Matthew
6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Walter Stillman Martin was a gifted
Baptist evangelist and popular conference speaker at the turn of the
twentieth-century. Born during the Civil War and educated at Harvard, he
married Civilla Durfee and the two of them traveled actively across the country
to participate in a number of significant evangelistic campaigns. During their
journeys, they combined their writing and musical abilities to produce a number
of gospel songs that have provided encouragement and inspiration to Christian
through the years.
In 1904 while working several weeks
at the Practical Bible Training School on a songbook, Dr. Martin accepted an
invitation to preach at a church some distance away. Shortly before he was to
leave, Mrs. Martin became suddenly ill, forcing the gifted preacher to consider
canceling his trip. Persuaded by his son that God would take care of his wife
while he preached, Martin kept his preaching engagement. That day, church
attenders remarked how God blessed the service in greater measure than normal.
Upon returning to his wife, he was encouraged not only to find her health
improved but also to hear this poem penned to honor their son’s expression of
faith earlier in the day:
Be not
dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care
of you;
All you may need he will provide, God will take care
of you;
Nothing yu ask will be denied, God will take care of
you.
God will take care of you, thru every day, o’er all
the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.
(Kenneth Osbeck, 101 More Hymn
Stories, Kregel, 1985, p.106)
Written by H. Curtis McDaniel
