The annual observance of the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in January calls us to grieve over the legalization of abortion that was put into law by the United States Supreme Court on January 22, 1973. Since then over sixty million infants have been killed at the hands of abortionists. But our grief should spur us to action, first to pray that the conscience of America will be awakened to the horror of this modern-day holocaust, second to persuade our friends and our legislators to work toward the protection of these little ones, and third to assist those ministries that reach out to women and girls who are considering this decision and to assure them of the help that is available if they will choose life for their unborn child.
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday should also call us to rejoice in the magnificence of childbirth, the beauty of these little ones, and the great privilege as parents and church members to work together to raise them “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). It’s wonderful to see a sanctuary splendidly designed and equipped for corporate worship and filled with people enthusiastically rejoicing in the Lord and hungering for His Word. But it’s also wonderful to see the children’s department of our buildings also splendidly designed and equipped for children’s ministry, from the cribs in the nursery to the small tables and chairs for their Bible lesson. And how wonderful to hear a congregation singing the great hymns of the faith as well as little children singing children’s songs that plant Bible truths into their souls from their earliest days.
It would make for an interesting exercise to take a piece of paper and write down the opening lines of as many songs as one can remember singing as a child. Hopefully, without too much effort one could fill most of that page! We would almost certainly start with “Jesus Loves Me,” which is a focus of one of these hymn studies. But how about “The B – I – B – L – E,” “Deep and Wide,” “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “Give Me Oil in My Lamp,” “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” and “Praise Him, Praise Him, All Ye Little Children.”
In this study, we’ll take a quick look at three that we all sang: “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” and “and “God So Loved the World.”
Jesus Loves the Little Children
Clarence Herbert Woolston (1856-1927) was a pastor, gospel songwriter, and sleight-of-hand magician. He once claimed that he had addressed more than a million children! He grew up in public schools in Camden, New Jersey before entering the South Jersey Institute in Bridgeton, 50 miles south of Philadelphia, near the Delaware Bay. Having been influenced in 1873 to enter the ministry by evangelist H. G. DeWitt, he attended Crozier Theological Seminary, a training school for American Baptist ministers. Following his ordination in 1880, Woolston served New Jersey Baptist congregations at South River (1880–85) and Lambertville (1885–87). He concluded his ministry with a forty-year pastorate at East Baptist Church, Philadelphia (1887–1927). Under his leadership, the congregation grew from 176 members to more than 1,000. He wrote several collections of object lessons for teaching the Bible to children. He was also renowned for his use of magic to dramatize portions of his sermons.
He wrote “Jesus Loves the Little Children” as a three stanza hymn, which was initially published in 1913 in “The Gospel Message.” Only the refrain remains in common use today. It has gone through many revisions over the years to become the chorus we all know from our childhood.
Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world;
Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Here are the three stanzas as he wrote them.
Stanza one was based on Jesus’ words of invitation in Matthew 19:14, “Let the children come to Me.”
Jesus calls the children dear, Come to Me and never fear
For I love the little children of the world.
I will take you by the hand, Lead you to the better land
For I love the little children of the world.
Stanza two recalls the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd who protects his sheep, as found in John 10:11, based on Psalm 23.
Jesus is the Shepherd true, And He’ll always stand by you,
For He loves the little children of the world.
He’s a Savior great and strong, And He’ll shield you from the wrong,
For He loves the little children of the world.
Stanza three contains imagery of a soldier that may be a reference to the original Civil War text to this tune by northeastern gospel song composer and publisher George F. Root (1820–1895).
I am coming Lord to Thee, And Thy soldier I will be,
For He loves the little children of the world.
And His cross I’ll always bear, And for Him I’ll do and dare,
For He loves the little children of the world.
The tune, sometimes called CHILDREN, was the popular Union Civil War song, “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” (Chicago, 1864) by gospel song composer George F. Root. Here is Root’s original refrain.
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades they will come,
And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
Of the free land in our own beloved home.
Though Woolston’s reason for this choice of tune is not apparent, the Old Main Building of Crozier Theological Seminary, where he attended from 1877–1879, served as a hospital for Union Soldiers during the Civil War. Woolston’s presence at Crozier only a little more than a decade after the conclusion of the War would undoubtedly have made him aware of the Seminary’s role during that conflict. Root’s text and tune were likely a well-known part of his formational years. Another possibility was that this was a tune suggested by his friend Homer A. Rodeheaver (1880–1955), owner of the Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Company. Rodeheaver, purchased the company in 1910, three years before “The Gospel Message, No. 3” was published, and he was known for his promotional skills.
Here is a recording of the song, with a now-common variation to include Hispanic children: “red, brown, yellow… black and white.”
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
Songs for Sunday School were a novel addition to the church’s musical repertoire. The modern idea of a Sunday School dates primarily from Robert Raikes in Gloucester, England in 1780. Concerned about children whose labor in factories was preventing them from gaining an education, he invited boys to his home on Sunday afternoons for lessons in reading, with the Bible as their textbook. By 1831, it is estimated that 1,250,000 children were being educated this way!
As more and more churches began added structured Sunday Schools to their ministres in the mid-1800s, songs began to be written to add to the resources for teaching Bible content and Bible truths. Around the year 1900, a Sunday School teacher in Missouri named Nellie Talbot was wondering what she could share with the children in her class. She thought of the sunlight that brightens God’s creation, and she wrote a little song that draws a parallel between that and what our lives should do in a dark world.
Miss Talbot, visiting London as a delegate from her Sunday School, is said to have written these words at the special request of the children of the family with whom she stayed. We know nothing more about the authoress. Likely she is destined to remain in obscurity. Attempts to search census records suggest that she may have been born in Missouri in 1874 and was living in Chicago in 1910. We do know that gospel song writer Edwin Excell supplied the tune, and he dedicated the song to his grandson, Edwin Junior.
The biblical imagery of light, and especially of sunlight, is one with many facets. Sunlight warms and illuminates. It is essential for growth in the plant world. It can cleanse and improve physical healing. It certainly has a cheering effects. The patient in the hospital bed brightens with the coming of dawn. The prisoner draws new hope from the sunbeams that flood through the bars of his cell window. Surely these were included in the mind of Nellie Talbot with her suggestion that Jesus wants us to become sunbeams to brighten the lives of those around us when they can see Him in us.
Stanza 1:
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, To shine for Him each day;
In every way try to please Him, At home, at school, at play.
Refrain:
A sunbeam, a sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam;
A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.
Stanza 2:
Jesus wants me to be loving, And kind to all I see;
Showing how pleasant and happy His little one can be. (Refrain)
Stanza 3:
I will ask Jesus to help me To keep my heart from sin,
Ever reflecting His goodness, And always shine for Him. (Refrain)
Stanza 4:
I’ll be a sunbeam for Jesus; I can if I but try;
Serving Him moment by moment, Then live with Him on high. (Refrain)
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
John 3:16 tells the world’s most wonderful love story in just twelve words. It is so familiar to us, we may be tempted to lose the sense of amazement it should stir up in our hearts. It has been set to music for multiple generations to sing it, and it certainly belongs in the list of the greatest children’s songs. It is a great example of how songs can help us hide God’s word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) in a way that will stay with us throughout our entire lives.
It was written in 1938 by Alfred Barney Smith. He was born on November 8, 1916 in Midland Park, New Jersey. He was educated at Julliard School of Music in New York City, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and Wheaton College west of Chicago. It was at Wheaton that he became good friends with a classmate, Billy Graham, and was for a time Graham’s first song leader. Together, they founded Youth for Christ. In 1941, Al founded Singspiration Publishing, and in 1972, Encore Publishing. In his lifetime, he wrote over 500 gospel songs and choruses. Often called the Dean of Gospel Music, Dr. Al Smith was a composer, Gospel soloist, song leader, lecturer and an authority on church music, recording artist and publisher. He was a pioneer in the recording of sacred music.
Three of his most famous songs are “Surely Goodness and Mercy,” “His Banner Over Me Is Love,” and “For God So Loved the World.” In the case of the latter, the year was 1938, and a young Al Smith was visiting George Stebbins, the gospel song composer. Mr. Stebbins had worked with Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, Philip Bliss, and Fanny Crosby, the great evangelists of the 19th century. For three hours, Al listened to the fascinating stories about these men and women of God, how the gospel songs drew souls to the cross, and how these songs were born. That afternoon, he dedicated his life to the ministry of music. Due at a meeting in Oneonta that evening, Al had to leave, but he left with a strong desire to write songs as Mr. Stebbins had. His trip from Catskill gave him time to think and to write. Arriving at the Townsend home in Oneonta, Al left an uncompleted song on the piano as he rushed off to the meeting. Looking at the chorus, Frances Townsend noticed a phrase was missing. Taking a pencil, she inserted, “What glory that will be,” and a song was born. Al Smith died in Greenville, SC in 2001 at the age of 84.
For God so loved the world He gave His only Son
To die on Calvary’s tree, From sin to set me free:
Some day He’s coming back, What glory that will be!
Wonderful His love to me.
Here is a link to hear the song, and also to hear a reading of the words that Al Smith himself wrote about how it had come to be written.