"I Need Thee Every Hour"

Sunday Hymn Post

I was so touched by The Modest Mom's story of how this song gave her mother strength during her last days. She has an encouraging message for mothers at the end of her post. Reading what she shared is what inspired me to meditate more on this song and to use it for my Sunday Hymn Post.

Cyber Hymnal had a very interesting bit of information about the woman who wrote the words to this song, and I was glad to have some insight into the song. I think this song will mean so much more to me realizing that it was written by a wife and mother very much like myself, living out life very much the way I am, just in a different century. Just like her, I depend upon the Lord every hour, and at every moment. What a blessing to have the Lord as our solid rock! The very thought brings peace in the midst of a sometimes chaotic life.

Blessings to you today, my readers. Blessings and peace that only God can give.

The words of the author, Annie Hawks, from Cyber Hymnal:

One day as a young wife and mo­ther of 37 years of age, I was bu­sy with my reg­u­lar house­hold tasks. Sud­den­ly, I be­came so filled with the sense of near­ness to the Mast­er that, won­der­ing how one could live with­out Him, ei­ther in joy or pain, these words, “I Need Thee Ev­e­ry Hour,” were ush­ered in­to my mind, the thought at once tak­ing full pos­sess­ion of me.

After writ­ing the lyr­ics, Hawks gave them to her pas­tor, Ro­bert Low­ry, who add­ed the tune and re­frain. The hymn was first pub­lished at the Na­tion­al Bap­tist Sun­day School Con­ven­tion in Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio, in No­vem­ber 1872. Some years lat­er, af­ter the death of her hus­band, Hawks wrote:

I did not un­der­stand at first why this hymn had touched the great throb­bing heart of hu­man­i­ty. It was not un­til long af­ter, when the sha­dow fell over my way, the sha­dow of a great loss, that I un­der­stood some­thing of the com­fort­ing pow­er in the words which I had been per­mit­ted to give out to others in my hour of sweet se­ren­i­ty and peace.

"I Need Thee Every Hour" by Annie Hawks

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

Refrain -

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.