[Faith-talk] {Spam?} Daily Thought for Tuesday, June 7, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello to most of you once again on this primary voting day in five U.S. 
states, and, not to leave everyone else out, a big "hello!" to the rest 
of you.  Hope that your day is going well, by God's matchless grace and 
His providential care.

Most of my readers will undoubtedly remember that occasionally I like 
to bring to you all stories behind well-known hymns and Gospel songs, 
in addition to giving you the words.  As a bit of a teaser, this 
evening at 6:30 PM eastern time, for those of you who are members of 
the Interactive Christian Community or ICC, if Sister Julie has her 
program then, I'll be in there and will both recite and sing the song 
in question.  I'd give you the same as an email attachment, but my 
email provider only allows five minutes max for a voice message.

Anyway I'm sure you're interested in hearing the story behind a 
particular Gospel song.  It is entitled "His Eye Is On the Sparrow," 
made famous in recent years by Ethel Waters in her recording, but do 
you know its story? Probably not, so I'm going to bring it to you and 
then post the words to the same.  We begin with a little astronomy 
lesson, but don't worry, as this lesson ties in perfectly with the song itself.

In times of heartache and seemingly insurmountable obstacles or 
hardships, when you wonder if there's an answer to your problems, 
consider our sun.

It is a blazing inferno 864,000 miles in diameter, more than 100 times 
the size of the earth.  Every second, it gives more energy than man has 
used since the dawn of civilization.  Fountains of blazing gas spurt 
out from it every second, reaching distances of 6,000 miles.  Its 
temperature at the core is estimated to be 55 million degrees 
Fahrenheit, so hot that a pinhead of its matter would give off enough 
heat to kill a person 100 million miles away.

And yet, our sun is just an ordinary, medium-sized star, and is simply 
one of four billion other suns, many of which are thousands of times 
larger.  Together these billions of suns/stars make up our Milky Way Galaxy.

Still more amazing is that our Milky Way Galaxy is just one single 
galaxy among billions of other galaxies, each of which has more 
billions of suns.  And yet, Jesus said, "Not one sparrow can fall to 
the ground without your Father knowing it." (Matthew 10:29)

A construction crew was building a new road through a rural area, 
knocking down trees as it progressed.  A superintendent noticed a nest 
of birds that couldn't fly yet.  He marked the tree so it wouldn't be cut down.

Several weeks later, the superintendent returned to the tree.  He got 
into a bucket truck and was lifted up so that he could peer into the 
nest.  Having now learned to fly, the fledglings were gone.  And he 
ordered the tree cut down.

As it crashed to the ground, the nest fell clear and some of the 
material the birds had gathered to make their nest was scattered about. 
Part of it was a scrap of paper torn from a Sunday School pamphlet.  On 
it were written these words:  "He cares for you."

God is in charge of a universe so huge, so complex that the human mind 
cannot conceive it.  Yet He knows the downing of every sparrow, every 
heartache, every tear shed.  And He knows about you--your fears, 
doubts, ambitions, problems and tomorrows.  This great and awesome God 
who rules our world and worlds unknown cares for YOU.  And He loves YOU 
with a love that is so amazing and incomprehensible to our feeble human 
understanding.

The author of this hymn text, Civilla Martin, knew of this profound 
truth when she wrote "His Eye Is On the Sparrow." While visiting a 
bedridden friend in 1905, the conversation of the two women centered 
upon the sick woman's physical condition.  Civilla asked, "Don't you 
ever get discouraged?"

The reply was a statement of faith, "How can I be discouraged when my 
Heavenly Father watches over each little sparrow and I know He loves 
and cares for me."

Civilla Martin was so inspired by this simple and beautiful statement 
of faith that she penned this whole hymn text in one day and then 
mailed it to the famous Gospel composer, Charles Gabriel, who composed 
the tune and musical arrangement.

Civilla Durfee Martin was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1869.  She 
became a school and music teacher, but gave up her career when she 
married a traveling evangelist, Dr. Walter Martin, to assist him in his 
meetings.

Below you will read the words to this Gospel song.

1.  Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav'n and home?
When Jesus is my portion
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain:  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.

2.  "Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
Tho' 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.
Refrain:

Whenever I am tempted,
Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing,
When hope within me dies;
I draw 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.
Refrain:

And there you have the story behind this hymn and Gospel song.  By the 
way, did you know that Mrs. Martin also wrote the words to the hymn 
tune "God Will Take Care of You?" Sometime ago I posted the story 
behind this hymn as well, as many of you hopefully will remember.

And that will do it for today.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing 
another Daily Thought message and article will be posted, may the God 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and 
collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian 
friend and brother, Paul