247. Day by day the manna fell
Josiah Conder, 1789-1855
A hymn of confidence that God will supply daily strength for daily needs, based on Exodus 16:12-21 and the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
The hymn suggests a Jewish story quoted by W. F. Tillett in The Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church:
The pupils of Rabbi Ben Jochai once asked him with regard to the manna sent to the Israelite host in the wilderness: “Why did not the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year all at one time?” “I will answer you with a parable,” responded the teacher. “Once there was a king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the entire sum on a fixed day. It soon happened that the day on which the allowance was due was the only day in the year when the father ever saw the son. So the king changed his plan and gave his son day by day that which sufficed for the day. And now the son visited his father every morning. Thus God dealt with Israel.”
The author, Josiah Conder, born in London, was an editor and publisher. His friends included a large number of eminent literary and church men of the early 19th century. He was a member of the Congregationalist Church. A devout and earnest believer who knew what it was to struggle for daily bread, he had the occasion to practice the gospel of daily trust. He wrote many hymns, published more than a dozen scholarly books, and edited The Congregational Hymn Book in 1836, a work which attained wide popularity in England.
MUSIC. SEYMOUR. For comments on this tune see Hymn [No. 36].