History of Hymns

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History of Hymns: I Need Thee Every Hour

by C. Michael Hawn
"I Need Thee Every Hour"
Annie Hawks
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 397
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.
This hymn by Annie Sherwood Hawks (1835-1918) reflects the same general characteristics as
those of the other four 19th-century women hymn writers discussed during Lent.
The women all employ first-person accounts that grow out a deep personal piety, resulting in a
language of intimacy between the singer and the Savior.
A New York native, Hawks displayed a gift for verse at the early age of 14,
contributing poems on a regular basis to a variety of newspapers. Though she
composed over 400 hymn texts, "I Need Thee Every Hour" is the only hymn of
hers that is still sung today.
Following her marriage to Charles Hawks in 1859, much of Hawks' life centered
on the domestic aspects of rearing three children. She was a member of Hanson
Place Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Dr. Robert Lowry, a prominent
writer of gospel songs, was her pastor. Lowry encouraged the gift that he saw in
Hawks' poetry.

Annie
Hawks

We have a personal account of the genesis of "I Need Thee Every Hour": Hawks writes, "One
day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks
during a bright June morning [in 1872]. 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
were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me -- 'I Need Thee
Every Hour. . . .'"
Lowry added a refrain as he wrote the music for the hymn.
Ira Sankey, the great revival musician for Dwight Moody, used this hymn at the National Baptist
Sunday School Association Convention the same year, 1872. It then appeared in Royal Diadem
for the Sunday School, an 1873 collection compiled by Lowry and William Doane.

The phrase "I need thee" is at the center of the intimacy expressed in this hymn. Its persistent
repetition is a common device used by hymn writers of the era. With the refrain added by Lowry,
Hawks' hymn pleads "I need thee" 20 times when all five stanzas are sung!
This close relationship with Christ stands in stark contrast to more objective hymns based, for
example, on God's mighty acts and the theology of the Trinity. Perhaps the Christian life exists
somewhere between these two poles of praising the all-powerful God and craving the intimacy of
a personal relationship with Jesus.
Many Christians today struggle with the language of submission that accompanies some 19thcentury gospel hymns. For example, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) begins the second stanza of
"Blessed Assurance," with "Perfect submission, perfect delight." Lowry's refrain adds "I come to
thee" - another note of submission - to Hawks' "I need thee every hour."
These personal devotional hymns by 19th-century women have their place. They provide
glimpses into the lives of women segregated from the positions of leadership (even in the
Church) by gender, leading lives separate from their spouses primarily in domestic settings, and
with little or no voice in the public arena.
Now, the sermons and speeches made by so many men in the public sectors of church and
society have long been forgotten, but the songs of these women, whose primary arena was the
relative quiet of the home, are still sung.
Following the death of her husband, Hawks reflected on the power of her song: "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."

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