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“There’s Within My Heart a Melody”

Half-asleep, the man turned over in bed, groaned, and then tried a different position. Wearily, his eyelids fluttered open. Suddenly, he noticed an orange glow flickering on the wall. In an instant, he was out of bed, staring in startled alarm out the window. His neighbor’s house was in flames! In moments, he was outside. Shouting to awaken the occupants to the dreadful danger, he sprinted toward the blazing building.

“Fire! Fire!”

The house was a raging inferno by the time he reached it. His neighbors, a middle-aged couple, were safely outside, clinging to each other in singed nightclothes—but there was no relief or joy on their faces. Instead, utter horror was etched there. Their married daughter and her three sons were trapped inside! The ferocious flames were shooting through the roof, and the gathering neighbors sadly realized that nothing could be done to save the four trapped inside.

Fire has a latent terror. The friendly campfire for roasting marshmallows bears the painful potential to scorch fingers or cause burns. This house fire was merciless. There were people inside—people dying! The greedy flames surged upward, catching each wooden beam and turning it into fuel—growing hotter and more implacable.

The neighbors whispered condolences in shaky voices as the heat of the angry flames reflected across their grief-stricken faces. But that was not the end of the sorrow. Someone took the heavy burden of calling the husband and father to tell him the dreadful news.

In a nearby city, Luther Bridgers had finished another night of a scheduled two-week revival. At 26, he was a promising preacher with nine years of preaching under his belt. Before 20, he had met Sarah Vetch, fallen in love, and was married. They were well-suited for each other and had been happy in the Lord’s service. When this revival opportunity came up, he and his wife had viewed it as the perfect opportunity for her and their three young sons to have a nice visit with her parents. And what a blessed revival it had been so far! Many people had professed Christ as their Savior, and Luther was grateful.

Then, late that night, the phone rang. It was a long-distance call. Who could it be? Even if he was alarmed, it is probably safe to say that none of Luther’s worst momentary fears were as bad as the reality. The voice on the other end of the phone gently informed him that his wife and three sons had just perished in a house fire.

No one, except someone who has been through a similar circumstance, could fully understand the depths of despair Luther felt. “How could this happen when I was doing God’s will?” his grief-stricken mind questioned. Depression overwhelmed him. For several months the grieving man was too stunned to continue his ministry.

Hymn History of

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However, the Lord was working in his heart. As Luther prayed and studied the Bible, preparing to preach again, God showed him this verse,

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

Still pained by his terrible tragedy, the passage struck Luther in a new way. It had a much deeper, more personal meaning to him now. Moved, he took his pen and began writing these words and their beautiful musical accompaniment:

“There’s within my heart a melody— Jesus whispers sweet and low:

‘Fear not, I am with thee—peace, be still,’ In all of life’s ebb and flow.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus— Sweetest name I know,

Fills my hear with longing, Keeps me singing as I go.”

While all the verses carry hints of his difficult experience, verse three is especially meaningful when one knows of his tragic loss:

“Though sometimes He leads through waters deep, Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep, See His footprints all the way.”

Luther’s focus was that Jesus—not circumstances or family or friends or surround-ings—kept his heart singing. How could he sing and smile after such horrible tragedy? If asked, Luther probably would have answered, “Because of Jesus! I’m looking on His smiling face.”

“Feasting on the riches of His grace, Resting ‘neath His shelt’ring wing,

Always looking on His smiling face— That is why I shout and sing.”

Luther found the way to joy: gazing at his all-sufficient Savior. He was feasting on the riches of God’s grace, not focused on his dear ones or his material surroundings, but looking for joy from God alone.

God is the only source of true, fulfilling, lasting joy! We should all be challenged to rely less on our blessings and more on Christ! If based on human relationships or material comforts, our happiness will be ultimately shattered. But when we are focused on Christ and His beauty, perfection, and goodness, we will never be disappointed or betrayed. Luther Bridgers and many other Christians have discovered this secret. It is the only way to keep singing when trials cross our path.

Bibliography:• 104 of My Favorite Hymn Stories by Warren Shiver, page 275.• Then Sings My Soul by Robert J. Morgan, page 267.• Al Smith’s Treasury of Hymn Histories by Al Smith, page 243.