“I Need Thee Every Hour”

Sermon in Song

“I Need Thee Every Hour” was written by Annie Hawks (1872).

A wife and mother of 37 years of age, Hawks wondered how one could possibly live without the Lord.

She wrote the song not under the stress of great personal sorrow (as many believed), but out of love and joy for the Lord.

It was only until she experienced great loss did she understand how so many people had gained great comfort by the song she wrote.

Annie Sherwood Hawks1836-1918

"I remember well the circumstances under which I wrote the hymn. It was a bright June day, and I became so filled with the sense of the nearness of my Master that I began to wonder how anyone could live without Him, in either joy or pain. Suddenly, the words I need Thee every hour, flashed into my mind, and very quickly the thought had full possession of me.

Seating myself by the open windows, I caught up my pencil and committed the words to paper - almost as they are today. A few months later Dr. Robert Lowry composed the tune needed for my hymn and also added the refrain.

For myself, the hymn, at its writing, was prophetic rather than expressive of my own experiences, for it was wafted out to the world on the wings of love and joy, instead of under the stress of great personal sorrow, with which it has often been associated.

At first I did not understand why the hymn so greatly touched the throbbing heart of humanity. Years later, however, under the shadow of a great loss, I came to understand something of the comforting power of the words I had been permitted to give out to others in my hours of sweet serenity and peace."

“For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5)

Do we truly understand just how much we need our

Savior each day?

Chorus from Song:

“I need thee, O I need thee; every hour I need Thee; O bless me

now, my Savior, I come to Thee.”

Psalm 86:1-3

Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; For I am poor and needy.Preserve my life, for I am holy;You are my God;Save Your servant who trusts in You! Be merciful to me, O Lord,For I cry to You all day long.

True Peace is found by Listening to the Words of our Gracious Lord.

Verse 1: “I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord; no tender voice like

Thine can peace afford.”

“Most gracious Lord”

Gracious (Hebrew CHANAN): "Generally, this word implies the extending of ‘favor,’ often when it is neither expected nor deserved.” - Vine’s Expository Dictionary

Psalm 116:4-6

Then I called on the name of the LORD: “LORD, save me!” 5 The LORD is gracious and righteous;our God is full of compassion. 6 The LORD protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.

Gracious (Hebrew CHANAN): “only used as an attribute of God, as hearing the cry of the vexed debtor” - Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon

Exodus 34:6-7a6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. - cf. Rom. 3:24

The Lord being gracious to us results in real and lasting peace.

Numbers 6:25-26 - the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Only the Lord can provide true peace.

“… No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.” –There is no other voice than the

Lord’s that can provide the peace that we really need in life.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Romans 5:1

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, - cf. Isa. 57:21

2 Thessalonians 3:16

 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The

Lord be with all of you.

Every Temptation Can be Overcome with God Who is Near.

Verse 2: “I need Thee every hour; stay Thou nearby; temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.”

God comes near to those who call Him.

Psalm 145:18-19

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The nearness of God eliminates our desire for sin.

“… Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.”

Matthew 26:41

"Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Matthew 6:13

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil…

Hebrews 2:18

For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

God has promised a way of escape from every temptation we will

ever face (1 Cor. 10:13).

Fellowship with God Gives Life True Meaning.

Verse 3: “I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain; come quickly and abide, or life is vain.”

In good times or bad (“in joy or pain”), we need the Lord.

Our dependency on God does not change in times of joy or prosperity (Deut. 8:17-19; Hos. 13:6).

The reality is we need God in pain or joy.

Without fellowship with God, “life is vain.”

Verse 3: “I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain; come quickly and abide, or life is vain.”

Ecclesiastes 7:14

When times are good, be happy;but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.

What gives life true meaning is when we are in fellowship with God.

God our Creator made us and without Him we remain incomplete (Acts 17:26-28).

For true happiness and fulfillment, we call upon God: “Come quickly and abide.”

The Lord Gives Our Life Real Meaning, Purpose, and Fulfillment!

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Lord Teach Us Thy Will and Fulfill in Us Thy Will.

Verse 4: “I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will; and Thy rich promises in me fulfill.”

We need to be taught by God His will.

Psalm 25:4-5 - 4 Make me know Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths. 5 Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation; for Thee I wait all the day.

We must see our desperate need to be taught and

humble ourselves before the Lord and His way.

Psalm 25:9

He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way.

When we submit to God’s will, “rich promises” will be fulfilled in us!

“…Thy rich promises in me fulfill.”

Hebrews 10:35-36

35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Belonging to the Holy One, Jesus the Son of God.

Verse 5: “I need Thee every hour, most Holy One; O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.”

Acts 3:14-15

14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

“Most Holy One”

The most holy God cannot partake of anything evil nor fellowship anyone who is in sin (Hab. 1:13; Isa. 59:2).

How is it possible to commune with the Most Holy God? How can we confident that God counts us as one of His own? That we truly belong to Him?

“O make me Thine indeed.”

To belong to Jesus, we must believe in Him and “put on Christ” in baptism (Gal. 3:26-27).

Galatians 3:26-27

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Baptism into Christ washes away our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) making fellowship with the “Most Holy One” possible!

“O make me Thine indeed.”

Christians can always have this confidence that they belong to Christ as they continue to abide in Christ and His word (Jn 15:4-8).

John 15:4-5

4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:6-86 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

We Need the Lord Every Hour of Every Day.

By putting our trust in Him who is near, we

can live the Christian life victoriously!