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Frank Graeff was a very cheerful person, but also one that had times of deep doubt and even physical agony and depression, suggesting he was bi-polar. In one of those times he turned to I Peter 5:7 to help bring him back into an assurance of faith. It was from this verse he composed the hymn that has helped comfort so many Christians.
I Peter 5:7. “Casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you.”
He latched onto those words, “He careth for you” and was able to find his way back to cheerful service. The poem was an attempt to write down his doubts and questions and then answer them with that phrase of the verse.
Dr. J. Lincoln Hall composed the music specifically for the poem. It was copyrighted in 1901. He called this music the most inspired of all his work. The hymn was published in 1905 in the hymn book, New Songs of the Gospel, Number 2, by the Hall-Mack Company.
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Sources
Ernest K. Emurian, Forty Stories of Famous Gospel Songs (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1959), pp. 22-25.
Ernest K. Emurian, Hymn Festivals (Natich, Massachusetts: W.A. Wilde Company, 1961), p. 119.
Forrest McCann, Hymns and History (Abilene Texas: ACU Press, 1997), pp. 101, 410, 414.
Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1990), p. 208.
Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1985), p. 77.
George W. Sanville, Forty Gospel Hymn Stories (Winona Lake, Illinois: Rodeheaver-Hall Mack Co., 1943), p. 74.
Alfred B. Smith, Living Hymns (Greenville, South Carolina: Better Music Publications, 1988), p. 428.
