Colossians 3: 16 (KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

The Negro spiritual, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, is not only a favorite in the Black church but it has been frequently performed by renowned American soloists including contralto Marian Anderson (1897-1993) and sopranos Leontyne Price (b. 1927), Jessye Norman (1945-2019), and Kathleen Battle (b. 1948).

According to Randye Jones in a Library of Congress essay, the “earliest known written reference” of He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands is found in “Spirituals Triumphant Old and New” compiled by composer Edward Boatner in 1927. Marian Anderson gave an archived performance of the same in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the Civil Rights March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the day of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s memorable “I Have a Dream Speech.”

My favorite arrangement of this spiritual is Margaret Bonds’ solo and piano version, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand. I found it interesting that Bonds (1913-1972), an African American pianist and composer, intentionally used the singular form of “hand.”  Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle performed a special arrangement of Bonds’ original composition in 1990 at their “Spirituals in Concert” at Carnegie Hall.

I encourage you to seek, find, and listen to Negro spiritual performances by these talented African American women I have noted. Perhaps, you will start with their performances of He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. In light of the volatile and unstable atmosphere of the United States of America especially, and of the world, one thing is certain for us, God has the whole world in His hand(s).