Musical Notes

Hello OCBC family,
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

“Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

                These words are the first stanza of the very familiar hymn, “Day by Day”, a powerful hymn written by Caroline V. Sandell-Berg, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She was born in Frvderyd, Sweden, on October 3, 1832. She was a little fragile in health but very strong in her spirit. She would rather be in her father’s studio than playing outside with her friends.

                She started to write hymns when she was very young, but she became more productive to create hymns after a sad and traumatic experience.

                “Lina” as her relatives called her, was very close to her father and going places with him when he had to preach or minister to people. But one day, Lina and her father were enjoying a boat trip on the east coast of Sweden near Gothenburg when the boat suddenly lurched and she witnessed her father die.

                After this event, Lina processed her grief through Scripture and writing poetry. Many of these poems became hymns. Seven years later, she wrote her best-known hymn, “Day by Day.”

“Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.”

                She wrote 650 hymns and that is why people started to call her the “Fanny Crosby of Sweden.”

Lina was married to a Stockholm merchant, C. O. Berg in 1867. Sadly, she passed away in 1903 in Stockholm, Sweden.

                You might have a hard time right now, but you can find strength in the Word of God as Lina did, and you can also take this grand old hymn into the day with you.

“Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.”
​
                In His service,
                Israel