244 I Look to Thee in Every Need
Samuel Longfellow, 1819-92
A hymn, much-needed, to express the effect of religious faith and trust upon mental and bodily health. The idea, so essential to the Gospel, has been too largely neglected in most Protestant Churches. The hymn is representative of the fine literary and devotional quality of the author’s poetry. Though an American hymn, it was introduced into the church’s worship in England before it was used in this country.
For comments on Samuel Longfellow see Hymn 28.
MUSIC. O JESU appeared in J. B. Reimanns Org. v. Hirschb. alter und neuer Melodien Evangel. Lieder, etc., 1747, where it was set to the hymn, “O Jesu, warum legst du mir.” In the original, the first and last notes of each line were half-notes. It is a tune “of a simple, familiar pattern but with a certain quiet dignity.”
The composer, Johann Balthaser Reimann, 1702-47, was a German cantor and organist in churches in Neustadt, Breslau, and Hirschberg, Schleswig.