I WILL GUIDE THEE

  Nathanial.Niles (1873)                                          Philip P. Bliss (1874)

   Precious promise God hath given

   To the weary passer by,

   On the way from earth to heaven,

   I will guide thee with Mine eye.

             I will guide thee, I will guide thee,

   I will guide thee with Mine eye:

   On the way from earth to heaven,

   I will guide thee with Mine eye.

   When temptations almost win thee,

   And thy trusted watchers fly,

   Let this promise ring with in thee;

   I will guide thee with Mine eye.

   When thy secret hopes have perished

   In the grave of years gone by,

   Let this promise still be cherished,

   I will guide thee with Mine eye.

   When the shades of life are falling,

   And the hour has come to die,

   Hear thy trusty Leader calling,

   I will guide thee with Mine eye.

***********

“I will guide thee with Mine eye.” Psalm 32:8

Author:  Nathaniel Niles, 1870

This well known hymn was writ­ten by Mr. Nathaniel Niles.  He was born in 1835,  South Kingston, Rhode Island.  In  the 1870s when he was a New York City lawyer, he was living in Morristown, New Jersey. The verses were written on the margin of a newspaper in the railway  car one morning while on his way to business. Philip Paul Bliss composed the tune and  published in his Gospel Songs in 1874, and later furnished by  him for Gospel Hymns. Niles soon after ward published it in Sacred Songs and Solos, in  England, where it became one of the most useful hymns.. Mr. Moody often requested it to be sung in connection with his lectures on “The Precious Promises.”

Composer: Philip Paul Bliss - 1838-1876

Philip Paul Bliss was born on July 9, 1838, Clear­field County, Pennsylvania. He has composed tunes for about 27 songs including Precious Promise (I Will Guide Thee). He has also written lyrics for 117 songs.  He has authored The Charm (Cincinnati, John Church & Co., 1871), The Song Tree (1872), The Sunshine (1873), The Joy (1873), Gospel Songs (Cincinnati, Ohio, John Church & Co., 1874) and Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs, with Ira Sankey (New York,   Biglow & Main, 1875).

On December 29, 1876, Bliss and his wife died in a tragic train wreck caused by a bridge  collapse at Ashtabula, Ohio.  He survived the initial impact, but went back into  the flames in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his wife.

The remains retrieved from the Ashtabula disaster were placed in a common grave marked          by a cenotaph in the Ashtabula Cemetery. A cenotaph in memory of Bliss and his wife was       also erected in the cemetery at Rome, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1877.

The night before that terrible railroad accident at Ashtabula, he told his audience, “I may not pass this way again”; then he sang a solo, “I’m Going Home Tomorrow.” This indeed proved prophetic of his home going.

Audio CD : BEYOND THE STORMS                                                                                     by Samuel Devadas & Isaac Samuel

An ISPCK  Publication 

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