โ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก.โ
๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ง
Luther Burgess Bridgers was a young pastor who had graduated from Asbury College, Kentucky. He served briefly on the foreign mission field. But wherever the Lord led him, since the age of seventeen, he had been a zealous preacher of the gospel, calling others to put their faith in Christ. As the years flowed by, God gave him and his wife three little boys, and the Bridgers prayed they would grow up to honor and serve the Lord.
In 1910, when he was twenty-six, Luther drove his wife and three sons to her parentsโ home in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where they were to stay while he went on a preaching trip. Then two weeks went by. After the last meeting on his schedule, he went to his lodgings to sleep but was awakened by a phone call at one in the morning. โIs this Mr. Bridgers?โ He responded that it was. โWell, we are sorry to tell you that your house caught fire tonight, and your wife and children have burned to death.โ
๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐, holding the receiver. Pastor Bridgers dropped to his knees by the telephone and prayed, โ๐๐จ๐ซ๐, ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ. ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐.โ
Only Lutherโs in-laws survived, while his wife and sons perished. Understandably, Luther was overcome with grief and depression. But that distraught father leaned heavily on His Savior and expressed his faith in God and during a tearful moment he penned the words of the hymn He Keeps Me Singing.
Perhaps we should not be surprised to find yet another cheerful hymn written by someone who has endured deep sorrow. When you sing the words of this “upbeat” song you’d probably never sense the pain and sorrow of the author. But knowing the story behind it, you can see his sorrow in the phrases.
Thereโs within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low:
โFear not, I am with thee; peace, be still,โ
In all of lifeโs ebb and flow.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife;
Discord filled my heart with pain;
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
Stirred the slumbering chords again.
Feasting on the riches of His grace,
Resting โneath His sheltering wing,
Always looking on His smiling face โ
That is why I shout and sing.
Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across my way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See His footprints all the way.
Soon Heโs coming back to welcome me,
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown;
I shall reign with Him on high.
No matter what your situation may be, there is hope in the final verse โ โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐๐’๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ …๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก.โ And that truth should enable us to live each day with a song of expectation in our hearts…๐ค๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐จ!
