1
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul doth rest.
Hark! ’tis a song of heaven
Borne in the sweetest voice,
Echoed by saints in spirit,
Making my heart rejoice.
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul doth rest.
Hark! ’tis a song of heaven
Borne in the sweetest voice,
Echoed by saints in spirit,
Making my heart rejoice.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul doth rest.
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul doth rest.
2
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations,
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears.
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations,
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears.
3
Jesus, my heart’s dear Refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er,
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er,
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
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Storrs, Connecticut, United States
This hymn is one of many songs where Fanny Crosby and William Howard Doanne collaborated together. Fanny would write, and William would compose. After one of her main collaborators, William Bradbury, died in 1868, she met William Howard Doanne , a wealthy, businessman, inventor, and Christian. Doanne knew about Fanny’s prolific hymn writing, and traveled from his home in Cincinnati to her home in New York City where they met for the first time. Theirs became a long and productive friendship; she a lyricist, and he a composer. There was such respect and professionalism between them that he referred to her as “Mrs. Crosby“ and she to him as “Mr. Doanne.”
One of the first hymn they produced together was “Pass me not, oh, gentle, Savior”. Doanne had asked Fanny to write a hymn containing these words. One day, she heard an inmate, cry out during one of her prison ministries, “good Lord, do not pass me by!” This inspired her to write the lyrics to William’s requested hymn. He then composed the tune, and the hymn was sung later at the prison where the inmate was being housed. The song touched some prisoners so much that they gave their lives to Christ. Fanny was so impressed by this event, that she fainted, and had to be carried out.
“Passed me not“ was written with the words first, and the melody later. This wasn’t always the case, “safe in the arms of Jesus“ is an example of this. It was later in that same year, that William visited Fanny‘s home and shared a tune he composed for the purpose of her writing the text to it. He hummed the melody. As soon as she heard it, she clapped her hands and exclaimed, “safe, in the arms of Jesus!” She left the parlor and went to another room in the house, prayed for inspiration, and half an hour later, she had written the entire poem. It is in a similar way that she wrote, “Blessed assurance.“
Phoebe Knapp recounts: Safe in the arms was an instant hit, after, including it in a hymn book published by Biglow and Main, the nation’s foremost hymnal publisher, it was sung all over the country. Fanny, especially liked it as it reminded her of her own relatives who had gone to be with the Lord, including her baby, who had died years earlier.
A year later, Fanny was visiting William at his home. She was going to speak to the working-men in Cincinnati. During her speaking, she sensed that someone in the audience needed salvation, and so she pleaded, if there was a boy among the crowd who had wondered away from his mother’s teaching, to come to her afterward. Soon after her plea, a young man of 18 came and asked her if she referred to him. He told Fanny that before his mother died, he promised to meet her in heaven, but didn’t think he could based on his sinful living. Fanny prayed over him and she said, “he finally arose with a new light in his eyes, and exclaimed in triumph, ‘now I can meet my mother in heaven for now I have found her God!’”
Doanne had asked Fanny to write a hymn on “rescue the perishing” to be used for mission’s work. That night, she wrote the hymn with that title keeping in mind the young 18-year-old boy that had been saved. Once it was published, it became the theme song for mission workers around the country. Crosby and Doanne worked together on over 1000 hymns. She wrote 5959 hymns for Biglow and Main in her 47 years with them.
Both Fanny and William passed away within months of each other in 1915. Fanny was 12 years his senior.
Sisters in Song
Majaz 1, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
This song was written by Fanny Crosby when she lost her infant baby. Praise God for such an amazing woman of faith.
Gaborone, Botswana
Myself and my youngest brother at first just fell in love with the tune of this very hymn. Because we were so young that we couldn't really interpret the heavenly inspirational words said in the hymn. Meanwhile, our mother of blessed memory, loved the hymn so much that she must select it to be sung at least a night in every single week. It obviously her favorite. But as we grew, we got to know and feel the powerful words mentioned therein. Those words are very heavy that it blows my head off each time I try to sing it. God bless the writer... He must be singing with the angels in heaven.... Hallelujah 🙌🙌🙌
Kilmacrennan, Co Donegal, Ireland
Safe in the arms of Jesus, what a beautiful Hyme wrote by Fanny J Crosby, the words are so true, in these times we all need a Saviour, thank You Lord for all your Blessings in you we put our trust, thank you for the cross of Calvary and for our Salvation.
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God!
Rustenburg, North West, South Africa
Amazing
Cotonou, Benin
No other place is safe except with Jesus Christ. He's my refuge and I'm glad He's mine always by my side. I have no fears
Carolina, Puerto Rico
🙌🏼 Safe in His arms
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ”
Romans 8:37-39 KJV
Keep me resting keep me trusting keep me praising keep me loving you dear Lord!
Hondo, TX, United States
The words of this song came to me as we were reading our devotional for the day! I couldn't remember all the words--only the chorus! I looked thru my hymnals and could not find it. Was so happy to find it here so I could sing the whole song! Thank You! So often words of songs long forgotten come to me as I am reading scripture and give me solace. Songs that were learned as children are so important because they come to you when you need them.