Finding Words of Hope Through Song

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On this episode of Faithfullyliven: the Podcast, as we explore the profound impact words can have on our understanding, empathy, and creativity. We take a closer look at the hymn "Day by Day," written by Lina Sandell, the celebrated Swedish hymn writer known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden. Her life story, marked by both tragedy and unwavering faith, offers a testament to the power of trust in God's provision. This episode invites you to discover how "Day by Day" has touched lives through its gentle melody and comforting lyrics, offering peace and strength to believers across generations.

Reference for show 
Hymnary.org
101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck (1982)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I am Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ.
Hey everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living, the Podcast,

(00:39):
where we strive to encourage youto live for Christ faithfully
by offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity in acontemporary society.
Words have a powerful way ofexpressing thoughts and emotions
and, as a writer, I love howwords can turn my expressions
into something tangible that canconnect with others across
place and time.
Words help to express ideas, towork through challenges and

(01:05):
reflect on the world around us,and then offering a powerful
form of self-discovery.
Writing inspires because itturns thoughts and emotions into
written words, into, you know,written words.
Each word is chosen carefully,each sentence is crafted and can

(01:31):
hold layers of meaning, helpingus to capture, you know, our
feelings and make sense ofcomplex feelings, and then for
readers and then for writersalike.
You know, writing serves as abridge, to invite us to explore
new perspectives, find commonground, inspire understanding,

(01:56):
empathy and creativity and youknow, as we have been exploring
the stories behind the hymns, wehave been learning how writers
express their thoughts andemotions through words that have
been turned into like belovedsongs that we sing today.

(02:19):
Now, a lot of hymns and songswe sing today are a testimony
and they're usually a testimonyof God's character or his
faithfulness in the life of abeliever, specifically the
writer of the hymn.
So today we're going to turnour attention to a beautiful

(02:40):
introspective hymn called Day byDay.
Introspective hymn called Dayby Day.
Now, this hymn is known for itsgentle melody and its words of
trust in God's provision, and ithas been a source of peace and
strength for many who have sungit over the years.
So this powerful and comfortinghymn was written by Carolyn

(03:04):
Sandalberg, better known as NinaSandal.
She was known as the FannyCrosby of Sweden, and this hymn
speaks to the timeless need forthe timeless human need of faith

(03:24):
, hope, trust, especially duringchallenging times that we have.
So we're going to explore thebackground of this hymn, break
down its lyrics and kind ofdiscuss the spiritual and
emotional depth that has made ita beloved hymn for generations.

(03:59):
All right, caroline ArlenaWilhelmina Sandahl was born in
1832 in a small Swedish village.
She grew up in a religiousfamily.
Her father was a Lutheranpastor and her deep faith was
rooted in her upbringing and itwill grow throughout her life.
However, her early years werenot without hardship.

(04:22):
As a young child she sufferedfrom a severe illness that left
her weak and bedridden for aperiod of time, and during this
time she would find comfort inwriting poems and hymns, and she
was also blessed to have aspecial relationship with her
father, who inspired her faith.

(04:43):
Relationship with her fatherwho inspired her faith.
Her suffering brought out, youknow, a depth of faith that
would resonate in her writings.
Through her words.
She crafted a theology of trustin god.
One only felt um sincerely by adeeply personal suffering and

(05:06):
hardships that she went through.
Perhaps one of the pivotalmoments in her life came when
she was traveling by boat withher father and, in a tragic
accident, her father felloverboard and drowned before her
eyes, and you can imagine, youknow, the heartbreak and like
the trauma and the huge sense ofloss, especially, you know,

(05:30):
since he was close to her father, someone who had been an
example and a guide for her inher faith and despite this
tragic event in Lenaena's life.
She channeled her you know hergrief to deepen her faith and

(05:52):
deepen her walk with the lord,and it increased her faith and
it gave her words of hope anddependence which she to express
in poems and in words, which ishow the hymn Day by Day came
about the, the, the, the, the,the, the, the, the, the, the,

(06:27):
the, the, the, the, the, the,the, the, the, the, the, the,
the, the, the, the, the, the.
All right, so let's dive intothe lyrics of Day by Day.

(06:58):
Here's the verse first Day byday, and each passing moment,
strength I find to meet mytrials.
Here, trusting in my Father'swise bestowment, I have no cause
for worry or for fear, no causefor worry or for fear.
So, you know, as believers, youknow, we want to always seem to

(07:20):
rush the future.
You know, be done with the day.
But if you have, you know,experienced any trials or
challenges, sometimes it takes alot just to get through the day
.
And this hymn expresses theday-to-day that we face when,
you know, when things are hard,you know, the words of this hymn

(07:42):
expresses confidence that, dayby day, god supplies us with
strength that we need to facewhatever comes.
It's like a simple, childliketrust in God's provision.
But, you know, with the weightof a life that often we all

(08:02):
experience, that is marked by,you know, suffering, and then,
hopefully, that suffering canproduce faith in our creator and
our lord.
You know, we're often, you know, have to have the mindset of
surrender.
And then, of course, trust, andshe uses the phrase day by day.

(08:25):
It kind of helps remind, remindus that life is often best
taken in small steps.
You know, it's definitely easyto feel overwhelmed by, you know
, life's big picture, especiallyour responsibilities, our
worries, our fears about thefuture.
But in this, in this hymn, thewriter invites us to focus on,

(08:51):
you know, just just one day at atime.
It's a powerful reminder thatwe don't have to face every
difficulty in life all at once.
We can trust God that he willgive us strength we need for
today, for the moment even.
We don't even have to look atthe whole day.

(09:12):
We just each moment, eachminute, don't even have to look
at the whole day.
We just each moment, eachminute.
And this, this hymn, kind ofechoes jesus's words in matthew
6, 34.
He says, therefore, do notworry about tomorrow, from
tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble ofhis own.
So the writer of this hymn knewthat each day brought its unique

(09:36):
set of challenges, but withGod's help, she found strength
to meet them.
You know, what I love aboutthis verse is its calming,
assurance verse.
In the words that she wrote,she tells us that, trusting in
my father's wise bestow, she nocause for worry or fear.

(09:57):
You know, in just a few lines,she encourages us to.
You know, let go of ouranxieties and place them in the
hands of god.
You know, isn't that, isn'tthat encouraging?
The idea of day by day implies asteady, constant reliance on
God, not looking too far aheadinto the future or fretting over

(10:21):
what might come.
But each day should be a stepforward in trusting and leaning
in God's strength to carry us.
Every day, the Lord himself isnear me with a special mercy,

(10:49):
for each hour, all my cares hefain will bear and cheer me, he
whose name is counselor andpower.
So this is the second verse.
So this talks about thecloseness of God, that every day
, every hour, god is near,bringing special mercies
precisely when we need it.
You know, and he's more, he'smore than just a distant and

(11:12):
watching figure that you know upin heaven.
He's more than just the manupstairs, now.
This isn't a God who checks infrom afar.
He's present and he's ready tobear our burdens and to cheer us
on and to lift us up.
He's an active part and acaring presence in our lives.

(11:36):
And then the phrase with aspecial mercy for each hour Now
that's a comforting line.
It suggests that God doesn'tjust dole out his mercy once and
then expects it to last forever.
No, his mercies are fresh.
It's specific.
It's designated to meet usexactly where we are and exactly
when we need it.

(11:56):
And the word special here issignificant because this implies
that God's grace is tailored toour unique struggles and our
needs.
Now, often we feel burdened bythe pressures we face in life
and, whether it's day-to-daystress or deeper struggles that

(12:17):
weigh on our hearts, this hymnreminds us that God wants to
take those burdens from us, tobear them with us and to give us
peace.
And there's some gentleassurance here that we don't
have to carry our troubles alone, and I think many of us can

(12:38):
relate to the image of God beingour counselor and our power, as
she puts it in the hymn.
So this part of the versecaptures both, like the
gentleness and strength of God,his compassion, he's willing to
listen and comfort us.
But also he's powerful.

(13:00):
He's capable of helping usovercome whatever we face.
When we know the character ofGod, we know that he's loving,
he's faithful, he's merciful.
We know that he's loving, he'sfaithful, he's merciful provider
.
When we put our trust in him,he is definitely strong enough

(13:22):
to carry our burdens.
All right, let's look at thefinal verse here.
Help me, then, in everytribulation so to trust thy
promises, oh god, that I losenot face sweetest consolation
offered me within thy holy word.
You know, this verse is kind oflike a prayer for strength to

(13:47):
remain faithful when life getsdifficult, and and here she
asked God to help her rememberhis promises so she could hold
on to them for hope and peace.
You know this is such a goodreminder for us.
You know we all you know, needreminders of God's promises to

(14:07):
anchor us, which is so importantthat we know God's word.
You know it's easy to let go offaith or to not have faith when
times are tough, but throughprayer and being grounded in
God's word, we can stay groundedto know that God is going to be

(14:27):
with us in times of uncertainty.
So, day by Day, is a hymn ofquiet surrender, and through her
words, lena invites us to trustGod daily, even when we can't
see the big picture.
She challenges us to rely onGod one day at a time, trusting

(14:49):
in his strength and comfort thatwill meet us exactly where we
are.
In the hymn, she refers toGod's promises and describes
them as God's sweet consolation.
She knew that the Bible isfilled with promises of hope,
strength and comfort, andthrough her words, she was

(15:11):
asking God to help her hold onto those, even in moments of
difficulty.
She also reminds us of thepeace that faith can bring when
life moments are, like I said,difficult and also when life
feels overwhelming.
Also, when life feelsoverwhelming, you know we have

(15:38):
and will face challenging andhard times in our life.
And if you've never heard thishymn, I pray that Nina Sandel's
words, day by day, resonateswith you and bring you comfort
in your own journey.
And may we, like her, find ourstrength to meet our trials and

(16:00):
the peace that comes fromtrusting God and God's constant
care.
We have the full assurance thatwe can place our trust in God
and take life, you know, one dayat a time.
So I hope this story behind thehymn, day by day, is an

(16:20):
inspiring is an inspiring one.
Thank you for joining me onthis episode and until next time
, remember God is always goodand he's always faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to

(16:41):
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.