Introduction

Words: J. L. M. Young, in Soul Win­ning Songs, Part 1 (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Pe­ter Bil­horn, 1896), num­ber 49.

Music: Hay­ward Pe­ter P. Bil­horn, 1896 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Young’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to ofhim (head-and-shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

[Look to Jesus] was the ad­vice of a Sab­bath school teach­er to a class of boys, in Men­do­ta, Il­li­nois, among whom was P. P. Bil­horn, then about six years old. In less than a year he had oc­ca­sion to test this ad­vice, as he came near to death.

He was car­ried away in a rush­ing tor­rent from a cloud burst. All ef­forts to save him­self were in vain, as the grass and weeds, which he caught, gave way to the flood. Help­less, he then lift­ed his hands and heart to Je­sus, and was saved.

Two men, on a bridge be­low, un­der which the cur­rent was rush­ing, reached down, caught the up­lift­ed hands and drew him out.

None too soon, for he lay un­con­scious for two long hours. An Ir­ish sail­or worked ov­er him till the lungs were emp­tied of wa­ter and res­pir­a­tion re­stored.

The fol­low­ing hymn is wri­tten in mem­o­ry of that event, as an ex­hor­ta­tion to ev­ery soul in trou­ble, to look to Him who is Migh­ty to Save.

Peter Bilhorn