The song “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” begins with a question: “Why should I feel discouraged?”
Next Is the answer: “Jesus is my portion; His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.”
And then follows the confident declaration: “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free -- I know He watches me.”
Those song lyrics are based on Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
But our fast-paced world and its constant distractions make it so hard for us to take the time to look at the birds of the air and consider God’s provision! Nature is so unnatural to us (pun intended!), and we rarely take time to give the birds even a passing glance. Yet we’re supposed to do it because Jesus said that relief from worries will follow.
Thankfully, music can provide a bridge to the quiet, meditative respite that Jesus talks about. This song, with its nature theme and melodic line that almost sounds like a bird song, is particularly suited to lift you up and make you free as you say, “I know He watches me.”