CHRISTIAN LIFE >> FAITH & TRUST
SDAH 516
All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
This hymn appears in:
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: All the Way
Fanny J. Crosby wrote this hymn after a providential moment when a friend unexpectedly handed her five dollars—the exact amount she desperately needed that day. The experience reminded her of God’s faithful leading, echoed in the heading originally printed with the hymn: “So the Lord alone did lead him” (Deut. 32:12). Crosby, who often composed after being guided safely through the busy streets by caring hands, poured into this text a deep trust in God’s daily guidance and tender provision. She sent the hymn to her longtime collaborator Robert Lowry, who wrote the tune specifically for her words and later published it in Brightest and Best (1875). Together, their partnership created a song that continues to reassure believers that God leads, supplies, and comforts us—every step, all the way.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Frances Jane Crosby (1820-1915; see Biographies), while meditating on the leading of Providence, was unexpectedly given $5 by a friend who called at the door. She was short of money at the time and needed this amount before she was able to draw money from her publishers. This experience awakened a train of thought that culminated in the writing of these words. They are a reminder that she wrote many of her hymns after a day’s jostling through the city streets, led by loving hands (she was blind) away from danger. The heading of the hymn when printed was: “So the Lord Alone Did Lead Him” (see Deut. 32:12).
Crosby sent the hymn to Robert Lowry (1826-1899; see Biographies), with whom she had become acquainted some nine years earlier, and whom she often consulted regarding the phrasing of a hymn. Lowry composed the tune, which now bears his name, especially for the words. It was printed in a Sunday school collection entitled Brightest and Best, 1875, edited by Lowry and William H. Doane (1832-1915; see Biographies).
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell;
For I know whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.
2
All the way my Savior leads me;
Cheers each winding path I tread;
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread;
Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo, a spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo, a spring of joy I see.
3
All the way my Savior leads me;
O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above;
When I wake to life immortal,
Wing my flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages,
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages,
Jesus led me all the way.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Deut 32:12; Mark 7:37 (b) John 6:32; 1 Cor 10:4
Author
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915)
Year Published
1875
Hymn Tune
LOWRY
Metrical Number
8.7.8.7.D.
Composer
Robery Lowry (1826-1899)
Year Composed
1874
