This was the title of a song written by Ben King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The last two guys also wrote for Elvis. The song was sung by Ben King in 1961 shortly after he left the Drifters. If you remember this song you will recall how religious it seemed until you got to the chorus.

The song began, “When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light we’ll see.” The song went on to talk about the sky falling and the mountains crumbling but the person singing said they would not be afraid as long as “you stand by me.”

“I won’t be afraid,” should be the Christian’s daily song. When the Christian walks in the darkness God is his light. When the sky falls in on us, God is our shield and protector. Mountains of troubles may threaten to crush us but God will be our wall.

We need only sing the prayer, “Oh God, my God, please stand by me.”  The Psalmist sang it in a slightly different way.

Ps 9:9-10 “The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;  And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

Ps 107:13-14 “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.

You might want to read verses 6 and 7; 19 and 20.

If you are a child of God you do not have to be afraid of the evil things of this world because God is standing by your side.

If you want to hear Ben sing this old song you can find it on U-tube. Growing up I was a big fan of the Drifters and Ben was the lead singers. I can’t listen to that song without thinking he could just as easily been writing about God in the first couple of verses.