Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

August 4, 2018 (Saturday)
We’re indebted to Diana Leagh Matthews, who tells us about the writer of the hymn, “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart.” It was written by Rufus Henry McDaniel, who was born in 1850 in Ohio and became a minister of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1873.
McDaniel wrote, “I feel in my soul that God has something for me to do in brightening the experience of struggling souls. My chief desire is to be a blessing, if possible, to my fellow-men through these hymns and thereby glorify God in the name of his dear son ‘whose I am and whom I serve.'”
He and his wife Margaret Dragoo had three children, but their youngest son, Herschel, died in early 1913. After the untimely death of his son, McDaniel sat down and wrote the words as a reminder of maintaining joy, faith and hope in times of trial. He felt there was no better way to honor his son than to write music about his faith.
He sent this poem and five other poems to Charles Hutchinson Gabriel, who added music to it. The song was sung at the Billy Sunday crusades in 1915, and became so popular that people sang it in the streets of Philadelphia.
McDaniel served a number of churches before retiring in Dayton, Ohio. He died on February 13, 1940, having written over 100 hymns over his lifetime.