December 28, 2020 (Monday)
I’ve been remembering hymns about the will of God. One song that immediately came to mind was, “Sweet Will of God,” once a very popular gospel song that was heard in many worship services about the time that I began ministry 70 years ago, but is seldom heard today. Perhaps Amy Grant’s recording will arouse interest in it.
Lelia (Mrs. C.H.) Morris (1862-1929), writer of the song, was born in Pennsville, Morgan County, Ohio. When her family moved to Malta on the Muskingum River she and her sister and mother had a millinery shop in McConnelsville. She and her husband Charles H. Morris were active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and at the camp meetings in Sebring and Mt. Vernon. She wrote hymns as she did her housework. Although she became blind at age 52 she continued to write hymns on a 28-foot long blackboard that her family had built for her. She is said to have written 1000 texts and many tunes including “Sweeter as the years go by.”
SWEET WILL OF GOD
Lelia Morris
1900
My stubborn will at last hath yielded
I would be Thine and Thine alone
And this the prayer my lips are bringing
Lord, let in me Thy will be done
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
I’m tired of sin, footsore and weary
The darksome path hath dreary grown
But now a light has ris’n to cheer me
I find in Thee my Star, my Sun
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Thy precious will, O conqu’ring Savior
Doth now embrace and compass me
The storms have ceased, my peace a river
My soul a prisoned bird set free
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Shut in with Thee, O Lord, forever,
My wayward feet no more to roam;
What power from Thee my soul can sever?
The center of God’s will my home.
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer
Til I am wholly lost in Thee