Hold Thou My Hand

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.

Hold Thou my hand!
So weak I am, and helpless,
I dare not take one step without Thy aid;
Hold Thou my hand, for then, O loving Saviour,
No dread of ill shall make my soul afraid.

Hold Thou my hand!
And closer, closer draw me
To Thy dear self, my hope, my joy, my all;
Hold Thou my hand, lest haply I should wander,
And, missing Thee, my trembling feet should fall.

Hold Thou my hand!
The way is dark before me
Without the sunlight of Thy face divine;
But when by faith I catch its radiant glory,
What heights of joy, what rapturous songs are mine!

Hold Thou my hand!
That when I reach the margin
Of that lone river Thou didst cross for me,
A heavenly light may flash across its waters
And every wave like crystal bright shall be.

Do you ever feel helpless as you face illness, grief or other troubling circumstances? Do you ever wonder how some people deal with their troubles, which may be greater than your own? Sometimes we can only cling in hope to the Lord’s promises, and trust Him to hold our hands, even if we feel we cannot reach His hand ourselves. Fanny Crosby, blind from infancy, surely felt this way often. She also lost a child, and had her marriage dissolve. Other songs on this site tell much of her story, and part is repeated here.

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Although Fanny Crosby was blind, she was very independent, and travelled alone until in her eighties. She was called the “Queen of American Hymn Writers”, and in her 95 years on earth she wrote over eight thousand hymns! Some of her writing of poems or songs was done using one of her forty-one pseudonyms. One of these shows her sense of humour: “Mrs. N.D. Plume”! She was also one of the three most prominent evangelical leaders in America in the late 1800’s. (The other two were Ira Sankey and Dwight L. Moody.) Sometimes lines of people circled the block near a location where she was to speak, as they hoped to get a seat. Those who knew her admired her joy and zest for living. Fanny herself felt that cheerfulness was a priority in life. It’s easy to imagine that each morning she would have reached for the hand of Jesus and asked Him to guide her through the day. And she probably smiled as she did so! May we each learn to do the same, whether in good times or troubled ones.

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WORDS: FANNY CROSBY MUSIC: HUBERT MAIN
S.A. SONG BOOK, 1987 EDITION, #726, 2015 EDITION, #758
REFERENCES: MORGAN, ROBERT J., THEN SINGS MY SOUL, BOOK 2; HYMNARY.ORG

Instrumental (Band) with Lyrics