Sunday, June 13, 2010

~I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR~

The lyrics to the beloved hymn, I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR were written by Annie S. Hawks.  She wrote this about penning the words to this deeply meaningful song:

Annie S. Hawks
1872
"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."
It is said that 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."


~Randy Owen (Alabama) with The Isaccs~

I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 ~*~

I need thee, blessed, Lord!
Love to you~

21 comments:

GwendolynKay said...

Beautiful and informative. I love that song...
Blessings~
Gwen:)

The Tin Rabbit said...

Beautiful, Beautiful Post! Have a Wonderful Week~ God Bless! Ann

Anonymous said...

Oh Yes Rebecca!! The need is always there!!
Beautiful Post!!
Love,
Marilyn
xxoo

Terra said...

These lyrics are perfect and thanks for posting them here. I love this hymn.

Unknown said...

Such a sweet post, Rebecca.
Peaceful words on a Sunday morn.
have a lovely afternoon...
you've worked very hard all week on your projects, I've been watching you...grin!
blessings sweetie,
glenda

Jeannie B. said...

I love this hymn. And how true it is.

Janine Claire Robinson said...

Powerful testimony. These songs take on a deeper meaning when you hear the heart story behind them. Amazing how these words still minister today.

Ginger said...

Just beautiful, thank you for sharing such a beautiful story. Enjoyed yesterday!!!
Hugs
Ginger

Rita said...

I'd hate to know that my life was without Him! I need Him every hour of the day and night! Thanks for sharing this with us. I enjoyed reading about her.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that beautiful song! I feel so light now!
Marcia

Rose said...

INTERESTING STORY AND LOVED THE WORDS OF THIS SONG. THANKS ROSE

cottagepinkperfection said...

I am not ashamed to say that I need HIM every minute, hour and footstep of the day. Thank you Lord for being there. Thanks Rebecca, for sharing that beautiful old hymn! Blessings to you and yours!

Hugs,
Marie

Mosaic Magpie said...

What a wonderful feeling to know the Lord is using you to touch others. Annie truly was blessed that day and has blessed others since with that hymn she penned. Thank you for sharing Rebecca. Yes we truly need Him.
Debbie

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Dearest Rebecca,
I love this hymn and it ministers to me every time. Wonderful story of it's origin. Thank you for sharing this history lesson.

Oh I loved seeing the before and after of the chest. TOOOOO Fabulous!! Gorgeous Saturday Pinks too.

Thank you for stopping by and your sweet comments of encouragement. I know you are very busy and I have missed you. So much fun to catch up on your posts. As always I leave with much inspiration.

Have a wonderful week sweets.

Love to you as well.
Celestina Marie

Jeanne said...

Such a beautiful song and lyrics. Thanks for sharing.
xo
jeanne

Dolores said...

Oh Rebecca.... thank you so much for sharing this beautiful song/lyrics and story. ..... one I've loved for years.
Blessings!

Unknown said...

Rebecca thank you so much for the beautiful song. I so needed to hear this tonight.

Grateful to you
Sharon

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Rebecca, I really needed to hear this today. Thank you! I have always loved this hymn. And I love, love, love the Gaithers! My cousin's wife is a huge Gaithers fan, and for their 60th birthdays, they went on a Gaithers Cruise to Alaska. She said it was wonderful!

You know, isn't it something how the old hymns of the church tie so many of us together? I was in the garden the other day (and we are near a building with a cross on top), and as I was watering my flowers and looking at that cross, I just burst into song, singing a lot of old hymns from childhood. I didn't even care if anyone heard me singing because I was singing to God and enjoying Him and His blessings. He is SO good, and so are these older hymns.

XO,

Sheila :-)

Lin said...

What a blessing this was to read this morning! I'll be singing it all day! Check out my facebook page! Yesterday marked ONE YEAR since Greg had his stroke....I've documented the miracles God has performed in our lives during the past twelve months - He was ALWAYS there...Lin

Rena said...

I LOVE the stories behind these precious hymns! Thank you so much for bringing them to our attention, Rebecca...And i have tears in my eyes as I realize how appropriate they currently are to me and my family as we go through a couple "situations".
May the Lord bless you for following His leading in what to post here.

Unknown said...

It is so neat to learn the background of a song, book, whatever. I'll certainly remember your words when we sing this at church.

Take care-
Cindy

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