Let My Soul Look Up: Timeless Inspiration for a 21St Century World!

By Patty Ellis

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

While playing the piano in churches for decades, Patty Ellis had become used to focusing on the music score, not the lyrics. Little did she know that years later, those sacred lines, like seeds destined to produce their bounty in an unknown future, would restore her soul, reawaken her faith, and leave her with a new measure of hope, joy and peace long missing from her life.

In her newest book, Patty shares

the miraculous, though completely unexpected, discovery she made while revisiting the poignant words of the revered hymns she had performed so many times throughout her life. While transporting others on a journey of renewal, Patty pairs the lyrics of classic hymns with Bible verses to uplift and inspire believers. Within these gems that have been all but erased from Christian worship lies timeless wisdom with the power to resurrect and reaffirm faith, hope, and truth.

Let My Soul Look Up is a devotional that shares the profound inspiration found in the ageless wisdom of our beloved hymns.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973659693

Patty Ellis

Patty Ellis is a former model, concert pianist, recording artist, and motivational speaker who achieved national acclaim with her inspirational guide for teenagers, Girl Power. As a frequent guest on countless national television talk shows and local television and radio programs, Patty shared a dynamic message of encouragement and advice that resonated with thousands of young women throughout the United States and Japan. Ellis currently resides in Houston, Texas.

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Copyright © 2019 Patty Ellis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5968-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5967-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5969-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019904387

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/17/2019

Contents

Preface

I Need Thee Every Hour

Hiding in Thee

In Heavenly Love Abiding

He Leadeth Me! O Blessed Thought

I Am Resolved

Hiding in Thee

Be Still, My Soul

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

I Need Thee Every Hour

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Just When I Need Him Most

He Keeps Me Singing

Day by Day

Just as I Am

We Have an Anchor

From Every Stormy Wind That Blows

God Leads Us Along

Just as I Am

Living by Faith

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Day by Day

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus

I Will Make the Darkness Light

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand

Wonderful Peace

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

My Faith Has Found a Resting Place

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand

Abide with Me

Standing on the Promises

Be Thou My Vision

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Our (O) God, Our Help in Ages Past

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

O Jesus, I Have Promised

The Unclouded Day

O Jesus, I Have Promised

Sweetly Resting

Open My Eyes, That I May See

My Burdens Rolled Away

Higher Ground

My Faith Looks Up to Thee

Every Bridge Is Burned Behind Me

I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord

The Haven of Rest

Who at My Door Is Standing?

Whispering Hope

My Lord, I Did Not Choose You

The Rock That Is Higher Than I

Once It Was the Blessing

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Count Your Blessings

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Who at My Door Is Standing?

Take My Life and Let It Be

Whispering Hope

We’ll Understand It Better By and By

Softy and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling

Trusting Jesus, That Is All

Thou Thinkest, Lord, of Me

Trusting Jesus, That Is All

The Ninety and Nine

My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less

Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling

Come, Ye Disconsolate

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Near to the Heart of God

Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Brethren, We Have Met to Worship

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere

Love Lifted Me

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee

Where We’ll Never Grow Old

Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners

Faith of Our Fathers

Leave It There

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Farther Along

To God Be the Glory

How Beautiful Heaven Must Be

Close to Thee

Before the Throne of God Above

Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult

Farther Along

Grace Greater than Our Sin

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Satisfied

Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me

Praise to the Lord, The Almighty

Lord, I’m Coming Home

I Am Thine, O Lord

Sun of My Soul

Trust and Obey

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

He Hideth My Soul

Blest Be the Tie That Binds

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Lord, I’m Coming Home

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

Sweet Hour of Prayer

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart

The Old Account Settled

Now Thank We All Our God

He Rolled the Sea Away

How Firm a Foundation

It Is Well with My Soul

Now the Day Is Over

God Be with You till We Meet Again

About the Author

For in Him we live and move and have our being; as certain of your own poets have said.

—Acts 17:28

Preface

Words, Words, Words

Not a burden we bear,

Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss,

Not a frown or a cross,

But is blessed if we trust and obey.

I have no idea when it began to dawn on me that something, somewhere in the deepest shadows of my sadness, was stirring. Despite the suffocating despair that had wrapped its foul haze around my soul for so long, I cautiously began to sense a faint, almost mystical awareness—barely discernible, but it was there! I felt it! And it came from the most surprising source.

Having spent practically my entire life playing the piano in churches, my emotional focus as well as my physical energy had always been concentrated on the music score that lay before me. I knew just about every hymn in print and had played them countless times. I had recorded an album of my own hymn arrangements and performed hundreds of solo piano concerts. Music was my deal. The lyrics to all those hymns? Well, they were just a mishmash of lovely background noise—or so I thought.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide.

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O, abide with me.

Night and day, these words began coming to me. They came, they went—different lines of words I had been hearing all my life but had never really heard. As if from another reality, each new set brought its own unique significance to my parched spirit, and as one would fade away, another set would emerge. They were unsolicited but never unwanted. It seemed I was hearing these amazing, inspiring, beseeching words for the first time in my life.

I began to pay very close attention to the wise old words, every new remembrance pressing its precious imprint onto my gloomy heart. As more and more of these poignant lines came to mind, I felt compelled to write them down. I began a log of the songs each new day would bring, and to my utter amazement, they were instantly and warmly familiar to me—like an old, trusted friend I hadn’t heard from in years. I searched the scriptures seeking passages which I could envision these authors reading and using as inspiration for the amazing words they would compose. (The added quote you will find for each hymn is another reminder of the enduring wisdom they embrace.)

At times, the words were magnificent and immense:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise;

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes.

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise!

Sometimes, they were somber pleadings for mercy:

Savior, Savior,

Hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling,

Do not pass me by.

They could be the simplest of lyrics:

Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong.

Or they could set my soul alive in rhythmic joy:

By and by, when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

We will tell the story how we’ve overcome,

For we’ll understand it better by and by.

I searched through closets and cabinets for every hymnal I owned and, for the first time, pored over the words found on those worn pages. I combed through and researched every fragment of information I could find about these new, but familiarly old, revelations—their histories, their authors, and, most importantly, their place in the story of Christendom. It soon became obvious each had originated as beautiful poetry, and while some had been quickly noticed and set to music, most were not.

Most of this poetry had existed for decades, even centuries, before finally being discovered, translated if need be, and ultimately paired with a melody. In due course, the new hymn would appear in the most recently published hymnbook and would be introduced to crowds attending revival meetings and church gatherings. Slowly, the new hymn’s popularity would spread, and it would become an integral part of mainstream worship services.

I began to appreciate that the men and women who composed these lines, like the scribes who wrote the incomparable prose and poetry that became our Holy Bible, had been divinely led. Just as God inspired kings, poets, fishermen, and prophets throughout the ages to