There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. ~ Proverbs 18:24
Holy, Holy, Is What the Angels Sing - 1894
Count Your Blessings - 1897
Higher Ground - 1898
The Hallelujah Side - 1898
Every Bridge Is Burned Behind Me - 1898
How the Fire Fell - 1905
The Last Mile of the Way - 1908
He Included Me - 1909
These great gospel songs came from the pen of Johnson Oatman, Jr. He was born in 1856 near Medford, New Jersey. He attended Herbert’s Academy in Vincentown, New Jersey, and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute in Bordentown. At age 19 he was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal Church. However, he never pastored full-time. His ministry was confined to local churches while he partnered with his father in his family’s mercantile business, Johnson Oatman & Son. After his father died, he became an administrator for a large New Jersey insurance company. Oatman was a good singer, but he was in the shadow of his father, one of the best soloists in the state. He couldn’t get a church because he wasn’t much of a preacher. The insurance business was unfulfilling. In 1893 he had to retire because of his health. At first he was at a loss about God’s purpose for his life. But he discovered he had a talent for writing and became one of the most important and prolific gospel song writers of the late 19th and early 20th century. For three decades he wrote four or five new songs each week, composing some 5000 in total. He never wanted to be paid but his publisher insisted. So he agreed and received the going rate for songs in that day…$1.00.
At the time he didn’t know what he was supposed to do, 1895, Johnson wrote these words to reflect how he felt about his personal experience. Presbyterian Church choirmaster George C. Hugg published his first song at age 14 and became a prolific composer. He composed a melody for Oatman’s poem and gave us this song…
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!
None else could heal all our souls’ diseases,
No, not one! No, not one!
Refrain
Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide till the day is done.
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No, not one! No, not one!
- Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1890
Copied from Sing to the Lord, Pg. 611, © 1993 by Lillenas Publishing Company*
Hymn commentary courtesy J. D. Sherrow
*Other sources for this hymn include “Worship in Song” Copyright© 1972 by Lillenas Publishing Company. Page 464, and “Praise and Worship - The Nazarene Hymnal” Copyright © 1951, Nazarene Publishing House, Page 162.
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