Today in 1866 – Civilla Martin Born

Civilla Durfee Martin was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. She taught school for several years, then married American evangelist and Bible teacher Walter Martin. With her musical gifts, she was a great support to him in his ministry, and they collaborated on the writing of a number of gospel songs. She wrote the texts and he wrote the tunes for: God Will Take Care of You, and The Old-Fashioned Way. For her song His Eye Is on the Sparrow, Charles Gabriel supplied the tune.

It was apparently a comment by Civilla’s son that led to the writing of one of these. She had taken sick, and was unable to accompany her husband to a preaching appointment. He hesitated to leave her alone. But their young son encouraged her with, “Don’t worry, Mother, God will take care of you.” Before Walter Martin returned that evening in 1904 she had written the words for a gospel song. He read them over, then sat down at their little Bilhorn organ and composed the tune for the encouraging song, God Will Take Care of You.

It is a good hymn. However, the third line of Stanza 3 must surely be qualified. (It is, in the first line of the verse, but the connection may not be clear.) Nothing we ask in prayer that is in accord with the will of God will be denied us. But sometimes we are like naive children, asking for things that would be hurtful to us or others. Aren’t you glad that our loving Father denies us such things? (When I am leading the singing, I usually have the congregation skip this stanza.)

All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you.

Another song of Civilla Martin’s came in 1905 from the comment of a friend. She and her husband were visiting a Mr. And Mrs. Doolittle in Elmira, New York. She had been bedridden for nearly 20 years, and her husband was wheelchair-bound. But the godly couple continued to have a joyful, positive outlook. When Walter Martin asked their secret, Mrs. Doolittle replied, simply, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

It is a reference to the words of Jesus. “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will….[“not one of them is forgotten by God,” Lk. 12:6] Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29, 31). The song that resulted from this encounter was later made famous by converted actress and legendary blues singer, Ethel Waters. She even entitled her autobiography, His Eye Is on the Sparrow.

Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Ethel Waters was one of the greats of the Jazz Age. A child born to a 12-year-old rape victim, she made a profession of faith in her younger years, but got caught up in the worldly ways of the entertainment business, and was known for her foul temper–until the Lord got hold of her life at a Billy Graham Crusade in 1957. God totally transformed her. (Originally, I had a later version of Ethel singing His Eye Is on the Sparrow–which became her signature song, but YouTube had to pull it, for copyright reasons. You can hear her singing a bit of it in the movie The Member of the Wedding.)

I want to add a word about the song The Old-Fashioned Way as well. Christians can so easily become enamoured with new teachers, new methods, new fads–and sometimes new doctrines. Churches too quickly abandon the old for fear of being labelled “old-fashioned.” As a result, in some services, the preaching and exposition of the Word of God has taken a back seat to spectacle, music, drama, with sermonettes rooted more in pop psychology than in the Scriptures. This song, written in 1914, still has a message for us.

They call me old-fashioned because I believe
That the Bible is God’s holy Word,
That Jesus, who lived among men long ago,
Is divine, and the Christ of God.

My sin was old-fashioned,
My guilt was old-fashioned,
God’s love was old-fashioned, I know;
And the way I was saved was the old-fashioned way,
Through the blood that makes whiter than snow.

Old-fashioned, because I believe and accept
Only what has been spoken from heav’n;
Old-fashioned because at the cross I was saved,
At the cross had my sins forgiv’n. 

(2) Welcome, Happy Morning (Data Missing)

This resurrection hymn was written by Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, of whom we know little. He was born around AD 530, and died in about AD 609. Venantius was an important Latin poet of his day. He eventually invested this talent in the service of God, and later became Bishop of Poitiers, in Gaul. He wrote many hymns.

Welcome, Happy Morning was translated into English by John Ellerton in 1868. I am most familiar with Frances Havergal’s tune Hermas being used with it, though other tunes work as well. You can hear each of them on the Cyber Hymnal.

“Welcome, happy morning!” age to age shall say:
“Hell today is vanquished, heav’n is won today!”
Lo! the dead is living, God forevermore!
Him, their true Creator, all His works adore!

Maker and Redeemer, life and health of all,
Thou from heaven beholding human nature’s fall,
Of the Father’s Godhead true and only Son,
Mankind to deliver, manhood didst put on.

Thou, of life the Author, death didst undergo,
Tread the path of darkness, saving strength to show;
Come, then True and Faithful, now fulfil Thy Word;
’Tis Thine own third morning; rise, O buried Lord!

Loose the souls long prisoned, bound with Satan’s chain;
All that now is fallen raise to life again;
Show Thy face in brightness, bid the nations see;
Bring again our daylight: day returns with Thee!