Scripture Verse

I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5

Introduction

Words: Eth­el M. Col­son Bra­zel­ton, 1911. Ap­peared in Songs of His Com­ing, by Tho­ro Har­ris (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Tho­ro Har­ris, cir­ca 1919), num­ber 119, alt.

Music: Lockwood Tho­ro Har­ris, 1911 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Bra­zel­ton (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), or a bet­ter one of Har­ris,

portrait
Thoro Harris (1874–1955)

Lyrics

Do you think the Lord for­gets you,
Because you must fight and pray,
And reap the bit­ter har­vest
You’ve been sow­ing from day to day?
That tho’ you may toil and suf­fer,
He ne­ver will heed your moan?
That Je­sus the Lord for­gets you?
He ne­ver for­gets His own.

Do you think be­cause your heart aches
With ang­uish and cru­el pain,
And life’s bright, gold­en sun­shine
Is sha­dowed by storm and rain?
Of mu­sic sub­dued or si­lenced
You hear but the un­der­tone?
That Je­sus the Lord for­gets you?
He ne­ver fo­rgets His own.

Do you think be­cause the sor­row
Which all hu­man hearts must know,
Has come to claim your dar­ling,
The loved one you cher­ished so—
The joy of your life has van­ished,
Which fond­ly you called your own—
That Jes­us the Lord forg­ets you?
He ne­ver for­gets His own.

Do you think be­cause your loved ones
Lie cold in the grave, and still—
You cannot hear their voic­es
Or work out their care­less will—
The strug­gle you made to­ge­ther,
Must now all be fought alone,
That Je­sus the Lord for­gets you?
He ne­ver for­gets His own.

We are all His blood-bought child­ren;
He holds ev­ery soul as dear
As you do the way­ward ba­by
Who creeps to your heart so near;
And if we would on­ly list­en,
We’d hear Him in ten­der­est tone,
Fear not, My be­lov­èd child­ren,
I ne­ver for­get My own.