Scripture Verse

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29–31

Introduction

portrait
Emma C. Willard
(1787–1870)

Words: Em­ma C. Wil­lard, 1831. Wil­lard said she wrote the words on board the Sul­ly dur­ing a voy­age from France to Am­er­ica, Ju­ly 1831. Her let­ter with the hymn and its his­to­ry were pub­lished in the South­ern Li­ter­ary Mes­sen­ger, Vol­ume 1, Is­sue 10, June 1835, page 538. Some au­thors state that this hymn ap­pears in Will­ard’s book of po­ems, Ful­fill­ment of a Pro­mise (New York: White, Gal­la­gher & White, 1831), but we do not find it there.

Music: Jo­seph P. Knight (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Knight (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

illustration
Oliver Ditson
Boston, Massachusetts: 1853

Lyrics

Rocked in the cra­dle of the deep,
I lay me down in peace to sleep;
Secure I rest up­on the wave,
For Thou, O Lord, hast pow­er to save.
I know Thou wilt not slight my call,
For Thou dost mark the spar­row’s fall.

Refrain

And calm and peace­ful is my sleep,
Rocked in the cra­dle of the deep;
And calm and peace­ful is my sleep,
Rocked in the cra­dle of the deep.

And such the trust that still were mine,
Though stor­my winds sweep o’er the brine,
Or though the tem­pest’s fie­ry breath
Rouse me from sleep to wreck and death,
In ocean cave still safe with Thee,
The germ of im­mor­ta­li­ty.

Refrain

illustration
Fair Wind and Flowing Sheet
Thomas R. Miles (1869–1888)