Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

Is there life after death? Some say there is, some say there is not, and some say they don’t know.
A man by the name of Job wondered about this. “If a man dies, shall he live again?” he asked. All the days of his appointed time he would wait to find out. (Job 14:14)

But there was something he did know. Later, he wrote: “I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” (19:25)

It was these words that inspired Jessie B. Pounds to compose the following hymn:

“I know that my Redeemer liveth, And on the earth again shall stand; I know eternal life He giveth, That grace and power are in His hand. I know, I know that Jesus liveth.”

This was the favorite text of Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale. Born in Sweden
in 1820, she became the queen of song and the slim girl with the marvellous voice.

At the very height of a successful career, she retired. Asked why she abandoned the stage, she laid her finger on the Bible and said, “When every day it made me think less and less of this, what else could I do?”

On her tomb at Great Malvern Cemetery are inscribed the words: “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”