Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! ’tis the voice of angels,
Borne in a song to me,
Over the fields of Glory,
Over the jasper sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations,
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears.
Jesus, my heart’s dear refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er,
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
Many a Christian has felt reassured by the words of this song when a loved one has died and is now “safe in the arms of Jesus”. When Fanny Crosby penned these lyrics, she intended them most directly for mothers who, like her, had lost children. A year after Fanny’s 1858 marriage to Alexander Van Alsteine, she gave birth to a child who soon died. It is not known whether the baby was a boy or a girl, and Fanny was always reluctant to talk about this. In later years, when she tried to comfort a grieving mother, she would often say, “Remember, my dear, your darling cherub is safe in the arms of Jesus.”
The tune was written by musician Howard Doane, who knocked on Fanny’s apartment door in Manhattan, about nine years after the loss of her baby. He told her he had a tune for which she might be able to compose a poem. He had only forty minutes to spare before meeting a train, and as Fanny’s blindness prevented her from reading music, he hummed the tune. She listened, and delightedly declared, “Why, that says, ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus!’” She knelt in another room and asked God to give her the words quickly. In half an hour, she had composed the words in her mind and dictated them to Doane! How we have benefitted from Fanny Crosby’s answered prayer!
