He Leadeth Me

He Leadeth Me

By: Joseph H. Gilmore

He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught! 

What e'er I do, what e'er I be, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. 

He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,

By waters still, o'er troubled sea, still 'tis His hand that leadeth me. 

He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.

Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine, nor ever murmur nor repine;

Content whatever lot I see, since 'tis my God that leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be for by His hand He leadeth me. 

And when my task on earth is done, when my Thy grace the victory's won,

E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me. 

He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me. 

Dr. Joseph H. Gilmore, son of a Governor of New Hampshire, gave this account of writing his famous hymn:

"As a young man recently graduated..., I was supplying for a couple of Sundays the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the mid-week service, on the 26th of March, 1862, I set out to give the people an exposition of the twenty-third Psalm, which I had given before on three or four occasions, but this time I did not get further than the words "he leadeth me." Those words took hold of me as they had never done before, and I saw in them a significance...of which I had never dreamed.

It was the darkest hour of the Civil War. I did not refer to that fact - that is, I don't think I did - but it may subconsciously have led me to realize that God's leadership is the one significant fact in human experience, that it makes no difference how we are led, or whither we are led, so long as we are sure God is leading us. 

At the close of the meeting, a few of us in the parlor of my host, Deacon Watson, kept on talking about the thought I had emphasized; and then and there, on a blank page of the brief from which I had intended to speak, I penciled the hymn, talking and writing at the same time, then handed it to my wife and thought no more about it. She sent it to "The Watchman and Reflector," a paper published in Boston, where it was first printed. I did not know until 1865 that my hymn had been set to music by William B. Bradbury. I went to Rochester to preach as a candidate before the Second Baptist Church. Going into their chapel...I picked up a hymnal to see what they were singing, and opened it at my own hymn, "He Leadeth Me."

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." ~Luke 12:6-7

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." ~Psalm 23:2-3

Have a sweet Lord's day, friends.