The song has 4 stanzas of 11s.8s. meter, with an irregular meter refrain sung after each stanza. The music is structured in 6/8 time for the stanzas and changes to 12/8 for the refrain. The hymn follows the theme “the just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). The author advises living by faith because the Lord is the ruler over everything. He loves us, and we can trust in him and his love. The text connects with many other scriptures, such as Proverbs 3:5 - “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
If shadow or sunshine or rain,
The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,
And all of my worry is vain.
Refrain:
Living by faith in Jesus above,
Trusting, confiding in his great love;
From all harm safe in his sheltering arm,
I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.
2. Tho’ tempests may blow and the stormclouds arise,
Obscuring the brightness of life,
I’m never alarmed at the overcast skies—
The Master looks on at the strife.
3. I know that he safely will carry me through,
No matter what evils betide;
Why should I then care, tho’ the tempest may blow,
If Jesus walks close to my side.
4. Our Lord will return to this earth some sweet day,
Our troubles will then all be o’er;
The Master so gently will lead us away,
Beyond that blest heavenly shore.
The first three stanzas, the refrain, and the music, are by somewhat obscure persons. Robert Emmett Winsett (1876-1952), a well-known teacher, composer, and publisher of Gospel music, wrote the fourth stanza. It adds the forward look to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Living by Faith was first published in His Voice in Song (Robert E. Winsett, editor, Chattanooga, TN: Winsett Music, 1918).
The text of stanzas 1-3 and the refrain were written by James Sewell Wells, called by some the “printer-poet of Georgia.” Wells was born in Liberty Township, Pennsylvania November 11, 1872, the son of Chauncey Wells and Susannah Freer. Wells was living in Whitfield County, Georgia by 1910 and working as a printer. Around 1918 he married Annie Elizabeth Linder, and they had five children.
His jobs, based on the U. S. censuses and his World War I draft registration, were:
- 1910 Printer, Newspaper Office
- 1918 Printer, A. J. Showalter
- 1920 Printer, Office
- 1930 Type Setter, Printing Office
- 1940 Printer, Printing
His columns (such as “Little Light Lyrics” & “Verses of Victory”) appeared regularly in The Dalton/North Georgia Citizen newspaper. Later James Wells wrote a regular column in The Dalton Citizen called “The Corner Store Gossip.” It well demonstrated his knack for both poetry and humorous tall tales. In 1940, Hal M. Stanley of the Georgia Press Association wrote the following about Wells:
The Atlanta Journal, Sunday, December 29, 1940, page 5-D
In June of 1915, the Baptist Young People’s Convention came to Dalton. Wells wrote three stanzas as the official song of the convention, beginning “We come, a loyal band,” and intended to be sung to the same tune as used with “My Country, Tis of Thee/America” by S. F. Smith. See The Dalton Citizen June 10, 1915.
James Wells died in Dalton December 9, 1947, and he was buried at the West Hill Cemetery at Dalton in Whitfield County, Georgia. (A. J. Showalter is also buried here.)
The music of this song was written by J. L. Heath. He seems to be misidentified on sites such as Hymnary.org and The Cyber Hymnal. Thus far I have found nothing to commend Jesse Lindon Heath as the composer of this tune.
On the other hand, Julius Lawrence Heath (1862-1933) of Iredell County, North Carolina was a singing school teacher and composer. He had connections to the singing school Normals of his day, putting him in the same circles as Winsett, Showalter, and Wells. Based on available newspaper accounts, Heath’s career as a singing school teacher spanned from the mid-1880s to at least 1920. The report from his singing school at Bailey in 1912 mentions that he is a composer (The Mocksville Herald, Thursday, February 15, 1912, p. 2).
Julius L. Heath was the son of Milborn Heath and Mary Polly Walker. He married Nora Shields in 1892. He died in 1933 and they are buried at the Clarksbury United Methodist Church Cemetery at Harmony in Iredell County, North Carolina. The tombstone states, “They have gone to join the Heavenly Choir.”
Listen to the song HERE.
“Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no faith.” C. H. Spurgeon
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