Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion?  My constant friend is He.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

 "Let not your heart be troubled,"  His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears.
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see,
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give way to sighing, when hope within me dies.
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free,
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.


Words by Civilla D. Martin ~ 1905
Music by Charles H. Gabriel ~ 1905

About This Hymn

In the spring of 1905, Civilla D.  Martin and her husband visited Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle of Elmira, New York.  The wife had been bedridden for almost 20 years and the husband used a wheel chair for mobility.  Both lived happy Christian lives that brought inspiration and comfort to all who knew them.  One day Mr. Martin asked them the secret of their hopefulness.  Mrs. Doolittle replied, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."  Her statement inspired Civilla D. Martin to write a poem,  which she mailed the next day to Charles Gabriel, who supplied the music.

  This page is lovingly dedicated to Peggy,

Whose love and memory changed my life and will live on.

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