Lyrics
I have found a friend in Jesus,
He's everything to me,
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The "Lily of the Valley," in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay,
He tells me every care on Him to roll;
He's the "Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,"
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne,
In temptation He's my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart, and now He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal;
He's the "Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,"
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear,
With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory, to see His blessed face,
Where rivers of delight shall ever roll;
He's the "Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,"
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
Public domain hymn text and tune (published 1881). Words by Charles W. Fry; music by William Shakespeare Hays.
The Story Behind the Hymn
Charles William Fry was, by trade, a bricklayer — but he was also a gifted, largely self-taught musician who eventually formed a brass band with his three sons, known as the Fry Family Band, which became closely associated with the newly founded Salvation Army in England. Fry wrote the words to "The Lily of the Valley," drawing its central image from the Song of Solomon's "lily of the valleys" and Revelation's "bright and morning star," and the hymn was first published in the December 29, 1881, edition of the Salvation Army's national magazine, The War Cry.
Rather than commissioning an entirely new tune, the words were arranged by Ira D. Sankey to fit an already popular secular melody of the day, "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane," written by William Shakespeare Hays — a common and effective practice within the Salvation Army's music ministry, which often borrowed recognizable popular tunes to carry sacred words into the streets and music halls where its members preached.
Fry did not live long to see how far the hymn would travel. He died less than a year after its publication, on August 24, 1882, in Polmont, Scotland, while touring with the Fry Family Band.
Despite that short window between writing and death, "The Lily of the Valley" went on to be included in well over 370 hymnals across many denominations, countries, and languages, its long, cascading lines — built almost entirely from a string of scriptural titles for Christ — still sung well over 140 years after a bricklayer-turned-bandleader first set them down for a Salvation Army magazine.
