This year is the 70th anniversary of our church and I am now the oldest living charter member. I have many memories of the early years when we struggled to get established.
In those days we didn't have very many musicians so we were happy to use almost anyone who was willing to sing or play. That included my family. None of us were trained, but we learned to sing hymns as soon as we could sing. We didn't have a car until I was in second grade and, if I recall correctly, we didn't even have a radio in our first car. So everywhere we went, we would sing together as we traveled. As a result, I grew up knowing the words of all the verses to hundreds of hymns.
For some reason the hymn "Constantly Abiding" was one that together we sang several times as "special music" in church. Maybe it was the words, maybe it was the harmony or the back time in the chorus, but whatever it was, we enjoyed it. My mother sang soprano, my dad bass, I sang tenor, and I think my brother and sister either sang melody or else harmonized.
I could not find out much about the background of this hymn. It was written by Anne Murphy (1878 - 1942) whose husband ran a pottery business in Ohio. However, she was widowed around 1929. Having lost her wealth, she then moved to California to live with her sister. I don't know what her music background was or even if she wrote other hymns. I can only guess that this hymn was written as a personal testimony to the hard times she had endured after her husband's death. She must have experienced the peace that she writes about that believers can experience in times of trial. She must have experienced the constant abiding of the Holy Spirit in her life. And she knew that some glorious day her Savior would take her to her heavenly home. So I do believe this was her personal testimony.
Is it yours? Have you experienced the peace that the world can't give or take away? Can you say with the hymn writer, "Jesus is mine"? Concentrate and meditate on the words of this hymn as you read them and also as you listen to it.
(1) There's a peace in my heart that the world never gave,
A peace it cannot take away;
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I've a peace that has come here to stay!
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:
"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.
(2) All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,
When peace sweetly came to my heart;
Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,
Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art!
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:
"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.
(3) This treasure I have in a temple of clay,
While here on His footstool I roam;
But He's coming to take me some glorious day,
Over there to my heavenly home!
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, oh, so kind:
"I will never leave thee"— Jesus is mine.
Listen to it here. LISTEN
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