I Need Thee Every Hour

It’s a bit of a tough time we’re going through right now eh?  Covid-19 shutting down places of business, people losing jobs, death, sorrow, and people being shut in their own homes.  I wonder about people who have no one in their lives, who will check in on them?  What if they got the strain of Covid that makes it hard to breathe, how will they get the help them need?  Who will speak for them? What about people who live in difficult situations?  Who will see if everyone is shut indoors?  As I ponder these thoughts, this song came to mind and therefore I share it with you.  I need thee every hour by Annie Hawks. 

Lyrics

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

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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

Refrain

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

Refrain

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

Refrain

About the Author and Hymn

Annie S. Hawks wrote over 400 hymns during her lifetime, but I need Thee Every Hour is her only hymn that continues to be sung regularly.  She wrote it in 1872. 

A deeply personal song, according to the cyber hymnal Annie said 

“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….”

The composer of the hymn, her pastor Robert Lowry said he added the refrain as per this article from GodTube. 

Thinking More

So I have to wonder, do I recognize my need for the Saviour?  There are so many times when I don’t you know?  When I think of myself as being pretty self-sufficient.  Yes, I rely on my hubby and I mind well my lad, but often I think… I can do this. I can manage just fine.  

Then God does something like this Covid-19 that weighs on my mind, and makes me concerned for others, and I recognize very much my need for him.  How he minds me just as I mind my lad (but perhaps a bit more attentively).  I am reminded that I need to rely on him even more than I rely on my hubby.  

Does this pandemic help you remember your reliance upon God?