I Need Thee Every Hour

Not a common hymn sung in churches today, but the message is still the same. We need Jesus every hour (sometimes every minute) of the day. This hymn was written by Annie Sherwood Hawks in 1872. 

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. 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. . . . Seating myself by the open windows, I caught up my pencil and committed the words to paper – almost as they are today”

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.”

This song echo's David’s cry in Psalm 22:19 

“But you, O LORD, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” We have a profound and constant need for His presence, support, and love in times of joy, pain and in temptation. His abiding love supports us in this journey of love.