He Cares

This is a hymn I attempted to write in February of 2010, in 7s.6s. meter. It is not Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley, but perhaps it shares a little truth that might edify God’s people. May God bless it to be so. The theme is safety and security in Jesus. He is the only way of salvation, and the only one to lean on in life.

I like the idea of singing this to the Sacred Harp tune Ecstasy (No. 106 in either the Cooper or Denson books). My third stanza has some affinity to some of the words in John Leland’s hymn:

Whene’er you meet with troubles

And trials on your way,

Then cast your care on Jesus,

And don’t forget to pray.

If singing the hymn below with the tune Ecstasy, do not use the repeat found in the Cooper Book, and add the chorus (which is found in both books):

O! had I wings

I would fly away and be at rest,

And I’d praise God in His bright abode.

And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Psalm 55:6

1. The night is dark and lonely;
The way is narrow, too.
But I am fixed on Jesus,
And so will make it through.

2. Yes, Jesus fixed me on him;

He is the Rock, the Way.

And only he can lead men,

To everlasting day.

3. So when you meet with troubles,

And know not what to do;

Cast all your cares on Jesus

For he will care for you.

The Sacred Harp tune Ecstasy is written by Thomas W. Carter (alto by W. M. Cooper), using the words by the Baptist preacher John Leland (1754-1841). T. W. Carter was a physician. Some of the tunes are credited as “Dr. T. W. Carter” (some give the full first name, Thomas). He was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, April 18, 1822. He married Lucinda A. Tompkins in 1849 and they had one daughter, Hannah, before her passing. Carter was a Methodist by denomination, and a member of the Sons of Temperance. He moved to Florida in 1856 and died August 19, 1876 in Lake City, Florida. The location of his burial is unknown (though likely somewhere in Lake City). Carter contributed 13 tunes to The Sacred Harp by B. F. White and E. J. King in 1844.

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Note: Thomas W. Carter wrote or arranged 13 songs that appeared in The Sacred Harp: Augusta, 35; The Old Ship of Zion, 79; Little Children, 86; Church Triumphant, 91; Oak Bowery, 94; Ecstasy, 106; Night Watchman, 108; Concord, 111; Sandtown, 112; Florence, 121; Irwinton, 124; Exhilaration, 170; Banquet of Mercy, 177.