In the 6th edition of Music Lifts (2023), weโre uplifted by gospel musician Sara Jordan Powell performing, โWhen Jesus Comes To Stay.โ
Welcome to Music Lifts ๐ถ ๐, a column that seeks to highlight songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs that exude fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.ย Featured songs arenโt genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better โ be LIFTED to new heights!ย So, for the 6th edition of Music Lifts ๐ถ ๐ (2023), we highlight ๐ต โWhen Jesus Comes To Stayโ (often known as ๐ต โWhen Jesus Comesโ) as performed by ๐ Sara Jordan Powell.
โOne man sat all alone, beside the highway begging / His eyes were blind, the light he could not see.โย Those are the first words we hear in the beloved, ๐ Sara Jordan Powell (1938 โ ) gospel classic, ๐ต โWhen Jesus Comes To Stayโ. As memorable as those lyrics, and the narrative that follows is, perhaps the most famous lyrics and portion of the song is when Powell repeatedly asserts, โHe takes the gloom,โ eventually completing the line, โAnd fills your life with glory.โ Not only is it famous because of significance of the line โ Jesusโ wonderworking power โย but also because Powell shows off her dynamic soprano ๐ช ๐.ย She famously hits and sustains a high D-flat (on โfillsโ) that many who perform this song have attempted to nail as effortlessly (of course, renditions are in various keys, often C). Notably, Powell is filled with the spirit during this moment, and the parishioners likewise feel that spirit.
โWhen Jesus Comes To Stayโ appears on her 1977 live album, ๐ฟ When Jesus Comes, which recorded in Los Angeles in the West Angeles Church of God in Christ (more about the COGIC church here).ย Notably, an abbreviated rendition also appears on the greatest hits compilation, ๐ฟ The Best Of Sara Jordan Powell: When Jesus Comes, released in 1981. The big takeaway: let Jesus come to stay. Believe, serve, and trust Him, and he will take care of you.
๐ Sara Jordan Powell โข ๐ฟ When Jesus Comes โข ๐ท Savoy โข ๐ 1977
Sara Jordan Powell, โWhen Jesus Comesโ: Music Lifts ๐ถ ๐ No. 6 (2022) [๐ท: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype;ย cottonbro studio, Itzelย Sandoval, Neeraj Nagdeve viaย Pexels]