The First to Welcome Her

“It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”

If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind…for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour.” ~ Fanny Crosby

 

I came across this rendition of the old gospel song written by Fanny J. Crosby, the prolific hymn writer (she wrote 8,000!) of the 19th century. She was blind from infancy, you can read her story here, but it did not stop her from leaving a big mark for the Lord Jesus that continues to this day. She looked forward to seeing her Savior in her heavenly home where earthly blindness would be gone forever. The story of this particular song is here.

The full text of the song is below the video. Here this excellent group sings part of it!

(1) When my life work is ended, and I cross the swelling tide,
When the bright and glorious morning I shall see
I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

Chorus:
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
And redeemed by His side, I shall stand.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand.

(2) Oh, the soul thrilling rapture when I view His blessed face
And the luster of His kindly beaming eye;
How my full heart will praise Him for the mercy, love, and grace
That prepared for me a mansion in the sky.

Chorus
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
And redeemed by His side, I shall stand.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand.

(3) Oh, the dear ones in glory, how they beckon me to come,
And our parting at the river I recall;
To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home,
But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.
Chorus:
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
And redeemed by His side, I shall stand.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand.

(4) Thro’ the gates of the city in a robe of spotless white,
He will lead me where no tears will ever fall;
In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight,
But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.
Chorus:
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
And redeemed by His side, I shall stand.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hand.

Simply Voices

There’s nothing so wonderful to me as standing in a congregation with good singing. I love organ and brass accompaniment, but when a congregation sings acapella, breaking off into four parts, it can be a foretaste of heaven’s music.

Late one night I discovered a YouTube channel that is produced by the Church of Christ denomination. One of their distinctives is acapella singing in parts.  On this video channel I discovered old gospel songs I hadn’t heard since childhood. If you’d like to sing along, they often sing all the verses as well, which is great. So often in (the few) churches that still sing these, they skip verses. So here you are at this link for those who like the simplicity and beauty of the human voice without other instrumentation. I hope the songs are a blessing to you.

Here’s one of my favorites.

 

We Need Him Every Hour

We need the Lord every hour of every day. These two versions of an old hymn were a blessing to me tonight, so I thought I would share them. Burdens seem to heavy for you? They are. That’s why Jesus said that all who are weary and heavy laden should come to Him, and He will give us rest.
 

 

Here is the same old hymn sung so beautifully in Dutch. I find many of our familiar hymns sung by the musicians on Nederland Zingt, so I haunt their YouTube page frequently! I love this.

 

Music Break: Day by Day

This originally Swedish song is one of my favorites to play on piano and hum along.

 

The Story Behind the Hymn – What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Notes from the Basement

I post a lot of music on here, because it is such a part of my life. Last night I realized how long it had been since I’d touched an organ. I play piano, but had not played the organ since I had a small one of my Grandma’s in my living room when the kids were much younger. I used to play hymns at night and found it very restful.

Last night, I sat down at Will’s digital Hauptwerk organ in the basement and decided to play a few hymns and songs. After enjoying myself thoroughly, I asked Will if he would give me lessons. He agreed good-naturedly with a grin. (It’s funny that roles are reversed as I used to help him when he began piano!)

It’s a very healing and joyful thing to make music of your own, no matter how humble. Taking music lessons as a child may not always produce a grand musician, but it can be a source of great personal enjoyment, and I think music in the home is a very lovely thing for children. Emmy sat on the bench next to me, amused that I was playing her “Bubba’s” organ. (Will’s nickname is “Bubba” to Em.) Then I asked if she would like to sing some of her Bible songs. She belted out her favorite, pleased to have my organ accompaniment.

Here is a lovely rendition of the first song I played on the organ in many years last night. The video features a harp and a voice singing the (Swedish) gospel song, Day by Day. The words are on the screen. I love it when they put up the words!