While many of us have a favorite hymn from the beautifully inspired hymns of praise that have touched our hearts and brought tears to our eyes, The Songs of Zion are unique to our Church. They are songs that belong to a new time; they belong to a new era; they belong to our people. They are songs sent from the throne of God as a gift to The Church of Jesus Christ. They are inspirational and related to Christ and His promises of the latter-day times and events. This gift was given to our late Sister Arlene Buffington, as our songs of hope and joy, looking forward to the fulfillment of the kingdom of Zion, bathed in the latter-day glory of the restoration.

Today I’d like to look at No. 66. “Walking With Jesus” by looking at the meaning and application of the song, because it’s too easy to sing without paying attention to the words and their meaning. 

66. WALKING WITH JESUS

VERSE 1
While looking down life’s winding road, I ran ahead to see
What was lying in my path, what obstacle for me.
That hill I saw I’d never climb, not by myself alone;
But Jesus took me by the hand and said I was His own.

VERSE 2
Before I met my Jesus, I was bowed in deep despair,
And when my world came crashing down, nobody seemed to care.
I raised my hand to heaven, holding up my empty cup.
I turned my face in time to see Him reach to pick me up.

VERSE 3
I walk each day with Jesus now, and oft before I call
I feel a hand that steadies me when I begin to fall.
The mountain’s very tall today, there’re places I can’t see.
When I can’t go another mile, He whispers, “Lean on Me.”

CHORUS
Across the flats, then up a hill, then down the other side;
Thru a narrow pass into a pasture green and wide.
When all the world could have my Friend to be their very own,
I’ll never understand why anyone would walk alone.

©1982 Arlene Lea Buffington

A beautiful hymn found in the Saint’s Hymnal, No. 497, “What a Friend we Have in Jesus,” was originally written as a poem by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855 to comfort his ill mother in a desperate time. Among its verses is the phrase: “Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share?” The remaining verses continue with themes of comfort, trust in prayer, and finding refuge in Jesus during trials, temptations, and heavy burdens. 

And so this Song of Zion reminds us of the same. It speaks of the winding roads of life, its obstacles and mountains to climb. It reminds us that events in life sometimes “crash down” around us, causing us to feel as if we can’t move forward. 

Just as the children of Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness struggled to see the road ahead of them, all they needed to do was to look to their God. The Book of Deuteronomy 2:7 says, “…He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”

Yet even though the Lord provided for them and they lacked nothing, they still struggled, so much so that “…the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:5-9)

That’s all that it took — just look upon it and live!

Sadly, not everyone was obedient. In fact, Alma 33:19-20 says, “… and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.”

It’s easy for our hearts to be a bit hardened when we face struggles, trials and burdens, but this song reminds us:

• that through it all… Jesus took me by the hand and said I was His own.
• that through it all… I turned my face in time to see Him reach to pick me up.
• and that through it all… When I can’t go another mile, He whispers, “Lean on Me.”

I pray that I’ll always look to Jesus as my Saviour and my Friend, because “when all the world could have my Friend to be their very own, I’ll never understand why anyone would walk alone.”

May God bless you.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Songs of Zion, listening to the Songs or downloading them, here’s a link, in this blog, to the church website: Church Songs and Music

Image credit: The Brazen Serpent Monument by Italian artist Gian Paolo Fantoni. Mount Nebo, Jordan