Lord’s Day, Vol. 11 No. 23
He Leadeth Me
- Hymn Story
Joseph Gilmore (1834-1918)
He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful foll’wer I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.
Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.
And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.
This is a meditative or reflective poem, as the opening signals when it identifies the subject as a blessed thought or idea. The doctrine that is held up for our meditation is divine providence.
The poet quickly narrows the focus to a specific aspect of providence: God’s guidance of those who trust in Him. Then, to concentrate our meditation even more, the poem is phrased in the singular rather than the plural, making it a personal and intimate statement. Of course, the poem is universal as well as individual so that, as we follow the poet’s prompts, we allow his voice to say what we, too, believe and feel.
The poem was written in 1862, at the height of the American War, and this context of national uncertainty functions as a foil that heightens the unshaken confidence in God’s leading that the poem asserts. The author was both a Baptist minister and a professor of English. On the evening of the poem’s composition, Gilmore led a Wednesday evening Bible study on Psalm 23, after which he further discussed the idea of God’s leading with several people who had attended the meeting. As the conversation unfolded, Gilmore took out a pencil and began writing a poem on the back of the lesson notes, finishing the poem in his room before sleeping. The poem is in no sense a paraphrase of Psalm 23. Rather, as the author himself is said to have explained, the verse that reads “he leadeth me beside the still waters” (v2) “became the theme of the song,”
As we look closely at the text, we see the following outline emerge. The opening announces the theme, and the rest of that line and the next line exclaim an emotional response. The remainder of this stanza, and the next stanza as well, asserts that God’s leading is present in all circumstances of life, both good and bad. The third stanza is a prayer addressed to God, and it expresses contentment in “whatever lot I see” because He leads. The final stanza predicts that what the poet has asserted about God’s leading on the journey of life will also be true at the moment of death.
As we look back over the poet’s meditation, we can see that two ingredients coverage in its stanzas: (1) assertions about God’s leading as a reliable fact. (2) personal responses by the speaker to what has been asserted. The refrain enacts this same twofold content, and it conveys the feeling of being a personal testimony. The poem is written in the couplet verse form.
What we know about the composition of this poem confirms that everything started with Psalm 23:2-4:
He leadeth me beside the still waters…
… He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness …
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.
[Extracted and edited from 40 Favourite Hymns of the Christian Faith by Leland Ryken]
Joseph H. Gilmore was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 29, 1834. His father was governor of the state of New Hampshire. Joseph graduated from the Newton Theological Seminary in 1861. Throughout his lifetime he pastored several Baptist churches, served as a secretary to his father the governor, was a professor of Hebrew at Newton Seminary, and later taught English literature at Rochester University, where he published several college texts in these subjects. He also wrote other hymns, but none ever gained the acceptance that “He Leadeth Me” did. Although was highly respected both in religious and educational circles, he is best remembered for this hurriedly written text when he was just twenty-eight years of age and a visiting supply preacher in Philadelphia.
William B. Bradbury, an important contributor to the development of early gospel hymnody, saw this text in the Watchman and Reflector Magazine in 1863 and wrote this fitting melody to match the words. He also added two additional lines to the chorus, “His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.”
This hymn, perhaps more than any other modern hymn, has been translated into many different languages. Servicemen during World War II were greatly surprised to find it one of the favourite hymns sung by the primitive Polynesians in the South Pacific.
When the first Baptist Church building in Philadelphia at the busy Broad and Arch intersection was demolished in 1926, it was replaced by a large office building. In the corner of the building was placed a bronze tablet, which remains today, containing the words of the first verse of “He Leadeth Me” in recognition of the beauty of this beloved hymn and its author. [Extracted and edited from 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck]
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee