Behind the Hymn
by Associate Pastor Tom Yarbrough
Much beloved since its debut in 1872, “I Need Thee Every Hour” was co-written by Annie Sherwood Hawks and Robert Lowry. Hawks, a poet and hymnist, sent the text of the original five stanzas to Lowry, a Brooklyn pastor with whom she had collaborated since 1868. Lowry, who had already published several popular hymn collections by this time, set these words to music and added the chorus as we know it, with its repeated plea, “I need thee, Oh, I need thee.” (The addition of Lowry’s chorus meant that when all five stanzas and choruses were sung, this phrase occurred twenty times!)
Upon being published, the hymn was received positively and was quickly incorporated into revival services and prayer meetings throughout America and England. Though the song seemed to give voice to a deep, collective desire to know God’s presence in times of distress, it was not born initially from any great sorrow or trial. Hawks herself once remarked that the hymn was “prophetic rather than expressive of my own experience at the time it was written, and I do not understand why it so touched the great throbbing heart of humanity.” It was not until the death of her husband in 1888 that she would experience the comfort afforded by the words she had penned years before as a simple confession of faith during a season of “sweet security and peace.”
Perhaps this speaks to the sometimes subtle or delayed impact of hymns on Christian formation: many of us learn to sing these beloved songs long before our need for them is ultimately realized. They are like handrails on stairs; we may swing on them as children, but at some point in our lives, we will find ourselves leaning on them, glad they are there.
Perhaps this speaks to the sometimes subtle or delayed impact of hymns on Christian formation: many of us learn to sing these beloved songs long before our need for them is ultimately realized. They are like handrails on stairs; we may swing on them as children, but at some point in our lives, we will find ourselves leaning on them, glad they are there.
At The Village Chapel, we have sung “I Need Thee Every Hour” (along with its modern reimagining, “Lord, I Need You”) in times of quiet confidence, reassuringly declaring together the Lord’s nearness to us, His rich promises for us, His tender voice toward us. But we have also sung it in desperate seasons of corporate pain, when “Come quickly and abide” has felt like the Psalmist’s cry for God’s presence and aid in a raging sea of tears and confusion. No matter when or how our congregation sings it, we sing it because it is true. Lord, we need You. And if we sing it often, that is because it is always true. We need You every hour.
“I Need Thee Every Hour” Written by: Annie S Hawks (1872), Robert Lowry (1872) Arrangement: Tommy Bailey Used By Permission CCLI License: 2003690
