The hymns your grandmother sang, set to slow, warm gospel jazz, and the true story of how each one was written, told by Mother Ruby.
Well, come on in, baby. Have a seat right here in the second row. I’m Mother Ruby. I’ve been sitting in this pew a long time, and I’ve sung these old hymns more times than I can count. But every one of them started with somebody’s story. A blind woman who was sure of her Savior. A father who lost his four little girls at sea and still wrote, “It is well.” So I’m going to tell you the stories behind these songs, and then we’ll let the music do the rest. Get comfortable now… here we go.
Every hymn on this album is our own new recording of a song first published long ago, from Fanny Crosby’s 1873 “Blessed Assurance” to Civilla Martin’s 1905 “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”
She tells the story behind each hymn, then the song plays in full, with the quiet sounds of the room around it.
Nov 29 · 9:00 AM CT · 30:58No talking, no sound effects. Put it on while you cook, drive, rest or pray.
Nov 29 · 12:00 PM CT · 30:25One hymn comes out on its own every Sunday morning after the premiere, at 9 AM Central.
Words Fanny J. Crosby, 1873 · Music Phoebe P. Knapp, 1873
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as a baby and went on to write thousands of hymns. One day in 1873 her friend Phoebe Knapp played her a brand-new tune on the piano and asked what it said to her. Fanny answered, “Why, that says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!’”
Words William W. Walford, 1845 · Music William B. Bradbury, 1861
Words Annie S. Hawks · Music Robert Lowry, 1872
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! That calls me from a world of care
Two prayers in one. The way it’s been told, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” came from an old blind preacher in England who made up the words in his head, and a visiting minister wrote them down. And one June morning in 1872, a Brooklyn mother named Annie Hawks was going about her housework when the words of “I Need Thee Every Hour” came to her.
You don’t need a pulpit to pray. A kitchen will do just fine.
Words & Music C. Austin Miles, 1912
I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses
In 1912, C. Austin Miles sat in his darkroom reading John chapter 20, where Mary goes to the tomb early in the morning and then hears her name. He said he could see it like he was standing right there in that garden. He wrote the words as fast as they came, and that same evening he wrote the music.
Words Elisha A. Hoffman & Anthony J. Showalter, 1887 · Music Anthony J. Showalter, 1887
What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms
In 1887, Alabama music teacher Anthony Showalter got letters from two former students. Both young men had just lost their wives. While he searched for words to comfort them, he thought of Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
When you can’t stand up under it, lean.
Words Civilla D. Martin, 1905 · Music Charles H. Gabriel, 1905
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come
In 1905, Civilla Martin and her husband visited the Doolittles in Elmira, New York. Mrs. Doolittle had been in bed for nearly twenty years, and Mr. Doolittle went to work every day in a wheelchair. They were the happiest people you ever met. When Civilla asked how, Mrs. Doolittle said, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”
If He watches the sparrow, He sees you too.
Words Joseph M. Scriven, 1855 · Music Charles C. Converse, 1868
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
Joseph Scriven knew sorrow. He grew up in Ireland, and the way it’s been told, the woman he loved drowned the day before their wedding. He started over in Canada. Years later, when word came that his mother back home was sick and he couldn’t get to her, he wrote her a little poem to keep her company. He never meant for anyone else to see it, and now the whole world sings it.
Take it to the Lord in prayer. That’s what it’s for.
Words Horatio G. Spafford, 1873 · Music Philip P. Bliss, 1876
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll
In 1873, Chicago lawyer Horatio Spafford sent his wife Anna and their four little girls across the ocean ahead of him. Their ship went down, and all four girls were lost. Anna was pulled from the sea and sent him a telegram that began, “Saved alone.” The way it’s been told, as Horatio crossed that same ocean to reach her, he wrote these words.
If he could say it, you can too.
I’ve been sitting in this pew a long time, and I’ve sung these old hymns more times than I can count. But every one of them started with somebody’s story.
Every church has a Mother Ruby. She knows where you sat last week and whether you ate today. She keeps a peppermint in her purse and a hymn for every kind of trouble. On Second Row Sundays she tells you where these songs came from, so the next time you sing them you know who first meant every word.
You may know her own story from Nemah’s gospel story album Mother Ruby’s Room. Her chair in the second row is still kept, and so are her stories. This is where she tells them.
Where history is sure, she tells it straight. Where it has only been handed down, she says so: “the way it’s been told.”
Mother Ruby is a character created for Second Row Sundays and Mother Ruby’s Room. Her voice and picture are made with the help of AI tools. The people and stories she tells about are real.
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The shop is open. Every shirt is printed when you order it.
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secondrowsundays@mbsggradio.comSubscribe and turn on the bell so the album finds you on premiere morning.
Open the channel → MBSGGTVStories in song, including Mother Ruby’s own: Nemah’s gospel story album Mother Ruby’s Room.
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