Great Hymns Of The Faith; My Faith Looks Up To Thee
This is copied from the bulletin of Calvary Baptist Church on 472 Ocean Road in Portsmouth NH 03801. (603) 436-7736. It is dated December 1, 2024.
Great Hymns Of The Faith
"My Faith Looks Up To Thee"
Ray Palmer 1808-1887
Many of the best Christian hymns were penned by very young men. Ray Palmer, son of judge Thomas Palmer of Rhode Island, started life as a dry goods clerk in Boston. After three years of preparation at Phillips Academy, he entered Yale College and graduated in 1830. He began teaching at once in New York City, and that year, though only twenty-two years of age, he wrote this hymn. Which had been sung for nearly a century to the blessing of thousands of worshippers.
That year was one of deep discouragement, for it brought to him a fearful battle against illness and poverty. But his faith looked up to Christ to strengthen his "fainting heart" and while he was treading "life's dark maze" he sang.
Bid darkness turn to day
Wipe sorrow's tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.
In recounting his experiences which inspired the hymn he afterward wrote: "I give from to what I felt and wrote with very tender emotions, and ended the last line with tears. I composed them with a deep consciousness of my own needs, without the slightest thought of writing for another eye, and least of all writing a hymn for Christian worship."
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