Oh my. Mahalia Jackson really brings it in this version! According to this YouTube clip, Ms. Jackson is in Antibes, France in July 1968. The late Eddie Robinson is on the piano and Charles Clency on the organ.
This is another well-known spiritual yet we know so little about it. It was first published in 1927 and been recorded by countless artist of all ethnicities. Shannon Pederson says it well.
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands was born in the fields of the American south. The story of this unforgettable song is intertwined in the history of America itself. It was written by a slave whose name we will never know. That man or woman likely experienced more trouble and suffering than any person in the modern age. He or she was not considered human by a society that viewed bondage as a necessary evil. So, the writer of this hymn was not in charge of the present and had no control over the future. The slave owner could beat him or her to death, and there would be no punishment. Or he could sell him or her on an auction block on a minute’s notice. Yet in the face of a life with no promise of freedom, this slave found solace in faith. Somehow this Christian still believed that a loving God was in charge.