Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Safe in the Arms of Jesus:

By: Fanny Crosby

Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast,

There by His love o'ershaded, sweetly my soul shall rest.

Hark! 'tis the voice of angels, borne in a song to me. 

Over the fields of glory, over the jasper sea.

Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe from corroding care,

Safe from the world's temptations, sin cannot harm me there. 

Free from the blight of sorrow, free from my doubts and fear;

Only a few more trials, only a few more tears!

Jesus, my heart's dear Refuge, Jesus has died for me;

Firm on the Rock of Ages, ever my trust shall be. 

Here let me wait with patience, wait till the night is o'er;

Wait till I see the morning break on the golden shore. 

On March 5, 1858, Fanny Crosby married Alexander Van Alsteine. A year later, a child was born to them, though no one knows if it was a boy or a girl. Fanny never spoke about it except in her oral biography, "God gave us a tender babe," and "soon the angels came down and took our infant up to God and His throne." The child's death seemed to have devastated Fanny and she privately bore the sadness all her life. 

~~

Years later, on April 30, 1868, musician Howard Doane knocked on the front door of Fanny's apartment in Manhattan. "I have exactly forty minutes," he said, "before I must meet a train for Cincinnati. I have a tune for you. See if it says anything to you. Perhaps you can commit it to memory and then compose a poem to match it." He then hummed the tune.  Fanny clapped her hands and said, "Why, that says, 'Safe in the arms of Jesus!" She retreated to the other room of her tiny apartment, knelt on the floor, and asked God to give her the words quickly. Within half an hour, she had composed the poem in her mind and dictated it to Doane, who dashed off to catch his train. During her lifetime, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" was among the most widely sung of Fanny's hymns, and she considered it in a class by itself. She said it was written for the bereaved, especially for mothers who had lost children. Often when comforting a grief-stricken mother, she would say, "Remember, my dear, your darling cherub is safe in the arms of Jesus." Rev. John Hall of New York's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church told Fanny that her hymn had given more "peace and satisfaction to mothers who have lost their children than any other hymn I have ever known."

Two little girls were playing in a corner of the nursery with their dolls, and singing as they played, '' Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast." Their mother was writing, only stopping now and then to listen to the little ones' talk, unobserved by them. 

"Sister, how do you know that you are safe? " asked Nellie, the youngest.
"Because I am holding Jesus with both my hands —tight !" was the reply. "Ah, that is not safe," said Nellie. "Suppose Satan came along and cut your two hands off!" 

The sister looked much troubled for a few moments, dropped her doll and thought deeply. Suddenly her face shone with joy, and she cried out, "Oh! I forgot! I forgot! Jesus is holding me with his two hands, and Satan can't cut his hands off; so I am safe!"

Thank you, Mrs. Smith, for suggesting this song.  :) 

I hope all you dear friends have a good and godly week. 
Yours warmly on the Victory side, 
Ashley 
John 10:28-29
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.