September 10, 2005

Have faith in God –
And His Son who came near;
Have faith in God –
Though the eye has a tear;
Have faith in God –
In trust is no fear.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Still Sweeter Every Day

William Clark Martin, 1864-1914

    Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1, 2.

    William C. Martin was pastor of the Noank Baptist Church in Noank, Connecticut (1894-1900). He later served at the East Albany First Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts and then at the First Baptist Church in Ft. Myers, Florida, from 1912 until his Home-going. He was a prolific hymn-writer, though this and the hymn My Anchor Holds are really the only ones included in most modern hymnals. Both have the joy of salvation and the praise of God for His divine attributes that so marks the great hymns of the faith.

To Jesus every day I find my heart is closer drawn,
He’s fairer than the glory of the gold and purple dawn;
He’s all my fancy pictures in its fairest dreams, and more,
Each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before!

His glory broke upon me when I saw Him from afar,
He’s fairer than the lily, brighter than the morning star;
He fills and satisfies my longing spirit o’er and o’er,
Each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before!

My heart is sometimes heavy, but He comes with sweet relief,
He folds me to His bosom when I droop with blighting grief;
I love the Christ Who all my burdens in His body bore,
Each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before!

Chorus:
The half cannot be fancied
This side the golden shore;
O there He’ll be still sweeter
Than He ever was before!

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission