Songs of Our Faith Part 4
Precious Lord
Scriptures: Matthew 14:22-33
Introduction:
As you know I grew up in a small Baptist church that was located in the country. I lived in the south and our small church was typical of a small, close knit family church. As a family church there were certain songs that stood out as it seemed that everyone knew them. Whenever our church visited other churches, their churches also knew these songs. As a young person I assumed that these were songs that were mandated that you had to know if you were to be a good Baptist. Little did I know about the origin of the song that we will discuss today. When we sung this song in our church we often sung it as a congregational song. As was the case with many of the songs I grew up singing, as a child/teenager I paid very little attention to the words of the songs versus watching the peoples’ reactions as they sung them. Several years ago I was researching some songs to download to my iPod when I came across the author’s story of how he came to write this song. I want to share this story with you now.
I. The Author and His Song
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born on July 1, 1899 on Villa Rica, Georgia and died on January 23, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 93. He was known as "the father of black gospel music." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom. He was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago from 1932 until the late 1970s. His best known composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", was performed by Mahalia Jackson. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored his album Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey (1973), by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry.
His influence was not limited to African American music, as white musicians also followed his lead. "Precious Lord" has been recorded by Albertina Walker, Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Clara Ward, Dorothy Norwood, Jim Reeves, Roy Rogers, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, among hundreds of others. It was a favorite gospel song of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was sung at the rally the night before his assassination. At his request, Mahalia Jackson sung this song at his funeral. “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” was also a favorite of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who requested it to be sung at his funeral. The song was written out of heartache. Here is the history of the song in Mr. Thomas Dorsey own words:
“Back in 1932, I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie, and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's Southside. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66. However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.
The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED. People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was "Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead." When I got back, learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Fry, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to Malone's Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows.
I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one into my head - they just seemed to fall into place. As the Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.”
When I heard him tell how this song came to be written I understood why some of the older members became so emotional when they sung it and the song took on a whole new meaning for me. As you think on what Mr. Dorsey experienced prior to writing this song, the words might just take on a new meaning for you as well. Before we examine the lyrics of the song, I want to first remind you of a story from Matthew 14:22-33.
II. Peter Walks Temporarily On The Water
You all know the story of how Peter walked on the water, but today I want to use this story to illustrate this song. As you read this story in Matthew the 14th chapter, after Jesus had fed the five thousand, He sent His disciples to the boat to go ahead of Him to the other side while He stayed behind to send the multitude away. Later, Jesus walked on the water to get to His disciples. As He approached them, the disciples cried out in fear thinking that Jesus was a ghost. Jesus immediately spoke to them to calm them down. Let’s pick the story up at verse twenty-eight.
“And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out saying, ‘Lord save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:28-31)
The first thing I want you to realize and remember throughout this message is that Peter did in fact walk on the water. He did not step out of the boat and began to sink; he actually walked on the water. This is important because what we will discover is that we can truly walk in faith when we’re focused on Christ but sometimes we will be hit with such a violent storm or circumstance that all we can do is cry out to Christ for help.
When Jesus was walking towards the disciples as soon as they saw Him they became afraid. When He spoke to them, they recognized His voice. I believe that Peter asked to go out on the water because he knew it was Christ because he recognized Christ’s voice. Think about it! Would you leave the boat of safety and step out into a sea of water without recognizing the voice of the one who told you to come? Of course you wouldn’t and neither would I. Having recognized Christ’s voice when Christ told him to come, Peter stepped out of the boat into the water. Peter was doing just fine as long as he kept his eyes on Christ as he walked towards him. At some point as he walked, he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wind and became afraid. As soon as the fear overtook his faith he began to sink. As he sank into the water he cried out to the Lord and Jesus stretched forth His hand to Peter. Precious Lord, take my hand and lead me home. Jesus led Peter back to the boat. As we review the lyrics of this song, think about Peter and what he did. Think about him walking on the water while he kept His eyes on Christ. Think about him starting to sink when he took His eyes off Christ. Does this happen to us in our faith walk? Absolutely! Let’s begin with verse one and four.
III. Verses 1 & 4
Verse one and four are very similar so we will examine only verse one. It says: “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand! I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”
The author refers to the Lord with the endearment term “Precious.” The word “precious” characterizes a feeling of fond affection as in a cherished friend. His reference to the Lord as precious comes from his relationship with the Lord. His relationship was such that he saw the Lord as someone who was dear and precious and one that he could lean on. In his first request, he asks the Lord to take his hand and lead him on, but also to let him stand. When he suffered the death of his wife and his son I can imagine the grief that he felt and the heaviness that weighed upon him. I am sure he had to fight to continue to move forward when it would have been so easy to turn inward and just give in to the heaviness. When a person gets to a point when they are asking for someone to take their hand and lead them, they are at a point of receiving help and guidance as they know they cannot do it alone. He professes that he was tired, weak and worn. I don’t know about you, but I have been there. There is a statement that I try not to confess but it says “When it rains it falls!” This statement confesses that when things start going bad it just keep going and going. When we start feeling this way and asking when will it end, we are at the point of being tired and worn. He asks the Lord to lead him through the storm and the night into the light. Storms and night in most cases represent darkness and he asks the Lord to bring him through all of this into the light (which represents the peace and joy of the Lord’s presence). His final request that he places in each verse is that the Lord will take his hand and lead him home.
When Peter stepped out into the water his mind was not on sinking. As a matter of fact, the only reason he stepped out into the water is because he was sure that if Jesus called him out he would be able to walk safely on the waters. When we walk in Jesus’ presence there are some things that are not able to penetrate the union. As Peter walked, he was walking in faith and his faith was totally under his control. Peter was the one who chose to stop looking at Jesus and pay attention to the wind that was blowing all around him. Peter is the one, while actually walking on the water began to fear because of what was happening around him. He forgot temporarily whose presence he was in. Let’s move to the second verse.
IV. Verse 2
Verse 2 says “When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near, When my light is almost gone, Hear my cry, hear my call; Hold my hand lest I fall. Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.”
This is the verse that I often think about when I am going through trying times. In this verse he asks the Lord to be near when the ways grows drear. He asks the Lord that when his own light is almost gone, to hear his cry and his call; to hold his hand lest he fall. I have heard many people say that they were on their last leg; down to their last ounce of strength; or at the end of their rope. This is the image that is presented here; of someone whose light is about to be extinguished due to everything they are facing. Have you ever been there? Have you ever faced a time when giving up sounded much more attractive than fighting through? When the idea of stopping beats you over the head so hard that you get to the point of actually considering it? This was where the author was as he worked through the grief he suffered after losing both his wife and newborn son. He ends this verse with a request for the Lord to take his hand and lead him home.
When Peter temporarily forgot whose presence he was in, he began to sink. His mind probably went to a place that told him he should not be able to walk on the water and that there was nothing beneath him. He forgot the teachings that Jesus had already instilled within him and more importantly he forgot that he was actually walking on the water. When he noticed the wind, he stopped noticing Jesus. When he stopped walking towards Jesus, he began to sink. When we are scared; struggling through difficult circumstances; and through it stop walking towards Jesus, we too begin to sink. If through every situation we keep moving forward to our Savior, we will find His hand reaching out to us.
V. Verse 3
Verse three says: “When the darkness appears and the night draws near. And the day is past and gone; at the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand; take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
As we have witnessed in previous verses, his request is for the Lord to take and hold his hand through difficult times. In this verse he focuses on the darkness and the night. But he also focuses on the end of his life – when everything is said and done and his days are at an end. As he stands at the river he asks the Lord to guide him home. The picture of someone standing on the shore of a river is often used to describe someone dying and crossing from this life into the next. The Rev. James Cleveland’s song “I Stood On The Banks” is an example of this. Mr. Dorsey was confirming that while he needed the Lord to get him through everything in this life, he also needed him when he would be taking his final journey. Take my hand, precious Lord, and lead me home. In the midst of everything he had experienced he understood that the only way he could get through it was to depend on and allow the Lord to hold him up.
My Thoughts
When Peter cried out to the Lord as he was sinking, Jesus reached out his hand and got him. I can see Peter taking Jesus hand and holding it as if his life depended on it – which it did. I can see Peter now walking under his own strength and power back to the boat, the whole time holding on to Jesus’ hand. As they arrive back at the boat, I can see Peter sitting down and thinking about what he had just experienced – the walking on the water and how he had almost drowned because he had taken his eyes off Jesus. I can see Peter being thankful that Jesus was there while also contemplating why he became scared in the first place.
I do not know about you, but I can be Peter. It is easy to step out in faith while things are going well, but as you get further down the road, it gets harder. When we’re in the boat we feel safe and protected from the wind and the waves. Sure the wind blows and the waves crash against the side of the boat but as long as the boat stays afloat, we are fine. But when we are asked to leave the safety of the boat and to put our faith on the line that is when life gets interesting.
Asking for help is not always an easy thing to do but there comes a time when things are bad enough that even the most prideful person will ask for help. This song is a plea for help that comes from deep within a hurting soul. I have not experienced what Mr. Dorsey went through when he wrote these words but when I hear them and think about his situation, I understand his request. I was not prepared for my mother’s death and I cried out to the Lord. I was prepared for my father’s death and still I cried out to the Lord. I too asked the Lord to take my hand and lead me on. It was all that I had left within me.
I know that I have lived more than half my life. Although I do not know how many years I have left, one thing I can say today, tomorrow and for the rest of my days, “Precious Lord, take my hand and lead me home!”
May God truly bless and keep you is my prayer.
Precious Lord
By: Thomas Dorsey
Matthew 14:22-33
Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand!
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near,
When my light is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call Hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
When the darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand Guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home.
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand I'm tired, I am weak, I am lone
Through the storm, through the night Lead me on to the light
Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home
