He Came Right Down To Me

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.

When wondrous words my Lord would say,
That I unto His mind may reach,
He chooses out a lowly way
And robes His thoughts in childlike speech.

He came right down to me,
He came right down to me,
To condescend to be my friend,
He came right down to me.

The voice divine, those accents dear
I languished for, yet had not heard
Till Jesus came with message clear,
And brought to me the living Word.

Nor could I see my Maker’s face,
Veiled from my sight His far abode,
Till Christ made known the Father’s grace,
And shared with men their heavy load.

O vision clear! O voice divine!
Dear Son of God and Son of Man!
Let all Thy gifts of grace be mine;
Complete in me Thy perfect plan.

Albert Orsborn’s perceptive, poetic words are once again evident in this song. It is the chorus which is most often sung, yet the verses bear contemplating.

Albert was born in England in 1886, the son of Salvation Army officers who helped pioneer the Army’s work in Norway. He was greatly influenced in his youth by a woman Salvationist who kept a shop in Dundee, Scotland, where his father was once the officer. She spoke such appropriate words to Albert each time he bought items there, that she had a lasting effect on his life. It is unlikely that this woman was still alive to see the boy rise to become the Army’s worldwide leader!

He was greatly influenced in his youth by a woman Salvationist who kept a shop in Dundee Share on X

Albert worked for a time at International Headquarters in London, England. He trained as an officer and held various appointments, including corps, training college and divisional work, as well as becoming Chief Secretary in New Zealand and Territorial Commander of Scotland and Ireland. He was British Commissioner from 1940 – 1946, when he was elected General. General Orsborn’s priorities were to continue the Army’s evangelical emphasis and to renew its worldwide fellowship, which had been torn by World War 2. He inaugurated the Advisory Council to the General, initiated the first Brengle Institute (for teaching holiness) and approved the Army’s participation as a founding member of the World Council of Churches. Clearly General Orsborn combined his spiritual, poetic sensitivity with practical administrative ability and vision. He has been called “the poet General”, and felt he had inherited his poetic gift from his father. Albert Orsborn was promoted to Glory in 1967. An anthology of his songs has been published: The Beauty of Jesus , as well as his autobiography, The House of My Pilgrimage .