When I was little, we used to spend a lot of time at my cousin’s house. My mom and my aunt were best friends in high school and my cousins were very close in age to my brother and I. Gina is a year old than me, Jason a year younger, and my brother is two years younger than Jason.
Besides the adventures we shared, one of the things I remember most about that time was my mom and aunt playing guitar and singing. This was one of my favorite songs that they sang.
I’ve searched through iTunes trying to find who sings it the way I remember them singing it. I have five different renditions of it on my ipod. The closest I could find was by Dottie West.
It’s a beautiful song, one where singers can show off the range of their voice and so they usually make the most of it. But I remember it as more triumphant, kind of a cross between the way Dottie West and the Statler Brothers sing it. Judith Roberts comes pretty close as well.
[amazonmp3 asin=”B0013ANAXA”]
Artist: Dottie West
Album: The Essential Dottie West
His Eye is on the Sparrow Lyrics
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
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Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Refrain
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Refrain
[itunes id=”258649475″]
About His Eye is On the Sparrow
The words to the song were written in 1905 by Civilla D. Martin ((“His Eye is on the Sparrow.” Wikipedia. Accessed July 18, 2013. )) and the music was composed by Charles H. Gabriel. It references Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:26 and 10:29-31 and was inspired by a couple who were undergoing severe health problems and trials, but still put their complete trust in God. Martin shared the story behind the song:
Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittles, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s reply was simple: “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” was the outcome of that experience.
For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
~ Matthew 6:25-27 NASB
What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
~ Matthew 10:29-31 NLT
