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Hymn History: His Eye Is On The Sparrow

“His Eye Is On The Sparrow” was the postlude at Pender’s 9:00 am Traditional Service on September 3, 2023. It was played on piano by Heidi Jacobs.

His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Civilla Martin
The Faith We Sing, page No. 2146

“Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is he;
His eye is on the sparrow,
and I know he watches me.”

Civilla Durfee Martin (1866-1948) was born in Nova Scotia and died in Atlanta, Ga. In “His eye is on the sparrow” (1905), she has provided one of the most influential and often-recorded gospel hymns of the 20th century.

Notable versions include recordings by Shirley Ceasar, Marvin Gaye, Kirk Franklin & the Family, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dottie West and Barbara Mandrell.

Jessica Simpson included this song in her album Irresistible (2001). The most stirring renditions of this song are associated for many with actress-singer Ethel Waters, who loved this it so much that it became the title of her autobiography (1950).

Martin was the daughter of James N. and Irene Harding Holden, and was a schoolteacher with modest musical training. Together with her husband, Walter (1862-1935), they often wrote gospel songs for revival meetings. “Be not dismayed” (UM Hymnal, No. 130) is an example of their collaboration.

Walter Stillman Martin was a Baptist minister who received his education at Harvard. He later became a member of the Disciples of Christ, teaching at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, N.C., before moving to Atlanta in 1919, a location that became the base for revivals that he held throughout the U.S.

The song was obviously inspired by Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Later in Matthew (10:29-31), the Gospel writer continues on this theme: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Similar thoughts are cited in Luke 12:6-7. Stanza two quotes part of John 14:1 directly, “Let not your heart be troubled…”

Civilla Martin describes the context out of which the hymn was born: “Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheelchair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s response was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.’ The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’ was the outcome of that experience.”

The next day she mailed the poem to Charles Gabriel, a famous composer of gospel songs, who wrote a tune for it.

The themes of solace in spite of sorrow, and a profound sense of being under the watch-care of Jesus, who is a “constant friend,” offered the African-American community comfort during the Civil Rights movement. The refrain seals the theme by offering an apology for singing—“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free”—words that would speak to everyone, but especially African Americans.

There is no doubt that African American gospel artist Kirk Franklin was influenced by Martin’s song when he composed “Why we sing” (The Faith We Sing, No. 2144).

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-his-eye-is-on-the-sparrow

Hymn History: As The Deer

10 Nov

“As the Deer” by Martin Nystrom,
The Faith We Sing, No. 2025

The Pender UMC Traditional Service Middle Hymn “As the Deer” on Sunday September 18, 2022 was played by Liz Eunji Moon on piano, accompanied on guitar by Brian Stevenson and AJ Rios and sung the Pender Sanctuary Choir and congregation.

“As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God” (Psalm 42:1, NKJV)*

On his website, http://martynystrom.com/, the composer introduces himself in self-effacing terms:

“I am a married father of two sons and live in the Seattle area. My degree is in music education and I have taught music in a wide variety of settings. I have written over 120 songs that have been released by publishers of Christian praise and worship music. My best known song is the worship chorus, ‘As the Deer.’” He notes that, “I seem to write songs when I am not purposefully trying to write one.”

“As the deer,” written in 1981, is one of the most popular songs in the contemporary Christian musical (CCM) genre written in the latter twentieth century. Martin J. Nystrom (b. 1956) is a native of Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma (BME, 1979), he served as musical evangelist with Christ for the Nations, Dallas, Texas [www.cfni.org] and produced five praise and worship albums for Hosanna! Music, Mobile, Alabama.

Lindsay Terry, in his book The Sacrifice of Praise: The Stories Behind the Greatest Praise and Worship Songs of All Time(2002), describes the circumstances surrounding the creation of this song:

“Marty was a schoolteacher in Seattle, and since he had the summer off, he decided to go to the summer term of Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. Little did he know what was about to happen to him, especially with all that he would be exposed to and the worship emphasis of the school. . .

He had graduated from Oral Roberts University and, frankly, was a little overwhelmed in ministry. He had been involved in many things at the school, not the least of which was the television ministry of ORU. All of his studies combined with many other activities had caused stress to take its toll on Marty’s spiritual life. . . .

Marty’s roommate at CFNI was a vibrant Christian who challenged Marty to go on a fast, thinking it would help him recover his joy. Marty took up the challenge, and on the nineteenth day of the fast, he found himself sitting at the piano in a room of the school, trying to write a song. He was simply playing chord progressions when he noticed a Bible on the music stand of the piano, open to Psalm 42. His eyes fell on the first verse of that chapter. After reading the verse he began to sing its message, right off the page. He wrote the first verse and the chorus of a song, practically straight through. The entire song was completed in a matter of minutes.”

Though Mr. Nystrom had not intended to perform the song publically, he shared it with a friend at Christ for the Nations before returning to Seattle. His friend introduced it to the others at the Institute, and it became a favorite. Contrary to his website, the composer appears to have written closer to 250 songs. He travels extensively in the United States and Asia, participating in conferences and retreats.

After paraphrasing the first verse of Psalm 42, the song reflects on this passage, continuing in the first person perspective of the psalm:

You alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.

The second section draws upon the familiar biblical images of “strength and shield,” concluding with the sentence cited above.

Most of Mr. Nystrom’s songs are composed as a single stanza. The compilers of the Canadian United Church hymnal Voices United (1995) asked Lydia Pederson to write two additional stanzas to paraphrase the remainder of the psalm. Pedersen is former music director at Royal York Road United Church in Toronto, and an active member of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. An additional attempt at two stanzas appears in the Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook(1996).

The editors of the two hymnals that requested additional stanzas noted that the original song felt incomplete when viewed in the context of the entire psalm. Selections of Psalm 42 follow:
“My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? (verses 2, 3, KJV) . . .

“I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (verses 9, 10, 11, KJV).

On the one hand, the effectiveness of the original song is found in its simplicity; the singer can internalize and memorize the song, offering this sung prayer directly to God. On the other hand, the poignant questions of the remainder of the psalm echo the questions of many worshipers in their lives. Singing additional stanzas, however, changes the experience from a simple prayer to God to the experience similar to singing a multi-stanza hymn. One solution is to retain Mr. Nystrom’s original stanza and insert it between spoken sections of the psalm as a refrain.

Regardless of the approach to incorporating the song into worship, one cannot deny the effectiveness of “As the deer” as sung prayer in myriad settings around the world. Mr. Nystrom attended a conference in Korea in the 1990s that began with 100,000 Korean Christians singing his song – a dramatic witness of its power.

C. Michael Hawn is University Distinguished Professor of Church Music, Perkins School of Theology, SMU.

Adapted from https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-as-the-deer

Hymn History: Out of the Depths

06 Oct

“Out of the Depths”
by Ruth Duck
The Faith We Sing, No. 2136.

The Pender UMC Traditional Service Middle Hymn “Out of the Depths” on Sunday September 4, 2022 was played by Eunji Moon on piano and sung by Brian Stevenson, the Pender Sanctuary Choir and congregation.

Central to biblical models of prayer is the practice of lament: crying out to God in pain, anguish, and grief. While examples of prayers of lament are found throughout the biblical witness and are particularly prevalent in the book of Psalms, too often we neglect lament in our worship.¹ Bringing all our wounds to God shapes and forms us in honest relationship with our Creator, who loves us when we are far from perfection and is present with us in times of trouble. Hymns such as Ruth Duck’s “Out of the Depths” can help us reclaim lament in our worship.

“Out of the Depths” uses Psalm 130:1 as a springboard to name the things that plunge us into our own depths. While Psalm 130 is often seen as a confessional psalm, with its focus on redemption from iniquities,² there are many things we hide away—our wounds, our scars, our traumas, our fears—and hiding these from ourselves and God stifles healing. “Out of the Depths” brings them forward through the practice of naming and lamenting in community. The first verse acknowledges the power of “wounds of the past” to affect our daily lives and the need for God’s love when we look at the full scope of our lives. The second verse leads us toward breaking silences that cloud the truth and keep us living in the fear of that which we have been too afraid to name.

While “Out of the Depths” encourages us to do our own individual work toward bringing our laments to God, it also lifts up the value of community in this healing process. While the first two stanzas both begin with “out of the depths,” all three stanzas end with “here in this community,” ensuring that the words most emphasized by repetition are not words of sorrow and isolation, but words of companionship. The second stanza also speaks to the safety and value of sharing difficult emotions among friends.

Almost all psalms of lament live in the tension between lament and praise. In fact, praise and expressions of confidence in God are seen as essential elements to the form of “lament”;³ many lament psalms end in praise (such as Psalm 13), or move back and forth constantly between lament and praise (Psalm 42).⁴ “Out of the Depths” leads us into praise in the final verse, painting a picture of a dancing God who moves through our lives as light in our darkness, meeting us with grace. The tune, FENNVILLE, is flexible enough to hold both tones—lament and praise—lending a strength and assurance to our words of praise. A bit of creativity in accompaniment can easily turn the final chord to a brighter tone.

The flexibility of this hymn conjures up possibilities for use outside the traditional context of singing the hymn straight-through in a service. Spoken prayer could easily be interspersed within the stanzas: naming specific kinds of pain present to those gathered, asking for assurance of God’s presence even in the depths, and thanking God for being revealed in community. It could easily be paired not only with Psalm 130, but also Psalm 139, in its assurance that there is no place anyone can go out of God’s reach—not even the depths.

While “Out of the Depths” leads us into lament in a way appropriate for many Sunday mornings, it is also a hymn to keep in mind in the unfortunate reality of times of crisis and tragic circumstances. The line, “Wounds of the past remain, affecting all we do,” acknowledges the impact such events have not only in the immediate aftermath, but throughout our lives. As such, this hymn could be particularly powerful when used in services of remembrance acknowledging anniversaries of events that have shaken communities.

“Out of the Depths” also has strong potential for use outside of a Sunday morning worship service. Ruth Duck has written alternate second lines for the first verse; one for those who are seriously ill (“Free us from fear of death, our faith and hope renew…”), and one for those who have been abused (“Words of abuse remain, affecting all we do…”) These reframe the hymn for more specific situations and could be useful in pastoral care situations as an opening or closing song for grief-sharing and support groups.

This is not surprising given the author’s interest in liturgical healing. A professor of worship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a strong presence in the academic liturgical community, and a prolific hymn text writer, Ruth Duck has written many hymns focused on healing and God’s ability to bring wholeness and restoration (such as “Sacred the Body,” “When We Must Bear Persistent Pain,” and “Womb of Life and Source of Being”). ⁵ “Out of the Depths” offers a way for us to give voice to our too often unspoken pain, celebrate community, and be assured of God’s grace which meets us wherever we are.

¹ Duff, Nancy J. “Recovering Lamentation as a Practice in Church”, in Lament: Reclaiming Practices in Pulpit, Pew, and Public Square, ed. Sally A. Brown and Patrick D. Miller. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005. p 4.

² ed. Martin Tel, Psalms for All Seasons, Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2012. p 848.

³ Miller, Patrick D. They Cried to the Lord: the Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994. p 55-133.

⁴ Psalm 88 is a notable expression of a lament psalm without praise.

⁵ Ruth Duck’s person page, Hymary.org: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Duck_RC

From https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-out-of-the-depths-by-ruth-duck-1