Hymns
"Standing on the Promises"
words: R. Kelso Carter
music: R. Kelso Carter
Background music: Joyful Noise Music
"All of us have times in life when a crisis or problem seems larger than we can possibly bear, and we become very fearful. Often, however, the Lord has to get our attention through such an adversity to cause us once more to rely soley on Him and His promises.
Bible scholars have pointed out that the phrase 'fear not' appears in the Bible 365 times--a reassuring promise for each day of the year. A daily dependence upon the divine promises is the only real remedy for our human fears. Often even well-intentioned parents make hasty promises to their children, promises they are unable to fulfill. How different are the promises of God! They are 'yea and amen', the only assurances on which we can securely stand.
The author and composer, Russell Kelso Carter, was an unusually talented and versatile person. At various times in his 79 year lifetime he was an athlete, an active Methodist minister, a sheep rancher, a professor and publisher of various textbooks, and in his later years a practicing physician in Baltimore. In addition to 'Standing on the Promises', Carter wrote a number of other hymn texts and tunes as well as assisting in compiling the 1891 hymnal Hymns for the Christian Life for the Christian Missionary Alliance. Mr. Carter's fruitful life reflects the truth of this hymn--that only as we stand on God's promises are we enabled to live with purpose for God's glory."
Taken from Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions © 2002 by Kenneth W. Osbeck. Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI.
Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
