Shall We Gather At The River – Southern Gospel On Piano

The “Learn How to Play” video for He Touched Me is at the bottom of this article, the Free Sheet Music is HERE, and the Free Midi File is HERE.

Shall We Gather At The River was written by Robert Lowry in 1864.  According to the Wiki, it’s also known as “At the River”, and “Hanson Place”.  I’ve never heard it called Hanson Place…

I have been through some terrible things in my life. There have been many nights that I have cried myself to sleep. Many nights I couldn’t sleep. Nights I woke up with horrifying nightmares and found no one to comfort me. Nights I felt totally and completely alone. Nights where I contemplated ending it all. But I have found again and again that He has given a song right when I needed it most.

As a musician i nearly always have a song running through my head, but this is different. This is something deeper than the ramblings of a mind bent on music, something clearer than notes on a page. This is the communion of a created soul with her creator. It’s a song of hope in something beyond what can be seen and felt.

Sometimes the song is broken. Sometimes it is suffused with tears. Sometimes it’s barely audible in the rush of things gone wrong. And sometimes I forget it completely. But He is always there to sing the melody back into my soul and renew me.

It’s not always pretty but it is always there, in Him. It’s a beautiful life, this life of endless song.

“My life flows on in endless song,

Above earth’s lamentation.

I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn

That hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing

It finds an echo in my soul

How can I keep from singing?

What though my joys and comforts die

The Lord my Savior liveth

What though the darkness gather round

Songs in the night he giveth

No storm can shake my inmost calm

While to that refuge clinging

Since Christ is Lord of heav’n and earth

How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin

I see the blue above it

And day by day this pathway smoothed

Since first I learned to love it

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart

A fountain ever springing

All things are mine since I am his

How can I keep from singing?”

“How Can I Keep from Singing“ performed by the Alexander Mastery Choir at Alexander High School in Douglasville, Georgia.

________________________ How Can I Keep from Singing Songwriter: Robert Lowry; Arranger; Tim Sharp

Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow  No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus