# *Hymns for the Little Flock* This short hymnal of 184 songs was produced by Watchman Nee in 1931. It was the first formal collection he had undertaken for the saints gathering in informal settings across China. Prior to this hymnal, many pamphlets of songs had been passed around informally, but for the 2nd Shanghai Conference, Nee produced a fuller book. Nee and his coworker, Ruth Lee, translated choice hymns from a wide array of sources. Rarely has there been a collection drawing from such diverse sources as the Plymouth Brethren, A. B. Simpson, and the Keswick Convention while also accompanied by classic authors like Watts, Wesley, and Newton. Eleven of Miss Barber's poems are included as hymns. As *[[The Verses of a Pilgrim]]* was published just some months before the 2nd Shanghai Conference, the inclusion of these poems might give us insight as to which of her poems had already been set to tunes and enjoyed by the saints. It is likely that Nee had sung some of these with Miss Barber during countless meetings at White Teeth Rock. --- ## M. E. Barber's Poems included in Hymns for the Little Flock 32 - [[Poems - I Dare Not Be Defeated|I Dare Not Be Defeated]] 33 - [[Poems - On toward the Goal! Press on!|"On Toward the Goal! Press On!"]] 41 - [[Poems - In the Mighty Name of Jesus|In The Mighty Name of Jesus]] 68 - [[Poems - To the Foe My Word Is Always No|To the Foe My Word Is Always, "No"]] 70 - [[Poems - Can You Be Obedient|Can You Be Obedient]] 88 - [[Poems - He Looked For A City]] 123 - [[Poems - Keep Up The Song Of Faith|Keep Up the Song of Faith]] 130 - [[Poems - Deep Down into the Depths of this Thy Name|Deep Down into the Depths of This Thy Name]] 131 - [[Poems - Via Bethlehem We Journey|Via Bethlehem We Journey]] 132 - [[Poems - If The Path I Travel|If the Path I Travel]] 159 - [[Poems - Hallelujah! Christ is Victor|Hallelujah! Christ is Victor]] Possibly a 12th is 129 - [[Poems - He Faileth Not, For He Is God|He Faileth Not, for He Is God]], if this is considered either a translation from an English original, or an expansion inspired by Miss Barber's short [[Poems - God is Faithful]]. <br> Details regarding this hymnal are taken from what is published in *The Collected Works of Watchman Nee* series, Volume 23. According to that source, 184 hymns are included. (In his biography of Watchman Nee, *Against the Tide*, Angus Kinnear states there were 134 hymns in this 1931 publication.) Either way, we know this hymnal eventually expanded into [[Hymnal - The '1052' Hymnal|the larger hymnal of 1052 hymns]] that Nee and Ruth Lee completed in 1951.