I'll Be a Sunbeam I'll Be a Sunbeam "I'll Be a Sunbeam" (also called "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam") is a popular children's Christian hymn composed by Nellie Talbot; it is sung to music composed in 1900 by Edwin O. Excell. Due to its age, the hymn has entered the public domain in the United States. Published in Chicago by Excell as hymn number 137 in his "Praises" in 1905, the words and music were anthologized at least three more times in other hymnals before 1923. Virtually nothing is known about lyricist Nellie Talbot; attempts to search census records suggest that she may
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus the Union and Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War. The hymn also became popular among British revivalists, and within public schools in England. As a result of the images of Christian militarism in the hymn, some people object to the hymn, and some people do not stand to sing it. The hymn was excluded from a more politically correct volume of The Presbyterian Hymnal published in June 1990, in order not to offend handicapped people. Several melodies have been written for "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". The one used most often now was written by George James Webb,