His eye is on the sparrow

Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

The story of “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” from Civilla Martin’s letter to Phil Kerr:

“Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle,—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheelchair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy, Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. 

“One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness, and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s reply was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.’ The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn ‘His Eye Is On The Sparrow’ was the outcome of that experience, singing itself to us that very afternoon in its complete form.”

“[Kerr adds] The following day she mailed the poem to Charles H. Gabriel, who wrote the music and sent it on to Charles M. Alexander in England, where it was first sung in Royal Albert Hall in the Torrey-Alexander revival services.”

Found in Music in Evangelism and Stories of Famous Christian Songs (Third Edition), Phil Kerr, Glendale, CA: Gospel Music Publishers, p. 135[i]

The statement of Mrs. Doolittle is founded in Matthew 10:29 and Luke 12:6, and therefore the song is grounded in those texts.

W. S. and Civilla Martin are buried at the Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. “Civilla D. Martin was born in Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, August 21, 1866. She passed away on Tuesday, March 9, 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia. She taught school. She also assisted her husband, Walter Stillman Martin, an evangelist and composer, in the writing of gospel songs.” Charles H. Gabriel wrote the music circa 1906.

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.

Refrain:

I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,

And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,

When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

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[i] The first edition was printed in 1939. The story also appeared in Defender Magazine (Phil Kerr, “Famous Living Hymn Writers,” Defender Magazine, Volume 16, No. 7, November 1941, p. 24). I have not located the first printing of Kerr’s book or the Defender Magazine printing of the story.