Day By Day
A hymn born in tragedy – from the pen of a poet known as “the Fanny Crosby of Sweden”, whose beautiful words touched the heart of the nation and even the King when a local troubadour began to sing them. “Day By Day” is a fascinating story, and a touching song that will undoubtedly impact you today.
Introduction
Some hymns are born out of tragic circumstances, and a very sad story paved the way for this hymn. I didn't know this hymn until yesterday when I started to learn it, and yet it sounded instantly familiar when I started to play the notes and I thought, "I feel like I've heard this."
Then I realised that the modern song Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me, one of my favourite worship songs, actually sounds a lot like this song in its tune and phrasing - it sounds very similar. I wonder if the writers were influenced by this at all.
What do you know of the song? Do you have any memories attached to it? Does it mean something special to you? Share in the comments how the song has impacted your life.
The Story Behind "Day By Day"
Carolina Sandell - well, Lina Sandell as she's known - was born in 1832 in Sweden, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She really was loved by her father. She was her father's favourite child, you might say, although I guess he would have denied that! But he really loved her, and she spent a lot of time with him as he prepared his sermons and did his church work.
But she was a frail child, and at the age of 12, she was actually partially paralysed by an illness. But an amazing thing happened because one day when her parents went out, probably to church, she was at home because she couldn't really move much. She was in her bed, reading the Bible and praying. And as she read the Bible and prayed and asked for God's healing, she was healed. Her parents were gobsmacked when they came home and saw this little girl of theirs walking around the house when they'd left her semi-paralysed.
Her deep faith grew from there and she began writing poetry. In fact, she published a book of poetry at the age of 16.
But the tragedy of which I spoke earlier came when she was 26 years old. She was accompanying her father on a boat trip across a lake, but the boat, unfortunately, at one point in rough water, lurched and her father went flying off into the water. She couldn't swim and she was stranded, left there watching her poor father drown.
That's going to severely impact anybody's life, of course. She was initially devastated by this and always was. But she let this drive her closer to God. And I think that's a wonderful lesson - that her grief drove her closer to her Lord. In fact, this broken heart that she was feeling really led her to an amazing season of writing more poems. She just wrote ferociously, putting all of her feelings into a real abundance of amazing poetry.
It was seven years later that she wrote the words for this hymn, Day by Day. It's one of those special songs because it's not a theory that seems dry, but it seems to be the heartfelt cry of somebody who's experienced God's love and God's help through difficult seasons. Those are the best songs, aren't they?
She wrote this beautiful song and it captured so many people. In particular, it became quite famous when one of Sweden's great guitarists, Oskar Ahnfelt, set this to a beautiful tune and started to perform it wherever he went. He was a travelling troubadour. He had a ten-string guitar and he would go from village to village and play music. As he began to sing the song, it captured the heart of the country. In fact, there's this beautiful quote where Sandell said that Oskar sang her songs into the hearts of the people.
There's an interesting story about how the king at the time in Sweden, King Carl XV, wanted to hear this travelling musician that he'd heard of, and he invited him to come and perform for him. Lina Sandell actually wrote a song for the occasion. As this man sang, the king was moved to tears as he listened to these beautiful songs, many of which were written by Lina Sandell.
The famous Swedish nightingale, Jenny Lind, actually also took this song and sang it in many of her performances. She liked the music that these two had brought together, and she took many of them and made them quite famous herself. If you remember, she went around the world, and this is probably how the song got out into the world and didn't just become a Swedish thing.
Well, the Scandinavian immigrants also brought the song over to America. One was a man named Andrew Skoog - a Swedish immigrant who knew his English very well. He was also a great musician and, obviously with his knowledge of English, he could take songs from Europe and retranslate or translate them into English, which he did for this song. It started appearing in hymnals around that time and became very popular ever since.
Ahnfelt died at the age of 70, but Sandell was known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden. She wrote all these wonderful hymns that really had an impact over there. This is the one that has become so well known in the English-speaking world.
What Do the Lyrics of "Day By Day" Mean?
Let's take a look at her words and see what it was that she wrote that became so famous. It's a simple three-verse song. This is, of course, Skoog's translation, which starts: Day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here.
Just picture this lady having gone through such deep emotional trauma from seeing her father die a tragic death. But she writes, "Day by day and moment by moment, God gives me the strength to meet my trials." Remember how Isaiah wrote about those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength in Isaiah chapter 40? This is so true. If your strength is in God, then whatever comes your way, that source of strength will never disappear. Day by day, every day and every moment you can go back to him. Perhaps this is why you're reading this today - because God is calling you to rely on him for your strength through your trials.
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. Bestowment is the gift that God has provided graciously and wisely. As we go through our trials and our difficulties, we trust that he has gifted us, bestowed upon us all that we need, so that we don't need to worry and we don't need to fear. Jesus spoke about worry. He said that we shouldn't worry, that God cares for the birds and for the fields - how much more does he care for us? We are created in his image. We are his children. Of course, through our trials we can trust in him. We don't need to fear. I like that verse in 1 Peter 5:7 that says, "Cast all your anxiety on him, for he cares for you." As you go through trials, friends, you've got bestowed upon you from the Lord just what you need to make it through your anxiety and your trials.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what he deems best. Beautiful words. The same lady who saw a tragedy happen still knew that God's heart is kind beyond all measure. A lot of people don't reach this state of maturity in their faith. When tragedy and hardship come, they reject God and say, "God, if he's kind, wouldn't have let this happen. And so I reject him." Lina Sandell didn't see it that way. She saw that even through life's tragedies, God's heart is kind beyond all measure. He gives to each day what he deems best. He provides grace. He is sovereign over all that happens. In fact, in Romans 8, we read that he uses everything that happens for the good of those who love him. Whatever tragedies may happen, God still brings good out of it because of his kindness. We can trust in him.
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest. God lovingly allows both pain and pleasure in our lives. Both of them are for our strengthening and for our good. Can you see that the pain in your life is for good in some sense, and the pleasure in your life is good in some sense? God uses them both lovingly to draw you near to him, and he mingles toil - life is hard, you've got to work, you've got to get uncomfortable - but he mingles it with rest and peace, the Sabbath, the rest that comes from being in him. What a beautiful verse.
Then verse two goes on: Every day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour. I love this - a personal relationship with God she has. The Lord himself is near me, and of course he is near you through the Holy Spirit. If you believed in him, his Spirit is in you and with you and around you, and you can always be assured of his presence. Of course, even if you don't believe, he is still close to you, reaching out to you. It's called privilege and grace. Even though you don't deserve it, he's still reaching out to you. You can just take his hand and know this to be true. A special mercy for each hour. All through the day, his mercies are there, friends.
All my cares he fain would bear and cheer me. "Fain would" means he “gladly would” bear my cares and cheer me. As we cast our cares onto him, he gladly carries them with us and cheers us on our way.
He whose name is Counsellor and Power - this comes from Isaiah 9, which talks about how Jesus would come, a child would be born, and his name would be Wonderful, his name would be Counsellor and Mighty God. Remember that? We often talk about that scripture around Christmas time. Well, this very God longs for you to cast your cares onto him and to walk with you through your trials.
The protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he laid. Wow! That is a beautiful line. We are his children. He cares for us as children and we are his treasure, the thing that he delights in - his wonderful treasures. Each one of us. To protect us is a charge that he laid on himself. He took it on himself to protect us. He could have just left us alone, but he took the responsibility to care for us, to pursue us without forcing us into anything, because he loves us. Do you know yourself to be loved and treasured by God? I hope you do.
As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure. This the pledge to me he made. This is a quote from Deuteronomy 33:25. "As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure." This is a pledge that he makes to his people. You will have the strength to get through your days. Some people like to say, "God will not give you more than you can handle." You've heard that, I'm sure. Other people say, "No, that's not true. He gives you more than you can handle because that's when you rely on him to actually get through it." Whichever view you hear, you will have strength for your days. This is his promise. He's pledged to you. Whatever you're going through, he says, "I promise you, with me, we can get through it." Friends, take that to heart today. This God who loves you wants to strengthen you all your days.
Verse three goes on: Help me then in every tribulation so to trust thy promises, O Lord. A lovely prayer. Up till now she's been just declaring truths about God, but now it becomes directed to him as a prayer. Help me in every tribulation to trust your promises. This is the Christian lifestyle - tribulations come, but we trust in his promises. Difficulties come, but we trust in his promises to be with us, to give us the strength and to be able to walk with him through our difficulties. Are you trusting in his promises, my friends?
She goes on: That I lose not faith's sweet consolation offered me within thy holy word. She doesn't want to lose the sweet consolation she gets from the Word. God's Word is the source of consolation, of courage, of encouragement. I hope that you are diving into your Bible day by day to get courage, to get help, to see how God is speaking to you through your trials. He does. He uses his Word to console you sweetly as you go through your difficulties.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting e'er to take, as from a Father's hand. As you go through toils and troubles, she's asking God to help you to see that whatever toil and troubles come, even they're from God's hand. God sometimes does allow difficulties, and this is an interesting section of theology. Does God cause difficulty? Does he just allow it but use it? Is it a little bit of both? It's a difficult one to get your head around, but she's saying, "Help me to understand when toil and troubles come, even if it's from your hand, help me to accept it," because toils and troubles will be used for good anyway.
You see, as the line goes on: One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till I reach the promised land. If you take those last couple of lines together - help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, to take as from a Father's hand one by one the days, the moments fleeting - she is going to take the days that come one by one, even if there's toil and trouble. She's going to take them, fleeting as the moments may be, until she reaches the promised land. The promised land in the eyes of some is heaven, the final place that we will be with God. In the eyes of others, it may be the sanctified life - I know in my Nazarene tradition, it is often a picture used to describe a life of sanctification, the promised land.
But I guess the lesson here is keep going, one by one, day by day, every day. Whatever toil and trouble comes, trust God and keep going.
What word stood out for you? Is there something here that really touched your heart today? Did God speak to you through these lyrics? Share that in the comments below, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Before we sing it, I just want to thank you for helping me and sustaining me in this work. I'm so grateful for every donation on my PayPal. A reminder that if you join up on Patreon for any amount, you can get the recordings and the solo piano parts that I play underneath the teaching here. Those are available for you there. I'd really appreciate it if you'd think about that. But of course, just enjoy the content. This is for you to be encouraged by each week on a Friday.
Come, let's sing the song. I pray that for you, it'll be a wonderful prayer of just seeing your trials as something you can get through, because God is going to be there every step of the way, day by day.
References
Osbeck, K.W. 1985. 101 Hymn Stories. Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids
"Lina Sandell" - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Sandell)
"Day by Day (hymn)" - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_by_Day_(hymn))
"Oscar Ahnfelt" - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Ahnfelt)
"Day By Day" - Hymnary.org (https://hymnary.org/text/day_by_day_and_with_each_passing_moment)
"A. L. Skoog" - Hymnary.org (https://hymnary.org/person/Skoog_AL)
"Carolina Sandell Berg: Songs out of Tragedy" - Christianity.com (https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/lina-sandell-berg-songs-out-of-tragedy-11630417.html)
"The Songwriters Story-Lina Sandell" - Jimmy Mobley Music (https://jimmymobleymusic.wordpress.com/the-songwriters-story-lina-sandell/)
"Hymn Story: Day by Day" - Diana Leagh Matthews (https://dianaleaghmatthews.com/hymn-story-day-by-day/)
"Hymn History: Day By Day" - Enjoying the Journey (https://enjoyingthejourney.org/hymn-history-day-by-day/)
"Story Behind 'Day By Day' Hymn" - Believers Portal (https://believersportal.com/story-behind-day-by-day-hymn/)
"Day by Day" - Sermon Writer (https://sermonwriter.com/hymns/hymn-stories/day-by-day/)
"Day by Day" - Trinity Lutheran Church (https://trinitylutheranfreeland.org/day-by-day/)
"Day by Day" - Hymnal.net (https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/713/9)
"SDAH 532: Day By Day" - Hymns for Worship (https://hymnsforworship.org/sdah-532-day-day/)
"Day by Day - Lyrics, Videos and Stories Behind Hymns" - Christian Music and Hymns (https://christianmusicandhymns.com/2022/09/day-by-day.html)
"Oscar Ahnfelt: Troubadour of the Swedish revival" - Pietisten (http://www.pietisten.org/xxxix/1/oscar_ahnfelt.html)
"Swedish Musical Heritage - Oscar Ahnfelt" (https://swedishmusicalheritage.com/composers/ahnfelt-oscar/?action=composers&composer=ahnfelt-oscar)
"Andrew L. Skoog" - Biography - Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/hymns/bios/bio_s_k_skoog_al.cfm)
"Andrew L. Skoog" - Hymn Time (http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/k/o/o/skoog_al.htm)
"A.L. Skoog: Translating a heritage" - Pietisten (https://pietisten.org/xxviii/2/skoog.html)
"Andrew L. Skoog" - Wikidata (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6180155)
"Sandell, Carolina Wilhelmina (Lina)" - Nordic Women's Literature (https://nordicwomensliterature.net/writers/sandell-carolina-wilhelmina-lina/)
"The Inspiration is Called God" - Nordic Women's Literature (https://nordicwomensliterature.net/2011/07/14/the-inspiration-is-called-god/)
"Children of Our Heavenly Father" - Quire Notes (https://quirenotes.com/index.php/hymn-highlight/children-of-our-heavenly-father/)