God Will Take Care of You

Heather Allington

Heather writes for Sunday Song Book on behalf of the The Salvation Army Oshawa. As a lifelong member of the Army, she has loved these familiar - and some less familiar - songs for many years, and enjoys researching and writing about their origins. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired elementary school teacher who likes trying her hand at watercolour painting and poetry writing.

Be not dismayed whate’er betide –
God will take care of you!
Beneath His wings of love abide –
God will take care of you!

God will take care of you,
Through every day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you;
God will take care of you!

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you!
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you!

All you may need He will provide;
God will take care of you!
Trust Him, and you will be satisfied;
God will take care of you!

Lonely and sad, from friends apart –
God will take care of you!
He will give peace to your aching heart;
God will take care of you!

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you!
Lean, weary one, upon His breast;
God will take care of you!

In 1904, a woman named Civilla Martin lived in Lestershire, New York with her husband, Walter, and their young child. Walter was a preacher who was compiling a collection of hymns for a Bible school. One Sunday they had plans to travel to another town for a preaching engagement, but when Civilla fell ill, Walter decided to cancel those plans. The child spoke up in faith, saying, “Oh Daddy, you don’t have to stay home because of Mother – God will take care of us.” Walter carried out his assignment, and when he returned, Civilla handed him the words of the above song, which she had just written. He composed the melody, and the song was published in the book he was compiling.

Civilla handed him the words of the song, which she had just written Share on X

No doubt this hymn has encouraged hundreds of people over the years, in many varying situations. One well-known person to whom it meant a great deal was J.C. Penney of retail store fame. When the Great Depression of 1929 caused him a tremendous crisis in business, he developed serious anxiety and insomnia, as well as severe shingles, and eventually he was hospitalised. Drugs only worsened his condition, and his mental state deteriorated. He despaired of all hope, feeling that family and friends had deserted him. One morning he heard singing coming from the hospital chapel, and entered to listen to the music and the Scripture. He later said, “Suddenly something happened. I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm, brilliant sunlight.” From that day he ceased to worry, and called that event the most dramatic and glorious twenty minutes of his life. Did Civilla and Walter Martin ever learn of this profound effect of their song? Civilla lived from 1866 to 1948, so it is highly possible. How thrilled they would have been to have been so used by the Lord!