#122 "Though Deepening Trials"

 1972 Los Angeles Music Festival

I really like this song--the message and the tune.  I have a happy memory of singing this hymn at the 1972 Los Angeles Music Festival put on by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was a freshman at the time and several stakes in the Los Angeles region joined together at the Los Angeles Sports Arena for a combined music festival.  Brother Beckstead, an accomplished musician and instructor at California State University, Los Angeles, had written a special medley of three hymns for the festival:  "Though Deepening Trials", "As the Dew From Heaven Distilling", and "The Spirit of God".  We sang just verse two of "Though Deepening Trials", so I often forget that there is another verse before it!  I use this hymn as a prelude at funerals and as a prelude in sacrament meeting.  This hymn has seven verses, but we usually just sing the first four for church meetings.  There is a choir arrangement by Larry Lyon in the church-published "Choirbook".