened in silence to the news that a fire had burned down the house of his father-in-law and his wife and all three of his sons had died in the blaze. He was bereaved for his wife and children and asked himself, "How could this happen while I was doing God's will?"  But that distraught father leaned heavily on His Savior and expressed his faith in God and during a tearful moment he penned the words of this week's hymn.  When you sing the words of this "upbeat" song you'd probably never sense the pain and sorrow of the author.  But knowing the story behind it, you can see his sorrow with phrases he uses such as ... Fear not ... peace be still ...discord ... heart with pain ... broken strings ... His sheltering wing ... and then, in verse 4, waters deep ... trials ... path seems rough and steep.  Maybe at times in your life you've used the same words to express your situation.  But notice that the author always answers with ... Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ... fills my every longing ... keeps me singing as I go.  I trust that you have a song in your heart, no matter what your situation may be.  But I can't end this blog without mentioning the hope of the final verse - soon He's coming back to welcome me ... I shall reign with Him on high.  And that truth should enable us to live each day with a song of expectation in our hearts ... keeps me singing as I go!

(1)   There's within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,

In all of life's ebb and flow.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(2)   All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,

Discord filled my heart with pain,

Jesus swept across the broken strings,

Stirred the slumbering chords again.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(3)    Feasting on the riches of His grace,

Resting 'neath His sheltering wing,

Always looking on His smiling face,

That is why I shout and sing.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(4)     Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,

Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,

See His footprints all the way.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

(5)    Soon He's coming back to welcome me,

Far beyond the starry sky;

I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,

I shall reign with Him on high.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

Sweetest Name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

Listen to it here.   LISTEN