I Need Thee Every Hour

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 

 2 Corinthians 3:5

Sometimes it takes a valley in our life to make us realize how much we need God. Growing up we are trained to be independent and to “stand on our own two feet.” Then comes a crisis, and we fall apart. That’s when we realize how much we need God.

Annie S. Hawks wrote this hymn. Annie, a young wife and mother, writes that one sunny day in June, 1872, she was busy with her household tasks. Suddenly she became filled with the sense of nearness to the Lord. She wondered how anyone could go through trials and sorrow without God. She realized that God was near in joy or in pain. Annie then penned the words to “I Need Thee Every Hour.”

The next Sunday Annie took the words to her pastor, Dr. Robert Lowery. He wrote the tune and the chorus. The song was published in a hymn book the next year and is still sung around the world.

When Annie’s husband died sixteen year later, she found that her own hymn was among her greatest comforts. She had not understood how her words had touched so many hearts until the shadow of a great loss fell her way.

The message of this hymn is so clear. We need God because His tender voice brings peace. We need God to take away the powers of temptations. We need God in joy as well as in pain. We need His provisions, protection, counsel, and wisdom in every aspect of our life.

God is our refuge. He is ever faithful. He never changes. His compassions never fail. Most of all, God pardons our sin and gives us eternal life. Yes, we need God every hour of the day. We can only have complete peace when we rely on God. We are not sufficient of ourselves.

How about your life? Are you carrying heavy burdens? Is your life full of distress? Just call out to God and admit that you need Him.

Source: Then Sings My Soul, Robert J. Morgan, 2003

Georgia