The History of Great Hymns

In 1904, Rev. W Stillman Martin had been invited to preach in New York City. However, not long before he was to depart on his journey to New York, his wife became very ill. Her condition was in a concerning state, so much so that Rev. Martin heavily contemplated cancelling his preaching engagement, so that he could stay by his wife’s side. 

However, his nine-year-old son showed a strength and simplicity of faith much needed by his father at that point. The son approached his father with a simple question. The son asked, “Daddy, don’t you think that if God wants you to preach today, He will take care of Mother while you’re away?” On hearing such wise words, Rev. Martin responded peacefully, “Yes son, I know He will.”

So after having kissed his wife goodbye and said farewell to his dear son, Rev Martin began his trip to New York, so that he might fulfil his preaching engagement. When he returned sometime later, he was deeply thankful unto God to see that his wife had improved significantly in her health. As he came to her bedside, she handed him a poem she had written in his absence, a poem inspired by their sons simple but strong faith. 

Rev. Martin took that same poem and composed a melody to accompany the words we still sing today. Those words inspired by the simple faith of a child. A faith that as James McClelland put it in his book The Stories Behind Great Hymns, meant that that ‘little nine-year-old boy saw it more clearly than his preacher Dad did at first!’