Since the song yesterday used the tune, I thought we could do it for Sunday’s tune.
Always sing along – we are alone – sing out,
Just a Closer Walk with Thee” is a traditional gospel song that has been performed and recorded by many artists. Performed as either an instrumental or vocal, “A Closer Walk” is perhaps the most frequently played number in the hymn and dirgesection of traditional New Orleans jazz funerals. The title and lyrics of the song allude to the Biblical passage from 2 Corinthians 5:7 which states, “We walk by faith, not by sight” and James 4:8, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.
The precise author of “A Closer Walk” was unknown until recently. Circumstantial evidence strongly suggested it dated back to southern African-American churches of the nineteenth century, possibly even prior to the Civil War, as some personal African American histories recall “slaves singing as they worked in the fields a song about walking by the Lord’s side.”