Search Results

Switch back to the old search page.Advanced Search

Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

Author: Lela B. Long Meter: Irregular Appears in 9 hymnals

LOVELY NAME

Meter: Irregular Appears in 32 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Lela B. Long Tune Key: C Major Incipit: 33323 44325 55545 Used With Text: Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

Instances

Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

Author: Lela Long Hymnal: The Celebration Hymnal #76 (1997) Meter: 9.10.10.10 Lyrics: Jesus is the sweetest Name I know, And He's just the same as His lovely Name, And that's the reason why I love Him so; O Jesus is the sweetest Name I know. Topics: Adore the Lord; Adoration and Praise Jesus Our Savior Languages: English Tune Title: SWEETEST NAME (Refrain only)

Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

Author: Lela Long Hymnal: The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #95 (1986) Meter: 9.10.10.10 Lyrics: Jesus is the sweetest name I know, And He's just the same as His lovely name, And that's the reason why I love Him so; Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. Topics: Choruses Scripture and Praise; Christ His Name; Jesus Our Savior : His Adoration and Praise Languages: English Tune Title: SWEETEST NAME

Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

Author: Lela B. Long Hymnal: Baptist Hymnal 1991 #205 (1991) Meter: Irregular Lyrics: Jesus is the sweetest name I know, And He's just the same as His lovely name, And that's the reason why I love Him so; Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. Scripture: Hebrews 13:8 Languages: English Tune Title: LOVELY NAME

View 6 more instances

People

Authors, composers, editors, etc.

Lela B. Long

1896 - 1951 Author of "Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know" in Baptist Hymnal 1991 She’s an almost unknown personality, except for the song associated with her name. Perhaps that’s the way Lela B. Long wanted it…to be faceless, almost nameless, in favor of making His name more well-known. “Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know” must have been a statement her family and friends could remember her saying, but we don’t have to rely on any published biography to learn this. She recorded her opinion for us. What opinions do I have that I would want to survive me? Just any pontification probably wouldn’t last, but what makes Lela’s opinion notable is that it strikes a chord with us still today. There’s not much information on Lela B. Long, other than a record with the words she wrote that suggests the song was written prior to 1925. That would suggest she was an adult who was born in the late 19th or early 20th Century, and went on to eternity prior to the end of the 20th Century. She must have had some affinity with people she knew, including unspoken names she says in verse one had moved her emotionally. But, she makes it clear that those names paled next to ‘Jesus’. Why would His name be so special to Long? Had she been affected by poor health, or events of her time like World War I, which robbed its survivors of friends and loved ones? What life circumstances drew her toward Him? We only know that she wrote three verses and a refrain (see the link below for access to them) to carry her message, though most often we hear only the refrain. She has us say repeatedly throughout the refrain that he’s genuine, as authentic and loveable as one can imagine Him. Isn’t that really the root of love, that this person to whom I cling is not a fake, but true? He’s worth my worship, she declares. Can I identify with what Lela says? I live in a different time than her, but what’s really different? There are still people around, many of whom move me in different ways, as some evidently did for Lela Long in her life. She must have experienced illness, or other calamities that threatened her faith. War? The war she must have known was once known as the ‘war to end all wars’. Did it really accomplish this? How sweet was its conclusion for those who signed the peace at Versailles (see picture), if they lived to see what happened a generation later? Lies like that are too common. Likewise, health is too fragile for me to become complacent in my comfort. I must find something that won’t go sour. Lela did. It’s still pretty tasty, even decades after she savored it. Link to the song’s scant history and the three verses that accompany the chorus-refrain: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/j/i/s/jisnikno.htm Posted by David Cain at 12:23 PM http://songscoops.blogspot.com/2012/02/jesus-is-sweetest-name-i-know-lela-b.html

John J. Overholt

1918 - 2000 Arranger of "JESUS IS THE SWEETEST NAME" in The Christian Hymnary. Bks. 1-4 John J. Overholt was born to an Amish family of limited means in the state of Ohio in 1918. As a child he was soon introduced to his father's personal collection of gospel songs and hymns, which was to have a marked influence on his later life. With his twin brother Joe, he early was exposed to the Amish-Mennonite tradition hymn-singing and praising worship. An early career in Christian service led to a two-year period of relief work in the country of Poland following World War II. During that interim he began to gather many European songs and hymns as a personal hobby, not realizing that these selections would become invaluable to The Christian Hymnary which was begun in 1960 and completed twelve years later in 1972, with a compilation of 1000 songs, hymns and chorales. (The largest Menn. hymnal). A second hymnal was begun simultaneously in the German language entitled Erweckungs Lieder Nr.1 which was brought to completion in 1986. This hymnal has a total of 200 selections with a small addendum of English hymns. Mr. Overholt married in 1965 to an accomplished soprano Vera Marie Sommers, who was not to be outdone by her husband's creativity and compiled a hymnal of 156 selections entitled Be Glad and Sing, directed to children and youth and first printed in 1986. During this later career of hymn publishing, Mr. Overholt also found time for Gospel team work throughout Europe. At this writing he is preparing for a 5th consecutive tour which he arranges and guides. The countries visited will be Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Poland, USSR and Romania. Mr. Overholt was called to the Christian ministry in 1957 and resides at Sarasota, Florida where he is co-minister of a Beachy Amish-Mennonite Church. Five children were born to this family and all enjoy worship in song. --Letter from Hannah Joanna Overholt to Mary Louise VanDyke, 10 October 1990, DNAH Archives. Photo enclosed.