I Will Fear No Evil, For Thou Art With Me

Representative Text

1 Peace! doubting heart; my God's I am;
Who formed me man, forbids my fear;
The Lord hath called me by my name;
The Lord protects, for ever near;
His blood for me did once atone.
And still He loves and guards His own.

2 When passing through the watery deep,
I ask in faith His promised aid,
The waves an awful distance keep,
And shrink from my devoted head;
Fearless their violence I dare;
They cannot harm, for God is there!

3 To Him mine eye of faith I turn,
And through the fire pursue my way;
The fire forgets its power to burn,
The lambent flames around me play;
I own His power, accept the sign,
And shout to prove the Saviour mine.

4 When darkness intercepts the skies,
And sorrow's waves around me roll,
When high the storms of passion rise,
And half o'erwhelm my sinking soul,
My soul a sudden calm shall feel,
And hear a whisper, "Peace: be still!"

5 Still near me, O my Saviour, stand!
And guard in fierce temptation's hour;
Hide in the hollow of Thy hand;
Show forth in me Thy saving power;
Still be Thy arms my sure defence;
Nor earth nor hell shall pluck me thence.

Source: Methodist Hymn and Tune Book: official hymn book of the Methodist Church #540

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Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Peace doubting heart, my God's I am
Title:	I Will Fear No Evil, For Thou Art With Me
Author:	Charles Wesley
Meter:	8.8.8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Peace, doubting heart, my God's I am. C. Wesley. [Peace with God.] First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, p. 153, in 7 stanzas of 6 1ines, and based upon Isaiah xliii. 1-3. (P. Works, 1868-72, vol. i. p. 135.) It was given in full in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 264, and subsequently in other Methodist collections. In addition it is found in some Church of England hymn-books in 5 sts., a form given to it in Toplady's Psalms & Hymns 1776. From it also the following hymns are derived:—

1. For ever nigh me, Father, stand. This in Martineau's Hymns, 1840 and 1873, is composed of st. iv., ii. and vi. slightly altered.
2. Still nigh me, 0 my Saviour, stand. This, in the Baptist Selection of Hymns, 1838, No. 321, and the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858, No. 427, is a cento, st. i. being st. iv. of this hymn, while st. ii. is st. xvi. of J. Wesley's translation from the German "Jesu, Thy boundless love to me."
G. J. Stevenson's note on Wesley's hymn in his Methodist Hymn Book Notes, 1883, p. 209, is of more than usual interest.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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