How blessed we are to know that God knows us, loves us, cares for us, and keeps us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:7), He will not allow anything to separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-39), and He will bring to completion the work that He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). We have rich resources in our hymnody to sing of this great benefit. We can sing “Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine,” “Loved with Everlasting Love,” and “When I Fear My Faith Will Fail, He Will Hold Me Fast.” We have this confidence and security, not because of anything we have done or are doing, much less because of any merit in us. It is solely because of His covenant love that we are held tightly in His hands (Psalm 63:8).
We can easily expand our attention to the matter of God’s love for us in hymnody, since there are so many that remind us of this great truth, all the way from the children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me” to the majestic “O Love of God, How Strong and True.” This was a common theme in the sermons of Jonathan Edwards, as he so often spoke of the sweetness and loveliness of this God who loves us. In his little epistle, the Apostle John wrote that “God is love.” For millennia, preachers have sought to convey this deep truth to the ears and hearts of listeners and readers, but they always fall short of its amazing richness. In one of Edwards’ sermons, he elaborated on the sadness of love that is not returned among humans, and pointed us to the love we have for God which IS returned as He loves us with infinite love.
It is that divine love which “keeps us.” More than one person has commented that, while the hymn “Day by Day, and With Each Passing Moment” is a fine hymn, we need more than to be kept in His love just “day by day,” we need to be kept in His love “moment by moment.” And that is the theme of this study, drawn from the refrain of the hymn by that title, “Moment by Moment I’m Kept in His Love.” The phrase is found at the end of each stanza, and is repeated even more in the refrain that follows each stanza. Of the two dozen uses of the word “moment” in our English Bibles, most refer to the brevity of life, and the suddenness of God’s judgment, as in Exodus 33:5). But there are a couple of exceptions to this that are worth noting.
When the Lord speaks of the future restoration of the nation of Israel, He compares her to a fruitful vineyard that He waters “every moment” (Isaiah 27:2-3). The Hebrew word for moment there is “rega,” meaning in the blink of an eye, there giving the idea of “constantly.” When the New Testament refers to the coming resurrection, we are told it will happen “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). There, the Greek word for “moment” is “atomos,” signifying the tiniest possible instant of time. Surely it is this idea which gives us such comfort, that there is not even the tiniest “moment’ of time in which we are not kept in His love.
The author of this gospel song was Major Daniel Webster Whittle (1840-1901). He was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts and named for the American statesman whom his father so greatly admired, Daniel Webster. There were three other boys in the family and before the outbreak of the Civil War they had all joined the crowds of young men who were leaving New England for the Western states. He settled in Chicago, going into the Wells Fargo Bank as cashier. He soon became interested in the Tabernacle Sunday-school, the largest in the city, and in the course of time became its superintendent. It was through his work in the Tabernacle Sunday-school that he met the woman who was to become his wife, Miss Abbie Hanson. She was also a New Englander by birth.
It would be hard to say just when he experienced his first deep interest in religious things. He probably learned of the faith from his mother while still a child, discovering what God’s love and grace in the heart can mean. But we know that he made a conscious surrender of his life to the Lord at a definite time. It was at midnight one night when he was acting as night watchman in the bank. He wrote, “I went into the vault and in the dead silence of that quietest of places I gave my life to my Heavenly Father to use as He would.” This act was also characteristic of him in the way it was done. Quietly and alone he settled the question with God.
In 1861 he joined the 72nd Illinois Infantry, enlisting in Company B as second lieutenant, but it was not until 1862 that the regiment was ordered South. On the night before he left, August 22nd, he and Miss Hanson were quietly married, only to part the next day for over a year. Whittle served throughout the remainder of the war, becoming Provost Marshal on General Oliver Otis Howard’s staff. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea and was wounded at Vicksburg, losing an arm. At the close of the war, he was breveted “Major” and the title was associated with his name until his death. It was when he was sent home wounded from Vicksburg, having been shot in his sword arm while leading a charge in place of his wounded captain, that he first met the man who was to so greatly influence his life, the great evangelist Dwight Lyman (“D.L.”) Moody (1837-1899). The following is the incident in Major Whittle’s own words:
A big meeting of some kind was being held in the Tabernacle, and with some help I was able to attend, although I was still weak from loss of blood and with my arm in a sling. I was called upon to speak and as I got slowly to my feet, feeling shy and embarrassed and weak, a strong voice called out— ‘Give him three cheers, boys,’ and they were given with a will, for every heart was bursting with patriotism in those days and the sight of a wounded soldier in a blue uniform stirred the blood. And how that kindly thought and that ringing cheer stirred my blood; how grateful I was to them — and the one who called out, “Give him three cheers” was Dwight L. Moody, and that is what his friendship meant to me from that moment onward; stimulating, encouraging, appreciating in a twinkling the whole situation — the young soldier’s embarrassment, his need of a friendly word of help; and he was even then the born leader — “Give him three cheers,’ and they cheered.”
After the Civil War, Major Whittle went into the Elgin Watch Company, and it was largely due to the influence of D. L. Moody, who was already in evangelistic work, that he gave up his business and became an evangelist. He always had with him a gospel singer and the first one associated with him was Philip Bliss, whose tragic death in the terrible 1876 Ashtabula train disaster ended a most happy relationship. Major Whittle wrote his first hymn in 1875: “Christ is All.” He gave it to Bliss to set to music, and after his death the words were found among his papers and later set to music by James McGranahan, who succeeded Bliss as Major Whittle’s singing companion.
The greater number of Whittle’s earlier hymns were set to music by McGranahan. “The Crowning Day,” “Showers of Blessing,” and “I Know Whom I Have Believed” were among these. They made several trips to Great Britain together as well as extensive trips in America, and were very closely associated until about 1890 when McGranahan’s health began to fail and George Stebbins took his place. His exquisite music is known and loved by all those who know gospel hymns. One of his most beautiful songs was composed for Major Whittle’s words “Beyond Our Sight.”
Nearly all of the Major’s words were written under the nom de plume “El Nathan.” To some of his later hymns he signed his own name, and the music to most of these was written by his daughter, Mary Whittle Moody; “Moment by Moment,” “Be Still Sad Heart,” “Blessed Hope,” and “Still Waiting,” are among these. In speaking of his hymns he once said, “I hope that I will never write a hymn that does not contain a message — there are too many hymns that are just a meaningless jingle of words; to do good a hymn must be founded on God’s word and carry the message of God’s love.” He also felt that the dignity of a gospel hymn deserved the best he could give, not only in material but in construction, and no rules of meter or rhythm were disregarded. He greatly admired classic hymnody and considered them a standard for all hymn writers. He composed about two hundred hymns. Moody said, “I think Major Whittle has written some of the best hymns of this century.”
According to Moody’s song-leader, Ira Sankey, it was in 1893, when Whittle was at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, that an English preacher named Henry Varley declared “I do not like the hymn, ‘I Need Thee Every Hour.’ I need him “Moment by Moment.” Major Whittle was so moved with the idea that after a prayer gathering there, he withdrew to his room and penned this hymn, “Moment by Moment.” He worked on writing and revising the hymn until 2:00 am. The next day, he brought it to Sankey.
In England, the hymn became very famous. Coming into the hands of the well-known South African author, pastor, and teacher Andrew Murray (1828-1917), who was then visiting London, he embraced it as his chosen hymn. A year later, Murray visited Northfield, Massachusetts and during a meeting for men in the church he noted: “If Sankey only knew a hymn which I found in London, and would sing it, he would find that it embraces my entire creed.” Sankey recounts:
Mr. Whittle brought the hymn to me in manuscript a little later, saying that he would give me the copyright of both the words and music if I would print for him five hundred copies on fine paper, for distributing among his friends. His daughter, May Whittle, who later became the wife of Will R. Moody, composed the music. I did as Mr. Whittle wished; and I sent the hymn to England, where it was copyrighted on the same day as at Washington. I was very anxious to know what hymn it was, and when he had recited it I said to him: “Doctor, that hymn was written within five hundred yards of where we are standing.”
For years Dr. Murray had his wife sing this hymn in nearly all his meetings. It also became a great favorite in South Africa during wartime.
The last words Whittle wrote have never been set to music; they were composed and dictated a few weeks before his death, during a night made sleepless by intense pain. The musical chiming of a little clock by his bedside made him think of the Old Testament high priest of whose approach one was warned by the sound of the bells on the hem of his robe. Here is that poem.
Swift, with melodious feet, The midnight hours pass by;
As with each passing bell so sweet, I think, “My Lord draws nigh.”I see Heaven’s open door, I hear God’s gracious voice;
I see the blood-washed ’round the throne, And with them I rejoice.It may be that these sounds Are the golden bells so sweet
Which tell me of the near approach Of the Heavenly High Priest’s feet.Not every night is thus; Some nights with pain are drear.
Then I join my moan with creation’s groan And the chimes I do not hear.But the Lord remains the same; Faithful He must abide;
And on His word my soul I’ll rest, For He is by my side.Some midnight sleepless saints, Made quick by pain to hear,
Shall join the glad and welcome cry, “The Bridegroom draweth near.”Then I shall see His face His beauteous image bear;
I’ll know His love and wondrous grace, And in His glory share.So sing my soul in praise, As bells chime o’er and o’er,
The coming of the Lord draws near, When time shall be no more.
Whittle wrote very pastorally in this hymn of the many situations in our lives in which we depend on Jesus’ promise to keep us by His love. There will never be a moment in which we are “on our own.” This includes the easy, pleasant times on our lives as well as in the hard, trying times. His love will sustain us in every moment.
In the refrain, we have the continual repetition of the temporal aspect of our connection to Christ. Three times here in the refrain we have the phrase “moment by moment.” And it will come again at the end of each stanza.
Moment by moment I’m kept in His love, Moment by moment I’ve life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine; Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.
In stanza 1, we are secure because we belong to Him (“I am Thine”). In Jesus’ death, we have died to sin since we are united to Him. We have been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). His death is “reckoned mine” (Romans 6:3-4). And now we have been raised to new life as new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine, Living with Jesus a new life divine;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine, Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.
In stanza 2, we are secure because He sees all that is happening to us (“I’m kept in His sight”). The context here is that of spiritual warfare. In our battles, He is fighting for us, and giving us the strength to do our part (Ephesians 6:10-20). He is there in those moments, “lifting above us His banner so white.”
Never a battle with wrong for the right, Never a contest that He doth not fight;
Lifting above us His banner so white, Moment by moment I’m kept in His sight.
In stanza 3, we are secure because He cares for us (“I’m under His care”). Our trials are many (1 Peter 4:12), our burdens are heavy (Psalm 55:22), our sorrows are painful (John 16:20-22). But He is there in all of those moments, bearing our burdens, and sharing our sorrows. He truly does care for us (1 Peter 5:7).
Never a trial that He is not there, Never a burden that He doth not bear;
Never a sorrow that He doth not share, Moment by moment I’m under His care.
In stanza 4, we are secure because He has us in His mind (“He thinks of His own”). How many heartaches and groans fill our lives, but He is thinking of us (2 Corinthians 5:2-4). How many teardrops we share as we mourn over pain and loss and hardship, but He is thinking of us (James 5:13-15). How many dangers threaten us, but He is thinking of us from His sovereign throne (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Never a heartache, and never a groan, Never a teardrop, and never a moan;
Never a danger but there on the throne Moment by moment He thinks of His own.
In stanza 5, we are secure because He is always near to us (He “abides with me still”). When we are weak, He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When we are sick, He brings healing (James 5:13-15). Whether in woe (sadness) or in weal (happiness), He is with us. (1 John 3:23-24).
Never a weakness that He doth not feel, Never a sickness that He cannot heal;
Moment by moment, in woe or in weal, Jesus, my Savior, abides with me still.
Of course, as the apostle John recorded, if we want Jesus to abide in us, we must abide in Him by keeping His word. But when we do this, we can have the blessed assurance that He will be with us and bless us “Moment by Moment.”
The tune (WHITTLE) was composed by the Major’s daughter, May Whittle Moody, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 20, 1870. Originally named Mary, she preferred to be called “May.” At age fifteen, she attended the Girl’s School which was established by Moody in Northfield, Massachusetts. Later, she was educated at Oberlin College in Ohio and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. Having a fine singing voice, she often assisted Whittle and Moody in their evangelistic campaigns.
The year after “Moment by Moment” was written (1863), Miss Whittle married William R. Moody, the son of D. L. Moody. They were the parents of six children, two of whom died in infancy, and they lived in Northfield, where her husband was the head of the Northfield Schools and the Mount Hermon Conference Center, founded by his father. May Whittle Moody was co-editor with Charles M. Alexander of the “Northfield Hymnal, No. 3.” After living a long and fruitful life at Northfield, she died there at the age of 93 on August 20, 1963.
Here you can hear the three stanzas that are most often sung in churches today.