Leave It There is a 20th-century gospel song by Charles A. Tindley. Thematically it urges Christians to cast all their care upon God – “for he careth for you.” Leaving whatever burden you have with and on the Lord remembers that the “little bird” (five sparrows sold for two farthings) is not forgotten before God. “Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). Your burden might be pain, assault of enemies, or even old age. Whatever it is, be assured that God is in control and God cares.
The chorus line “If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out” sounds a bit man-centered, as if God’s deliverance might hinge on our never doubting. However, considering that the rest of the hymn extols a God who will never leave you, the intent may rather be an exhortation to the believer to never doubt, since the Lord is completely trustworthy.
The song was copyrighted in 1916 in the book New Songs of Paradise.
And you have to get along with meager fare,
Just remember, in His Word, how he feeds the little bird,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
Refrain:
Leave it there, leave it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
And your soul is almost sinking in despair,
Jesus knows the pain you feel, he can save and he can heal,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
[Refrain]
3. When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail,
Don’t forget that God in heaven answers prayer;
He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
[Refrain]
4. When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on,
And your body bends beneath the weight of care,
He will never leave you then, he’ll go with you to the end,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
[Refrain]
The author of this song was a Methodist Episcopal minister, composer, and hymnwriter. Charles Albert Tindley was born July 7, 1851 in Berlin, Maryland. His parents were Charles and Hester (or Esther) Miller Tindley. According to some sources, his father was a slave, and his mother was free. Tindley’s mother died when he was about 4 years old. His mother’s sister, Caroline Miller Robbins, took him in and raised him.[i] Circa 1880, he married Anna Daisy Henry and they had twelve children (according to the 1900 census; some probably died in infancy). The children were very musically active, and son Charles arranged some his father’s songs. Elbert was a preacher and musical evangelist. The music of Tindley influenced Thomas A. Dorsey.
Daisy Tindley died December 7, 1924, on the eve of the opening of the new Tindley Temple building of East Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church. She was buried at the Eden Cemetery in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Tindley remarried in 1927 to Jenny Caulk Cotton, the widow of Wesley H. Cotton, also a Methodist minister. Charles A. Tindley died July 26, 1933, and was buried at the Eden Cemetery.
Tindley, sometimes called the “Father of Gospel Music,” never received formal training. He taught himself to read and write, and took a correspondence course to train for the ministry. Besides Leave It There, some of his best-known songs are Stand By Me (which Ben E. King developed into a secular song in the 1960s), Nothing Between, The Storm Is Passing Over, and We’ll Understand It Better By and By (aka When the Morning Comes). Tindley’s song I’ll Overcome Someday became the basis of and was arranged & adapted for the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome.
Tindley became a full-time pastor at the Bainbridge Street Methodist Episcopal Church in 1902. In 1904 they relocated to become the East Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church. A new building (later renamed Tindley Temple circa 1927) was built in 1924. Though perhaps now best remembered because of his music, in his lifetime he was an extremely popular preacher who drew large crowds of multiple races of people. Some sources say the building seated over 3000, there were three held each Sunday to accommodate all the attendees. His songs were often connected with his sermons.
The songs of Charles Tindley were published in Soul Echoes No. 1 (1905), Soul Echoes: a Collection of Songs for Religious Meetings, No. 2 (Philadelphia, PA: Soul Echoes Publishing Company, 1909), and New Songs of Paradise: a Collection of Popular and Religious Songs for Sunday Schools, Prayer Meetings, Epworth League Meetings and Social Gatherings (Philadelphia, PA: Paradise Publishing Company, 1916). In 2006 the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church republished all of Tindley’s previously published hymns in Beams of Heaven: Hymns of Charles Albert Tindley (S. T. Kimbrough, Jr., Carlton R. Young, editors). In this book, Emory University hymnologist James Abbington described Charles Albert Tindley “pastor, orator, poet, writer, theologian, social activist, ‘father of African American Hymnody,’ ‘progenitor of African American gospel music’ and ‘prince of preachers.’”
[i] However, he appears in the 1860 and 1870 censuses with his father. Additionally, in 1860 his father’s occupation is given as laborer (not slave). Normally slaves were not enumerated in the census.
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