I Am Thine O Lord
History
This hymn was written by Fanny Crosby in 1875 in collaboration with longtime friend, the composer William H. Doane. As an infant, Fanny Crosby was blinded as the result of the poor medical treatment of an eye infection. She never let her circumstances intimidate her, and her family saw to it that she had everything she needed to grow and flourish.
At a young age, and with the help of her grandmother, she began memorizing entire passages of Scripture. As a child, she could recite the entire Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) as well as many of the Psalms and New Testament letters. This deep repository of biblical knowledge would serve her well as a hymn writer and allow her to compose a remarkable amount of hymns, sometimes up to ten in a single day. She is known to have written somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 hymns in her long lifetime.
Throughout her storied career, she had the privilege of meeting many people and creating lasting close friendships. One such friend was William Howard Doane, a successful business executive and composer. He was the president of a Cincinnati, Ohio company that manufactured machines for woodworking, and he held many of the patents for the machines.
There are differing stories about how this came to be, both from accounts of Fanny herself. In either case, Fanny and William were visiting together and discussing the nearness of God in their lives. It was perhaps at this moment that Doane played a little melody he had been working on. Fanny was often inspired to write words after hearing a melody—the notes seemed to speak to her in a special way.
Inspired by the magnitude of who God is and what he has done for us, and armed with Doane’s new composition, she went back to her room for the night. As she prepared to sleep, the ideas from their conversation filled her heart and her mind and she went to sleep with the words to this hymn coursing through her mind.
The following morning, she recited the stanzas to Doane, who wrote them down and composed the full tune to go with them. As with many of Crosby’s works, this hymn took very little time to become popular among churches across denominations, first in America, and then overseas.
Devotion
On this side of heaven, we will always be in a spirit of longing. We will always look toward the limited nearness of God that we can only fully experience in His presence when we are reunited with Him for eternity. Until that day, all we can do is pray for Him to draw us closer and closer to Himself. The good news for us is that He is faithful to answer that prayer.
I’m reminded of Exodus, as Moses is preparing for the journey ahead to the Promised Land that the Lord had given. His plea is that He could know God and find favor with Him. He even pleads, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”
Do you find yourself desperate for God’s presence in your life? Do you feel a deeply rooted need to be near to God? I think it’s easy to believe that we kind of have everything figured out. For many of us, life is relatively easy. I don’t want to downplay legitimate hardship and challenges that you may face in the slightest. But the truth is that for many of us, the biggest challenge we might face is when our TV streaming has to buffer, or our phone’s battery doesn’t last nearly as long after the most recent update.
A friend of mine who has spent a majority of his adult life serving in missions has often said something along the lines of, “Why don’t we see miracles in America? Because we don’t need God, we have insurance.” Now, problems with America’s healthcare system aside, there is a stark truth to that sentiment. We have so many amenities and privileges that sometimes we forget what it’s like to lean on God.
David, king of Israel, seemed to struggle with this himself in Psalm 73 when he flirts with worldliness and a jealousy for those who make their own way. When he finally turns back toward God, he calls his behavior “brutish and ignorant.” Some translations even render the term as, “stupid” and “unthinking.” Now I’m in no position to say much. I am painfully aware of how guilty I am in forgetting that I need God. Sometimes, like David, I do indeed feel stupid for not turning back to the Lord. Have you ever felt that way?
Just like Fanny Crosby penned in this hymn, there are depths of love and heights of joy that we can never know or understand, aside from a deep, personal relationship with God. The world can never satisfy us the way that the Lord can. And here’s the kicker: God, through the Holy Spirit, lives in us and with us. He isn’t some far off deity who has forgotten His people. He is right here, a breath away. That is an amazing encouragement. When we seek His nearness, we know He answers prayer, because He is already here.
Related Scripture
Exodus 33:14-16; Psalm 73:23-28; Hebrews 10:19-22
I Am Thine O Lord lyrics
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice
And it told Thy love to me
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee
Consecrate me now to Thy service Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
Refrain
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord
To the cross where Thou hast died
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord
To Thy precious, bleeding side
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Just a measure of your grace;
There are heights of joy that I yet may reach
Til I see you face to face.