TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
Compiled and written by Raphael Pacheco
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Hymns have always provided a high standard of solemn praise not only because of its rich biblical doctrine or its uplifting tune that refreshes our spirit, but also because of the story of what inspired the author and what were the situations going on when the Lord gave the hymn.
The hymn ‘Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus’ was written in 1918 by Helen Howarth Lemmel. Helen was born in England in 1863, into the home of a Wesleyan minister who immigrated to America when she was 12 years old. She was a gifted singer and loved music. Eventually, she returned to Europe to study vocal music in Germany. During that time, she married a wealthy European, but he left her when she became blind, Helen struggled with multiple heartaches during her midlife. At age 55, Helen was inspired by a tract she read that contained the words: “So then turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.” “I stood still,” Helen later said, “and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.” Upon her return to America, she began giving concerts and traveling on the Chautauqua circuit. Eventually, she became a vocal music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. After retirement, she moved to Seattle, Washington, where she was a member of the Ballard Baptist Church. Helen wrote nearly 500 hymns during her lifetime. She had no way of writing many of those hymns and required assistance on recording them before she forgot the words. Helen had a small plastic keyboard by her bed where she would play, sing, and cry. “One day, God is going to bless me with a great heavenly keyboard,” she’d say. “I can hardly wait!”. She died in Seattle in November 1961 at the age of 98 years old. The message of the hymn is a beautiful reminder that as we look unto Jesus, by reflecting on everything He has done for us and by acknowledging who we are because of Him, we then begin to turn our attention away from the cares of this world. The hymn provides hope and comfort to those who are stressed, worried, lonely, distracted, discouraged or whatever we might be dealing with. It reminds us of the promise that these “things” will grow dim as we turn our eyes to Jesus. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
O soul are you weary and troubled No light in the darkness you see There's light for a look at the Savior And life more abundant and free Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace His word shall not fail you he promised Believe him and all will be well Then go to a world that is dying His perfect salvation to tell Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace O soul are you weary and troubled No light in the darkness you see There's light for a look at the Savior And life more abundant and free Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace |