Story behind the Hymn...

I found this on a website while searching the net. The site actually has a lot of hymns with the story telling you how the hymn came about.I found this very interesting so I've decided to post some of them on my blog now and again, starting with this one.

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While I was at­tend­ing the World’s Fair in Chi­ca­go [Il­li­nois], Hen­ry Var­ley, a lay preac­her from Lon­don, said to Ma­jor Whit­tle: “I do not like the hymn ‘I need Thee ev­ery hour’ ve­ry well, be­cause I need Him ev­ery mo­ment of the day.

Soon af­ter Ma­jor Whit­tle wrote this sweet hymn… [He] brought the hymn to me in man­u­script a lit­tle lat­er, say­ing that he would give me the co­py­right of both the words and mu­sic if I would print for him five hund­red co­pies on fine pa­per, for dis­trib­ut­ing among his friends. His daugh­ter May Whit­tle, who lat­er be­came the wife of Will R. Moo­dy, com­posed the mu­sic. I did as Mr. Whit­tle wished; and I sent the hymn to Eng­land, where it was co­py­right­ed on the same day as at Wash­ing­ton.

In Eng­land the hymn be­came ve­ry pop­u­lar. Fall­ing in­to the hands of the well-known Rev. An­drew Mur­ray, of South Af­ri­ca, then vi­sit­ing Lon­don, he adopt­ed it as his fa­vo­rite hymn. A year lat­er Mr. Mur­ray vi­sit­ed North­field [Mas­sa­chu­setts], and while hold­ing a meet­ing for men in the church he re­marked, “If Sank­ey on­ly knew a hymn which I found in Lon­don, and would sing it, he would find that it em­brac­es my en­tire creed.” I was very anx­ious to know what hymn it was, and when he had re­cit­ed it I said to him: “Doc­tor, that hymn was writ­ten with­in five hun­dred yards of where we are stand­ing.”
For years Dr. Mur­ray had his wife sing this hymn in near­ly all his meet­ings. It al­so be­came a great fa­vo­rite in South Af­ri­ca dur­ing the war.


Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;
Living with Jesus, a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

(Chorus)
Moment by moment I’m kept in His love;
Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He doth not bear,
Never a sorrow that He doth not share,
Moment by moment, I’m under His care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,
Never a teardrop and never a moan;
Never a danger but there on the throne,
Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Never a weakness that He doth not feel,
Never a sickness that He cannot heal;
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,
Jesus my Savior, abides with me still.