The Cyber Hymnal ‎#5833

5833. The Rock That Is Higher Than I

1. Oh! sometimes the shadows are deep,
And rough seems the path to the goal,
And sorrows, sometimes how they sweep
Like tempests down over the soul.

Refrain
O then to the Rock let me fly
To the Rock that is higher than I
O then to the Rock let me fly
To the Rock that is higher than I!

2. Oh! sometimes how long seems the day,
And sometimes how weary my feet!
But toiling in life’s dusty way,
The Rock’s blessèd shadow, how sweet! [Refrain]

3. Then near to the Rock let me keep
If blessings or sorrows prevail,
Or climbing the mountain way steep,
Or walking the shadowy vale. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: Oh! sometimes the shadows are deep
• Title: The Rock That Is Higher Than I
• Author: Eras­tus John­son (1871)
• Refrain First Line: O then to the Rock let me fly
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Writ­ten dur­ing the Amer­i­can fi­nan­cial panic of 1871: There was a con­ven­tion of the Y.M.C.A. at Car­lisle [Penn­syl­van­ia], which I at­tend­ed as a del­e­gate, and John Wan­a­mak­er was pres­i­dent of the con­ven­tion. About the se­cond day there came a tel­e­gram from Phil­a­del­phia that the bank­ing house of Jay Cook & Co. had failed, in which Mr. Wan­a­mak­er had $70,000 which to him at that time in life was a great amount to lose. Soon fol­lowed re­ports of other firms through­out the count­ry, in­di­cat­ing a gen­er­al pa­nic. As a mat­ter of course, it threw a pall of gloom over the con­ven­tion, for near­ly all its mem­bers were men of bus­i­ness. As an ex­pres­sion of the com­mon feel­ing I wrote “The Rock That Is High­er Than I.”…Mr. Wm. Fish­er of Phil­a­del­phia, the com­pos­er of ma­ny tunes for gos­pel hymns, was at the con­ven­tion, and in con­junc­tion with Bro­ther Will­iam, led the sing­ing. I gave the words to him and he set them to mu­sic, sang them, and they with the mu­sic im­me­di­ate­ly be­came pop­u­lar in the con­ven­tion, es­pe­cial­ly with Mr. Wan­a­mak­er, who sev­er­al times called for it. And soon it found its way in­to ma­ny pub­li­ca­tions. Autobiography of Eras­tus John­son, ed­it­ed by Fre­mont John­son, Chapter VII

Tune Information

• Name: [Oh! sometimes the shadows are deep]
• Composer: William Gustavus Fischer
• Key: A♭ Major
• Source: English
• Copyright: Public Domain