All The Way My Savior Leads Me: The Spiritual Sight of Fanny Crosby
One of my all-time favorite hymns is “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.” In this hymn, Fanny Crosby writes of the undying faithfulness of God, his grace to sustain, and his goodness in bringing his people home to glory.
Each stanza of this great hymn is rich with biblical theology that gives us hope for our present and joy in our future.
Jesus Doeth All Things Well
All the way my Savior leads me-
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.
This first stanza is perhaps made more meaningful when we know that Fanny Crosby went blind at six weeks old due to medical malpractice. Her imagery of Jesus faithfully leading his people probably meant much more to her than to us who are blessed with eyesight.
When I reflect on my past and all that God has brought me through, I cannot identify one moment that God was unfaithful to me. Even in the hardest moments, I have seen his faithfulness prove true over and over again. He has been faithful to lead and guide me when I did not know where to go. I’m sure the same is true for you.
Our past experience of God as our faithful guide gives us security for the present and hope for the future. Surely, we can say with Fanny Crosby, “For I know whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”
“The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and kind in all his works” (Psalm 145:17).
A Spring of Joy I See
All the way my Savior leads me-
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for ev’ry trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.
In this stanza, Fanny Crosby expounds on the provision of Christ in trials. When Israel was in the wilderness, God did not leave them without provision but came to their aid multiple times. Fanny especially draws on this imagery in this stanza.
What is this rock-gushing water she is referring to? In Exodus 17, Israel was thirsty and grumbling against Moses to do something about the lack of water. Moses pleads with God for what to do about Israel’s grumbling and God commands Moses to strike the rock so that water would gush out and quench Israel of their thirst.
In the New Testament, Paul gives us a heavenly perspective of this rock. “For they [Israel] drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). This is what Fanny had in mind when she says, “Gushing from the rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy, I see!” In seeming hardship, God provided for Israel. Fanny does biblical theology and carries this over to its spiritual reality. In our desert wonderings as the people of God, in this world of sin, God provides for our needs abundantly and surely. When our weary steps falter and our souls thirst, God provides for our needs.
Jesus Led Me All The Way
All the way my Savior leads me-
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.
Jesus will bring us safely and surely home. We need not fear a million enemies because God will bring his children home. We can joyfully anticipate that day when our souls will be clothed in immortality (heavenly bodies), and we ascend to be with our Lord.
We will sing to our Lord for endless ages – and even those ages, all of eternity, will not be able to contain the praise our God deserves.
We will plead the blood of Christ – that Jesus led us all the way, that our salvation was all of grace, not of works.
Finally, we will see the one whom we have trusted through trails and doubts and griefs face-to-face, and it will all have been worth it – and perhaps many of us will wish we had sacrificed more for him and for the sake of the gospel.
Summary
Our past experience of God as our faithful guide gives us hope for the future, not only in the future trials that await us, but in the eternal hope of dwelling with him forever. He provides for us faithfully here on earth – how much more will we be abundantly supplied for in heaven – the dwelling place of God.
Let us, with faithful saints like Fanny Crosby, exult in the tender guidance of Christ, the comfort Christ provides, and in our ultimate hope to dwell with Christ forever.
Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas and is a writer and content manager for So We Speak.
