Gospel Song – Just A Closer Walk With Thee
Gospel Song – Just A Closer Walk With Thee.
This traditional gospel song ranks up there with “When the saints go marching in” as the most recorded song in the African American folk tradition. “Just a closer walk” was first published in 1940, and then quickly was recorded in 1941 by Selah Jubilee Singers and then Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It has been popular in many different genres, from African American gospel to Southern Gospel, from folk to jazz to pop. By the 1970’s, this classic was recorded by over 100 musicians. And it has retained its appeal up to the present moment with many contemporary renditions. “Just a closer walk” is a standard in the music business, even though its origins remain unclear.
LYRICS – Just A Closer Walk with Thee
I am weak, but thou art strong. Jesus keep me from all wrong.
I’ll be satisfied as long as I walk, let me walk close to thee.
Just a closer walk with thee. Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares, if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares? None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.
When my feeble life is o’er, time for me will be no more.
Guide me gently, safely o’er to thy kingdom’s shore, to thy shore.
It’s all in the footwork – Walking with God in Scripture.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8, RSV).
“And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or to the left.” (Isaiah 30:20-21, RSV).
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, RSV).
” God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart. You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.” (Psalm 56:12-13, MSG).
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.” (Galatians 5:25-26, RSV).
“For the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.” (Proverbs 3:26, NLT).
(For your intense listening pleasure, take your time and give this a listen… It’s 12 minutes long. But it’s wonderful. It starts out at a funeral march tempo, as bluesy as you can get, then it moves into a fast-paced march that is New Orleans at its finest. All this with two of the finest musicians our world has to offer. And I’m not sure who is singing the vocals, but oh, what a voice.)