PERHAPS there is no hymn for children better known and loved by people of all ages around the world than—
Jesus loves me! this I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Chorus:
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
This sweet little hymn was written over 100 years ago by a Sunday school teacher named Anna Bartlett Warner. She used to compose hymns to well-known tunes for the members of her Sunday school class. Miss Warner was born near New York in 1820, and went to be with the Lord at the ripe old age of 95.
The tune, “Jesus Loves Me,” to which Miss Warner’s hymn is always sung, was composed by Wm. B. Bradbury, a farmer’s boy in America, who in his lifetime wrote many other beautiful hymn tunes.
There is a story about this hymn told by a missionary who labored for years in Southern India. He had translated into the Telegu language the simple words of the little hymn, and he had taught them to the Hindu children in his day school. A week later as he was riding on his pony through the town, he heard the sound of singing. It came from a side-street and he turned to listen. Around the corner a crowd of men and women and children were gathered around a boy who was singing “Jesus Loves Me” to them.
“Sonny, where did you learn that song?” one of them asked.
“Over at the missionary school,” the boy replied.
“And who is that Jesus, and what is the Bible?”
“Oh, the Bible is the Book from God, and Jesus is the name of Him who came into the world to save us from our sins. That’s what the missionaries say,” replied the young singer.
How wonderful it is to know that no matter how old we are—whether six, sixteen, or sixty—it is true that
Jesus loves me, He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin,
Let a little child come in.
Jesus loves me though I’m bad,
And He waits to make me glad;
Waits to fold me in His arm,
Keeps me safe from every harm.
Jesus loves me, loves me still,
When I’m very weak and ill,
From His shining place on high,
Comes to watch me where I lie.
Jesus loves me, He will stay
Close beside me all the way.
If I trust Him, should I die
He will take me home on high.
Anna Warner and her sister wrote many good stories for children and young people. She also wrote the following beautiful little hymn—
Jesus bids us shine
With a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle
Burning in the night;
In this world of darkness
So we must shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.
Jesus bids us shine
First of all for Him;
Well He sees and knows it
If our light grows dim;
He looks down from heaven
To see us shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.
Jesus bids us shine
Next for all around;
Many kinds of darkness
In this world abound—
Sin, and want, and sorrow;
So we must shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.
ML-05/24/1964