Tuesday, December 1, 2009

~HYMN: "HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW"--LYRICS , VERSES, STORY


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.

I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled," 
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted,
Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing,
When hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him,
From care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

~ ~ ~

Here are some Bible verses which go along nicely with
this hymn:


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
~Philippians 4:6 (NIV)~

"I cry to you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'"
~Psalm 142:5 (NIV)~

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth--he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."
~Psalm 33:14 (NIV)~

"The Lord watches over you--the Lord is your shade at your right hand."
~Psalm 121:5 (NIV)~

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
~Romans 15:13 (NKJV)~

"Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."
~John 14:1 (RSV)~

"Does he not see my ways and count my every step?"
~Job 31:4 (NIV)~

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."
~James 4:8a (RSV)~

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
~Hebrews 4:16 (RSV)~

~ ~ ~

~The Story Behind the Hymn~

A woman named Civilla Martin wrote the lyrics to this hymn.  Here is the story behind it, in her own words:

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 wheel chair.  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 reply 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, Civilla mailed the poem to Charles Gabriel, who supplied the music; during his lifetime he wrote and/or composed between 7,000-8,000 gospel songs.

~ ~ ~

9 comments:

  1. Hi! Just happend upon your blog while writing for mY blog this morning! I'm redhotkitties.com, plus have an etsy site also--redhotkitties.etsy.com--and my blog is dogcatanimalcare.com, "The Art of Loving Animals"--so I'm putting YOUR blog info on mine today, and hope more people visit you! LOVE your Scripture and WONDERFUL music selections!!! Mary.....I'm not sure what the "choose a profile" is about, my son does all my computer work!--so I hope I do it right!

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  2. Hi Mary! Thank you so much for your sweet compliments and for putting my info. on your blog. Your blog is so interesting, and your cat art is gReAt!! I bet it was amzing to live in Japan--so much inspiration. Bless your ♥, Cristy

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  3. Hi Cristy,
    Just discovered your blog while searching for information for a card I am making for my daughter based on a sparrow. Your post is very beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Thank you BusyLizzie! Your compliment is much appreciated. Bless your ♥, Cristy

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  5. This beautiful hymn has brought joy to so many generations in my family. From my granddad to the youngest little girl now, everyone has sung it and at least tried to live it.

    I sent this to my cousin who is awaiting results of a severe illness his very young grandson has. It's interesting how this hymm has tied us together through so much.

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  6. Thank you so much for sharing how this hymn has touched your family. I'm so sorry to hear that your cousin's grandchild is sick and am sending my prayers...

    "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth , and grow up as calves of the stall." ~Malachi 4:2

    "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." ~2 Cor. 1:3-4

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  7. I've not read this in some time, but I wanted to give you the results and so far the outcome of therapy for my cousin's son. The young todler
    (2 years old) was diagnosed with acute childhood leukemia.

    Incredibly enough after his first treatment he went from 95% cancer cells to 0 %. He is still receiving treatment, but is doing very very well. My cousin said he had people from all over the world praying for him. My cousin is one of those wonderful granddads.

    Less than a month after the grandson sort of settled with treatment and good news, my cousin lost his mother (my aunt). I'm so glad she brought him up in a Christian home. He has a lot of family and friends who love him.

    Thank you for this wonderful photo of the sparrow. My granddad sang this and many other hymns to me as a child. Those have stayed with me even though they aren't sung in church much anymore.

    Of course, I was granddad's favotrite grandchild!!!!
    I really was !! Sorry so long

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  8. It's so nice to hear back from you and to find out your cousin's grandson's health has improved--what an amazing blessing!

    And wouldn't it be lovely if every child had such a caring and prayerful grandparent as he does.

    The renewed health and young life of your cousin's grandson, followed by the passing of your aunt, reminds me of life's changing seasons, which is depicted so prettily in the song in this post.

    I know your memories of your granddad singing to you are sweet ones. Thank you for sharing them with me. And as for your being his favorite, I believe you, I really do! ;)

    I'm sure this sweet child will continue to be cushioned in plenty of prayer, including my own.

    Please check back in anytime, and let me know how everyone is doing.

    Cristy ♥

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  9. I was happy to find your site as I was looking for the lyrics to this song. I love the version by Sela. I wanted to send it to a friend who is anxious and preparing for cancer surgery. If you read this, please pray for Debra and her son.

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