By Gideon Edward Macomber
and Deborah Macomber
Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820. She was born with bad eyes, but a doctor did not treat her eyes correctly, and she became permanently blind. For the rest of her life, someone would have to lead her around.
She married a blind man named Alexander Van Alstyne in 1858.
This hymn was written out of gratitude to God. One day, she badly needed five dollars. She did not know where she could possibly obtain this amount, and, as was her custom, began to pray. Within about ten minutes, a stranger appeared at the door with just the right amount. She said “I have no way of accounting for this, except to believe that God, in answer to my prayer, put it into the heart of this good man to bring the money. My first thought was, it is so wonderful the way the Lord leads me. I immediately wrote the poem and Dr. Lowry set it to music.”
Robert Lowry was born on March 12, 1826, in Philadelphia. He died November 25, 1899, in New Jersey. He became a Baptist when he was seventeen, and soon after entered Lewisburg University. He graduated in 1854 at the age of 28. He was a great preacher, and was pastor of several leading Baptist churches in the East. His favorite studies were music and hymnology, but he always did it for fun. After the death of William Bradbury, he became music editor of the Biglow Publishing Company. It is said that the quality of his publications were so good that they plainly did mush to stimulate the cause of sacred music. In his whole lifetime, he composed about 500 hymns. He also wrote the words for some hymns including: “Nothing but the Blood,” “Christ Arose,” and “Shall we Gather at the River?”
Resources:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org
http://www.virtualology.com
http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bcrosby.html
Osbeck, K. W. 101 Hymn Stories. Includes music and index. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1982.
