Scripture Verse

He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom. Isaiah 40:11

Introduction

portrait
Fanny Crosby (1820–1915)

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, in Roy­al Dia­dem, ed­it­ed by Ro­bert Low­ry & How­ard Doane (New York and Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Big­low & Main, 1873), page 90. Some hym­nals give the au­thor as El­la Dale, one of Fan­ny’s pseu­do­nyms.

Music: Dor­dogne W. How­ard Doane, 1873 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Tromsø Dan­ish tune, ar­ranged by Charles L. Nay­lor. Ap­peared in The New Ca­na­di­an Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by J. M. Sher­lock (To­ron­to On­tar­io, Ca­na­da: Will­iam Briggs, 1916), num­ber 449 (🔊 pdf nwc) (no re­frain)
portrait
Howard Doane (1832–1915)

Lyrics

I am Je­sus’ lit­tle friend;
On His mer­cy I de­pend;
If I try to please Him ev­er,
If I grieve His Spir­it nev­er,
O how ve­ry good to me
Will my Sav­ior al­ways be!

Refrain

I am Je­sus’ lit­tle friend;
On His mercy I de­pend.

Very young and weak am I,
Yet He guides me with His eye;
In a plea­sant path He leads me,
With a gen­tle hand He feeds me,
Chides me when I’m do­ing wrong,
Listens to my hap­py song.

Refrain

He is with me all the day,
With me in my bu­sy play;
O’er my wak­ing and my sleep­ing,
Jesus still a watch is keep­ing;
I can lay me down and rest,
Sweetly pil­lowed on His breast.

Refrain

I am Je­sus’ lit­tle friend;
On His mercy I de­pend;
Jesus will for­sake me nev­er;
He will keep me safe for­ev­er;
How I wish my heart could be,
Loving Sav­ior, more like Thee!

Refrain

illustration
Jesus Blessing the Children
Bernhard Plockhorst (1825–1907)