Hymn of the Week: July 19, 2024

Take the Name of Jesus with You 

TEXT: Lydia Baxter 
MUSIC: William H. Doane 

Take the name of Jesus with you, 
Child of sorrow and of woe. 
It will joy and comfort give you, 
Take it then where'er you go. 
 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven; 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven. 
 
Take the name of Jesus ever 
As protection ev'rywhere. 
If temptations 'round you gather, 
Breathe that holy name in prayer.  
 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven; 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven. 
 
At the name of Jesus bowing, 
When in heaven we shall meet, 
King of kings, we'll gladly crown Him 
When our journey is complete.  
 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven; 
Precious name, O how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven. 

Today’s bio:

Information comes from Robert Morgan’s book, Then Sings My Soul, and from www.hymnary.org  “I have a very special armor,” Lydia Baxter once told friends who asked her how she could be so radiant despite her health problems. “I have the name of Jesus. When the tempter tries to make me blue or despondent, I mention the name of Jesus, and he can’t get through to me anymore.” 

Lydia Baxter

Lydia, born in St. Petersburg, New York, on September 8, 1809, was converted alongside her sister under the preaching of a Baptist evangelist named Eben Tucker. She married Colonel John C. Baxter and moved to New York City, where she worked tirelessly for Christ until a severe illness left her bedridden. Her attitude, however, was so sunny that the Baxter home became a gathering place for many friends. 

William H. Doane

The hymn tune writer is our very own William H. Doane of Granville, Ohio. Here is his biography from www.hymnary.org An industrialist and philanthropist, William H. Doane (b. Preston, CT, 1832; d. South Orange, NJ, 1915), was also a staunch supporter of evangelistic campaigns and a prolific writer of hymn tunes. He was head of a large woodworking machinery plant in Cincinnati and a civic leader in that city. He showed his devotion to the church by supporting the work of the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey and by endowing Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. An amateur composer, Doane wrote over twenty-two hundred hymn and gospel song tunes, and he edited over forty songbooks. 

Enjoy the video that mixes today’s hymn with another lovely tune:  More Love to Thee