Scripture Verse

Abide in Me, and I in you. John 15:4

Introduction

Words: Ar­ranged from Jean H. Watson by Ri­chard W. Ad­ams, Ap­ril 29, 2022 (pub­lic do­main). Wat­son’s orig­in­al po­em ap­peared in the Chris­tian Na­tion (New York: Vol­ume 34, Feb­ru­ary 20, 1901), page 2.

Music: J. H. Ste­phens, in The Re­vi­val No. 6, by Charles D. Till­man (At­lan­ta, Geor­gia: Char­lie D. Till­man, 1910), num­ber 49 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Wat­son or Ste­phens (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Only a smile! yes, on­ly a smile
That a wo­man o’er­bur­dened with grief,
Expected from you, ’twould have giv’n her re­lief,
For her heart ached sore the while;
But wea­ry and cheer­less she went away,
Because as it hap­pened that ve­ry day,
You were out of touch with your Lord.

Only a word! yes, on­ly a word
That the Spi­rit’s small voice whis­pered speak;
The work­er passed on­ward, tired, un­blessed and weak,
Whom you were meant to stir
To cour­age, de­vo­tion, and love anew,
Because when the mes­sage came un­to you,
You were out of touch with your Lord.

Only a note, yes, on­ly a note
To a friend in a far dis­tant land.
The Spi­rit said Write, but you al­rea­dy had
Other work in view that day:
It mat­ters but lit­tle—you did not know
A soul would be saved from sin and woe,
You were out of touch with your Lord.

Only a song! yes, on­ly a song
That the Spi­rit said, Sing to­night;
Thy voice is thy Mas­ter’s by blood pur­chased right
;
But you thought, Amid this throng
I care not to sing of the streets of gold,

The heart you might have reached grew cold,
You were out of touch with your Lord.

Only a day! yes, on­ly a day,
But oh! can you guess, my friend,
Where in­flu­ence reach­es, and where it will end
Of the hours you threw away?
The Mas­ter’s com­mand is Abide in Me,
But fruit­less and vain will your ser­vice be
If you’re out of touch with your Lord.