I don’t know, and I really don’t mind; but, old songs have a way of playing over and over in my head. One day this week a golden oldie came marching into my thoughts like a battalion of foot soldiers. Do you ever have that happen? The song was “TELL IT TO JESUS”, and the lyrics go like this:
Are you weary, are you heavy-hearted?
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.
Are you grieving over joys departed?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Refrain
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a Friend that’s well known.
You’ve no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Do the tears flow down your cheeks unbidden?
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.
Have you sins that to men’s eyes are hidden?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow?
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.
Are you anxious what shall be tomorrow?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
Are you troubled at the thought of dying?
Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.
For Christ’s coming kingdom are you sighing?
Tell it to Jesus alone.
I am grateful for these old songs we learned when we were children, not knowing that they were shaping our faith for each and every trial we would go through in life. Have you ever thought, “I WONDER WHAT INSPIRED THESE LYRICS?”. Here is the scoop on the lonely 22-year-old young man from Dayton, Ohio, who wrote these lyrics. His name was Edmond Simon Lorenz, and here is his story.
The time was in the eighteen seventies when this young immigrant translated the words he had written in Germany into English. He had written these words as a therapy for friendless and lonesome people in the world. He had come to America to be a music editor at the age of 19. He went on to become a United Brethren Minister. Some have surmised that in this song he deals with four issues that the lonely face. Could it be that he was troubled as he was trying to find a mate in life? Do you think he may have spoken to people about facing the end of life? His thought for the song could have been born out of the reality “THAT NO MAN IS AN ISLAND”. David Cain, who has chosen to research the story behind these old songs,
adds that even the most ruthless criminals in prisons dread something worse, and that is solitary confinement. There is hope in the message of this song for all of us. Jesus can relate to us, and we can relate to Him because He was tempted like we are, and we can overcome through Him and only through Him.
Through the worldwide ordeal we have faced in two months of quarantine (and, now, limited access to our freedom is being restored like a doctor prescribed eye drops in our eyes, cautiously and gently) I know you, like me, have been telling Jesus all about what you are feeling because he cares and understands when we are weary and heavy-hearted. Let me give you a promise out of His promise box that I am hang- ing on to as I write this today, Isaiah 50:4, “The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he awakens morning by morning, he wakens mine ear to hear as the learned.” I BELIEVE IN YOU, AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO JESUS ABOUT YOU.
Your loving pastors,
Cleddie & GayNell Keith