Samuel Trevor Francis has written just a few hymns but each of them are said to be of outstanding quality. He was born at Chestnut, Hertz, November 19th, 1834, and taken to Hull when he was still a child. As he was growing up, he came under the influence of a godly grandmother who taught him the alphabet by using the Bible as the reading book.
“One of my earliest recollections, ” wrote Samuel, “ is going with my eldest brother into my mother’s room, and made to kneel with her, while she poured out her soul in earnest supplication that her boys might grow-up to be God-fearing men. ”
When he was a little boy, Samuel began to put together rhymes, which were scribbled for his own and his friends’ amusement. His small poems showed signs of poetic abilities which developed as he grew up. Before reaching young adulthood, he gathered together his various compositions, and copied them into a manuscript which Samuel made himself. He later destroyed it, tearing the book from cover to cover, in a fit of irritation brought on by his eldest brother, who, jealous of the attention Samuel was getting, persistently annoyed and persecuted the young poet. As a result, many of his earliest poems were irretrievably lost.
After the family moved to London, it had been decided that Samuel would enter the medical profession. He studied for about twelve months, but after the death of his father, the plans for his future career ended. It was around this time that he became greatly concerned about his soul’s eternal welfare and would cry to God for forgiveness and peace. He met a prominent businessman, a faithful servant of God, who gave most of his time to care for the spiritual well-being of young men. Young Samuel felt the weight of his sin increasing more than ever until it hit a peak. “ I was on my way home from work, ” he said as he recollected the story, “and had to cross Hungerford Bridge to the south of the Thames. It was a winter’s night of wind and rain, and in the loneliness of that walk I cried to God to have mercy upon me. Staying for a moment to look at the dark waters flowing under the bridge, the temptation was whispered to me, ‘Make an end of all this misery. ’ I drew back from the evil thought, and suddenly a message was borne into my very soul, ‘You do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? ’ I at once answered, ‘I do believe, ’ and I put my whole trust in Him as my Savior. Instantly there came this reply, ‘Then you are saved! ’ and with the thrill of joy I ran across the bridge, burst through the turnstile and pursued my way home, repeating the words again and again, ‘Then I am saved! then I am saved! ’”
Samuel Francis associated himself with the assembly of believers meeting at Kennington, which was the first stepping stone towards the many services in the Lord’s work in which he served faithfully during his lifetime.
As a singer of the Gospel, Mr. Francis was much used by God, and during the Moody and Sankey mission, when a great wave of revival swept over British Isles, he assisted in the musical part of the services held in the Agricultural Hall, London, where, on several occasions he was Mr. Sankey’s deputy.
The poems and hymns of S. Trevor Francis were collected and published in book form, after he passed away seventy years later.
A hymn which appears in one or two collections, ranks among his best, and is worthy of a place in every hymnal:
“ O the deep deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love,
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To Thy glorious rest above.
On December 28, 1925, Samuel T. Francis entered the glorious rest above, of which he loved to sing about, at the age of ninety-one.
FATHER, for all You are, for all You did for us, for Your wonderful plan for us, for forgiveness, for being alive, for being Your Son, for Your Son Jesus Christ given for us, for..., for... for all Your blessings, for what I can see and what I cannot see...
Father I adore Thee...
Millions and millions of thanks to You, my God and Lord.
Although all my weakness You know, I love You...
I discovered this hymn in a book by James Stewart, the evangelist/missionary. Thank you so much for giving me the rest of the words and the music. The hymn is such a blessing.
Thanks to the Lord for all His gifts, especially His gift of this site, and this song. I am sixty and have sang many hymns, but cannot remember singing this one, but God has poured out such a blessing since I found it. He has also called me to note it to be sang at my funeral. No, I am not "dying" or "ill", as we know it on earth, but in truth we all grow closer each day. I have also been sharing the site and this hymn with others as God leads. So thank you His servant, for your service to Him.