For further study or if questions, Call: 907-252-3708, or Visit: www.frr-churchofchrist-ak.org
Be With Me, Lord
Prepared by Nathan L Morrison for Sunday June 14th, 2015
Text: Heb. 13:5
Intro
Heb. 13:5: God said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you!”
A. A promise like this was given to Jacob (Gen. 28:15), to Israel (Deut. 31:6-8), to Joshua (Josh.
1:5), and to Solomon (I Chr. 28:20).
B. It may have become like a divine adage among the Jews.
C. The Hebrew writer says it extends to Christians, and thus also to us.
D. God will neither withdraw His presence (“never desert you”) nor His help (“nor forsake
you”)
E. Jer. 10:23: The prophet said it’s not for man to know his own steps. We need God!
“Be With Me Lord” (1935) by T.O. Chisholm (1866-1960) & L.O. Sanderson (1901-1992):
A. Chisholm was a school teacher turned Methodist preacher, but had to give that up due to
failing health.
B. He then entered the insurance business.
C. He became a hymn text author (poet) and collaborated with many hymn melody writers, most
famously paired with L.O. Sanderson.
D. Sanderson was a music editor for the Gospel Advocate Co. and had worked with Chisholm
about a dozen times.
E. Sanderson recounts this hymn came about the same night on an early Tuesday though they
weren’t together and neither had heard the other’s work yet but 8 days after writing the
melody, he received Chisholm’s retirement poem and it fit his melody perfectly!
This hymn reminds us that we “dare not try to take one step alone” by saying, “Be with me, Lord!”
I.
II.
III.
I.
Loads of Life
A. Stanza 1 is about bearing the loads of life…
1. “Be with me, Lord, I cannot live without Thee; I dare not try to take one step alone. I cannot
bear the loads of life unaided; I need Thy strength to lean myself upon.”
B. We dare not take one step alone because it is not in man to direct his steps – Jer. 10:23
C. All of us have loads or burdens of life that we cannot bear alone, but the Lord tells us to cast
them on Him – Ps. 55:22 (A Psalm of David); I Pet. 5:7
D. We should look to Him for strength in bearing these loads of life – Phil. 4:13
1. Ps. 131: David reminded Israel to “hope in the Lord.”
2. I Kings 3:7: Solomon, as a young man, had the perceptiveness to ask God for wisdom,
recognizing his inexperience and youthfulness and said, “…I am but a little child. I do
not know how to go out or come in.”
E. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us – let us put our hope and strength in Him!
II.
Trials of Life
A. Stanza 2 is about weathering the storms and trials of life…
1. “Be with me, Lord, and then if dangers threaten, If storms of trial burst above my head, If
lashing seas leap everywhere about me, They cannot harm or make my heart afraid.”
B. As long as we live on this earth, we will have to face fiery trials – Js. 1:2-3; I Pet. 4:12-13
C. The lashing seas which leap everywhere about us symbolize these tribulations which we’ll be
called on to bear – Acts 14:22 (Job 14:1: Life is short and full of turmoil!); Mt. 14:25-31
D. These things cannot harm us or make us afraid because if God is with us, who can be against us?
– Rom. 8:31 (Mt. 10:28: Don’t fear man); Rom. 8:28: God causes all things to work for our good!
E. The Scriptures assure us that however powerful the literal or figurative storms in this life, God is
more powerful and is Master over them – Ps. 107:25-29; Mt. 8:23-27
F. No matter what the storms of life may bring, don’t look at the storm but look to Jesus!
1
III.
Journeys of Life
1. Stanza 3 is about the gift of God in His presence throughout our journeys in life…
1. “Be with me, Lord, no other gift or blessing Thou couldst bestow could with this one
compare: A constant sense of Thy abiding presence, Where’er I am to feel that Thou art
near.”
B. As we journey through life, every good and perfect gift, including God’s being with us, comes
down from above – Js. 1:17
C. If we keep His word, He has promised spiritually to abide in us – Jn. 14:23; 15:4-6 (There is
danger in not abiding in God: Being cast away!)
D. This will be true wherever we are because the Lord has said that He is with us always, even to
the end of the world – Mt. 28:20: Though made to His disciples, still applies to us today (Heb.
13:5)
E. Saints are to draw near to God – Js. 4:8
1. God promised His presence would go with Israel – Ex. 33:14 (pillar of cloud and fire)
2. Paul reminded the Athenians that God is not far from each of us – Acts 17:27
E. No matter where we go in life we must remember, “For the ways of a man are before the eyes of
the Lord, And He watches all his paths” (Prov. 5:21)!
IV.
Sorrows of Life
A. Stanza 4 is about the comfort God’s presence brings in times of loneliness and pain…
1. “Be with me, Lord, when loneliness o’ertakes me, When I must weep amid the fires of
pain; And when shall come the hour of ‘my departure’ For ‘worlds unknown,’ O Lord, be
with me then.”
B. There will be times in life when we shall experience loneliness and must weep amid the fires of
pain – Ps. 6:6-8
1. Jesus, as a man on earth, went through loneliness and the “fires of pain” – Mk. 14:34-36
2. He knows and He cares – Heb. 4:15-16
C. One such time may well be the hour of our departure for worlds unknown: II Tim. 4:6-8
1. Paul was able to comfort Timothy (and thus us) by saying despite his time to depart was
imminent he knew God would be there to reward him for his service!
2. Jesus promised that reward to all who “remain faithful till death” (Rev. 2:10)
D. Even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord has promised to be with us:
Ps. 23:4 (David recognized this fact); II Tim. 1:12: We can be as confident as Paul was!
E. Whether in times of happiness or times of sorrow, we can know that God will be with us and care
for us: I Pet. 5:7 (Jn. 10:9, 11, 14-16: Christ is the Good Shepherd!)
F. God will be with us during times of sorrow and pain in this life, and will be there when the time
for our departure has arrived!
Conclusion
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Sometimes the trials of life distract us and discourage us and we need to be reminded that God
has promised to never leave us!
A. Rom. 8:31: Man may harm the body (Mt. 10:28) but God keeps our souls!
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you; Put your trust in God and in His faithfulness!
No matter where we are in life, in joy or sorrow, humbly bow before the Creator and plea, “Be
with me, Lord!”
If you are not a Christian, you need to be! Repent and be baptized in the only name that saves!
If an erring Christian, repent and be renewed!
Whatever your requests, let them be made known NOW while we stand & sing!
Be With Me, Lord
2
From the hymn, “Be With Me, Lord” by T.O. Chisholm
Sources:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hymnoftheday/conversations/topics/1344 by Wayne S. Walker
http://drhamrick.blogspot.com/2009/03/be-with-me-lord.html
http://markwoodward.org/2014/01/12/sunday-hymns-be-with-me-lord/
Sanderson, Lloyd Otis. "The Lord has been mindful of me": an autobiography of L.O. Sanderson. Gospel
Advocate CXLVI/9 (Sep 2004), pp. 26-28. Available online:
http://www.therestorationmovement.com/sanderson.html
“BE WITH ME, LORD”
“For He has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5)
Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960)
Lloyd Otis Sanderson (1901-1992)
A hymn which asks the Lord to honor His promise never to leave nor forsake us is “Be With Me, Lord.” The text
was written by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960). Chisholm was a school teacher and newspaper editor who
became a Methodist minister but gave that work up because of poor health and went into the insurance business. A
prolific hymn text author, he also wrote “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” for William M. Runyan, “O to Be Like Thee”
for William J. Kirkpatrick, “Only in Thee” for Charles H. Gabriel, and “Living for Jesus” for C. Harold Lowden.
The tune (Sanderson) for “Be With Me, Lord” was composed by Lloyd Otis Sanderson (1901-1992). Sanderson was
a long-time music editor for the Gospel Advocate Co. of Nashville, TN, and compiled three major hymnbooks for
that firm.
Sanderson and Chisholm never met, but they maintained an active correspondence by mail. Sanderson recounts in
his own words how this particular hymn came to be:
"’Be With Me, Lord’ is perhaps my most popular hymn. In Springfield, in 1934, I was working on my first hymnal
for the Gospel Advocate Co. At about 2 a.m. one Tuesday a melody came to mind. I found it difficult to get rid of it.
So I stopped and wrote it down, lest I forget. Even then, I kept seeing or sensing the harmony, which bothered my
work; so I turned and wrote it out completely. It is a rare meter - 11 notes in a phrase, 10 in the next, 11 in the third,
and again 10 in the fourth. I couldn't come up with or find words to fit it. About eight days passed when I received a
letter from Thomas O. Chisholm, who had long written words for me. He wrote that he had retired on the same night
I was working, and a theme for a poem seemed to command his attention. Finally after midnight of that same
Tuesday, he got up and wrote out the poem. He was sending it to me to see what I thought of it. It was an exact fit
for my music. I bought the poem, and the twain have been together since.” (Sanderson)
The song was first published in the 1935 Christian Hymns (No. 1) edited by Sanderson and others for the Gospel
Advocate Co. It is probably the most popular of all Sanderson’s hymns, and the best known of Sanderson’s and
Chisholm’s dozen or so collaborations which include “All Things Work Together for Good,” “Bring Christ Your
Broken Life,” and “A New Creature” or “Buried With Christ.”
Note: Some books have the last word of the song as “there,” which simply does not rhyme with “pain.” It might be
argued that “then” doesn’t necessarily rhyme with “pain” either, but it is close enough for poetry, and much closer
than “there” and “pain.” All the Gospel Advocate songbooks edited by Sanderson have “then,” so it is correct word.
Be With Me, Lord
3
From the hymn, “Be With Me, Lord” by T.O. Chisholm