His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Natalie Grant's "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" carries Civilla Martin's 1905 gospel hymn, written after visiting a bedridden friend who told her that even in constant pain, she still had reason for hope because God was watching over her. "Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come, and why should my heart feel lonely" opens with the honest questions rather than skipping straight to comfort.

"His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me" leans directly on Jesus' own teaching — that not even a sparrow, among the cheapest and least noticed of birds, falls to the ground without the Father knowing, and that the people listening to Him are worth far more than many sparrows. The hymn takes that small, easy-to-overlook detail and makes it the whole foundation for not feeling discouraged.

"I sing because I'm happy, and I sing because I am free" doesn't claim the happiness comes from circumstances improving — it comes from being watched over regardless of them. "I know we are never alone" closes the song on the same quiet confidence it opened with, just stated more plainly by the end.