A Hymn for Extra Daylight

Two days into daylight savings mode and I'm already enjoying the extra daylight.

Whereas the darker evenings tended to put me in hibernation mode, the brighter evenings seem to encourage me toward more evening activity.

Of course, it reminds me of all the references to sunlight in our hymnals.

Some of these "sunshiney" hymns seem a bit too chipper, if I'm honest. God never tells us the Christian life will be all sunshine and roses.

But He does tell us that there is fullness of joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11).

And that's why I like this hymn by Eliza Hewitt. She's careful to connect the dots between sunshine and joy to the presence of the Savior. 

Read the hymn below and let the sunshine of your Saviour's face brighten your day.

Sunshine in My Soul

by Eliza Hewitt

There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my light.

Refrain:
O there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine,
When the peaceful happy moments roll:
When Jesus shows His smiling face,
There is sunshine in the soul.

There is music in my soul today,
A carol to my King,
And Jesus, listening, can hear
The songs I cannot sing. 

There is springtime in my soul today,
For when the Lord is near,
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear. 

There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope and praise and love
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys "laid up" above.

Background. A spinal injury took teacher Eliza Hewitt out of the classroom but it didn’t keep her from teaching God’s Word through hymn writing alongside her personal friend, Fanny Crosby.

Although she suffered from back pain most of her life and was a semi-invalid, Eliza superintended Sunday School for years and wrote a number of hymns including My Faith Has Found a Resting Place, More About Jesus, Sunshine In My Soul, Stepping in the Light, and our next hymn, When We All Get to Heaven.