MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR 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.

My times are in Your hand;
My God, I wish them there!
My life, my friends, my soul I leave
Entirely to Your care.

My times are in Your hand,
Whatever they may be,
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As You know best for me.

My times are in Your hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
A father’s hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

My times are in Your hand,
Jesus, the crucified;
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced
Are now my guard and guide.

My times are in Your hand,
I’ll always trust in Thee;
And after death, at Your right hand
I shall forever be.

It’s interesting to see that this hymn, written in the 19th century, has been updated in the 2015 Song Book by changing the old Thy and Thee to the modern Your and You , except in the final verse.

William Freeman Lloyd lived in Gloucester, England from 1791 to 1853. Most of his writing was connected to children’s work. He was a secretary of the Sunday School Union and initiated the Sunday School Teacher’s Magazine . He also edited publications such as The Child’s Companion and The Weekly Visitor . Still more of his work was found in books and tracts for Sunday School teachers and children.

We in the 21st century live in quickly-changing times, as we are daily reminded in the media. How reassuring that we can trustfully leave ourselves in God’s hands and His unchanging love!