This week’s video features the hymn “I Am Thine, O Lord” written by Fanny Crosby in 1875. The music was written by William Howard Doane, a successful businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio. Doane composed music for hundreds of hymns during his lifetime.
Born in 1820 in Brewster, New York, Fanny Crosby became blind shortly after birth. However, this didn’t prevent Fanny from becoming one of the most prolific hymn writers in history, writing over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs. A few of her well-known songs include “Blessed Assurance,” “Rescue the Perishing,” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Crosby and Doane were having a conversation about the nearness of God one day. Out of that conversation came a moment of inspiration, and the lyrics to the hymn:
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
Chorus
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Thanks to the dedication of her grandmother, Fanny Crosby spent her childhood memorizing Scripture. It’s likely she had Hebrews 10:22 in mind as she penned the words to the hymn. Thank you for listening!
“19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
(Hebrews 10:19-25)
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