Sunday, April 29, 2012 pm
SERMONS FROM SONG
“I Need The Every Hour”
Sacred Selections, #52
The
song was written in 1872 by Annie S. Hawks.
She was 37 at the time of the writing of this hymn.
History records that she began writing poetry at the age of 14
and did so throughout her life.
She married at the age of 24 and moved to Brooklyn, NY.
She had three children and often wrote poetry based upon
experiences as she raised them.
The poem that would result in the hymn we are studying was
written one day while we was busy tending to her household chores.
She was thinking about how the Lord is always near and that day
wrote the words that would compose this song.
Shortly thereafter, she gave the poem to Robert Lowry, her
Baptist preacher, who was also a song writer and composer (he has
written Shall we gather at the River, Low in the Grave He Lay & Nothing
but the Blood, among other hymns, and composed the tunes to numerous
other hymns – Something for Jesus, All the Way, etc.).
He put the poem to music and added the chorus.
Some 16 years after writing and publishing this hymn, her husband died.
It was only then that she realized the impact this song had on so
many and the comfort the message provided in her own life.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Hawks lived with her
daughter and son-in-law in Vermont until she died in 1919 at the age of
83. During her life she
wrote more than 400 hymns, but only this one has enjoyed wide
circulation and continues to be sung regularly.
In
this hymn we find that we ALWAYS need the Lord.
The author reminds us that He is not only needed often, but ALL
THE TIME! Not even every day, but every hour of every day.
Psalm 86:1 says, “Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; For I am poor and
needy.”
Jesus in John 15:5 told His disciples, “Without Me you can do nothing.”
2 Corinthians 3:4-5 speaks of our trust through Christ toward God.
“Not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our
sufficiency is from God.”
This is the humbling AND confident attitude we need as children.
a.
I need Thee every hour,
most gracious Lord
– the word “gracious” is
a derivative of the word “grace” and implies the idea of being generous.
We are here reminded of everything associated with the grace of
God.
Also, as we begin this song, we realize just how much He has given for
us , and continues to give to us – 1 Pet. 1:3 speaks of the abundant
mercy of God (NOTE: The word abundant is translated generously in Acts
10:2 referencing the alms of Cornelius).
Certainly we appreciate
how much our triune God has done for us.
God so loved the world (Jn. 3:16), Jesus came and died for us
(Rom. 5:8), the Spirit made known that message, etc.
The gift He offers us was described by Paul as “Indescribable” because
of how gracious it really is. (2 Cor. 9:14-15).
Vs. 14 speaks of the exceeding grace of God in you.
Cf. Eph. 1:19, 3:19.
Psalm 116:5 says, “Gracious is the
Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful.”
b.
No tender voice like Thine, can peace afford.
He is the source of true peace.
This world seeks peace, which it can only give temporarily and
superficially. But our Lord
Jesus gives us a lasting peace.
He gives a peace, not as the world gives it.
John 14:27, Isa. 9:6 He is called “the Prince of Peace.”
Col. 3:15, “let the peace of God rule in your hearts.”
Rom. 10:15 speaks of
“the gospel of peace”
Rom. 5:1, “Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(NOTE: Our peace is dependent upon being “justified by faith” –
our submission to His will)
Eph. 2:14 – He Himself is our peace.
II.
Vs. 2 - When we face temptations
a.
I need Thee every hour,
stay Thou nearby
–
Our Lord is near – Acts
17:27, while Paul was speaking to the Athenians noted the character of
Jehovah God. He speaks of
God’s appointed boundaries “so
that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for
Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us.”
Jas. 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
Heb. 13:5-6 speaks of the Lord being our helper.
HE said, “I will never
leave you nor forsake you.”
b.
Temptations lose their
powers when thou art nigh!
Temptations
are a difficulty we all struggle with.
There are so many whom Satan has frustrated because of surrender
to temptations. We sometimes
doubt our ability to overcome temptations.
Could the reason be that we that our Lord is not as near to us as
He ought to be? In Him, we
can overcome temptations:
i.
He was tempted in all
points as we are, yet without sin – Heb. 4:15-16
ii.
Because of this He is
able to aid us in our temptations – Heb. 2:18
iii.
1 Cor. 10:13 is also a
text of assurance, reminding us that we CAN handle whatever temptations
come our way.
iv.
Heb. 10:22 tells us to
draw near to Him with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our heats sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with
pure water.”
III.
Vs. 3 – In both good times and bad
a.
I need Thee every hour,
In joy or pain
One of the challenges we face is to draw near to God at all times.
For some, the times of pain draw us closer to God while it drives
others further away. AND for
some, the good times will cause one to consider God while it causes
others to forget about Him.
The challenge is to consider God ALWAYS, and regardless of the
circumstances. And for most
of us – either the times of adversity OR the times of prosperity
presents a challenge.
I am reminded of Job when his wife told him to curse God and die.
He responded, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”
(Job 2:10)
Phil. 4:11-12 finds Paul content, regardless of the state he finds
himself in. Why? Because His
confidence was in Christ. In
vs. 13 we read, “I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me
The TRULY godly consider Him always.
He is not treated like an ON & OFF switch.
b.
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain
There is here a realization that He must “quickly” come and abide within
us. We are again reminded of
His nearness.
OR life is vain or meaningless – This expression is a summary of the
book of Ecclesiastes, where over and over Solomon spoke of the vanity of
life. And after seeing its
futility, his conclusion – “Fear
God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” (Eccl.
12:12-14)
Jesus told His disciples, “I am
the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in ME, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without
Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
2 Corinthians 3:5 says, “Not that
we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from
ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God…”
IV.
Vs. 4 – Because He is
the Most Holy One and our Savior
a.
I need Thee every hour,
most Holy One
God is Holy – Isa. 6:3
where he has a vision of Seraphim we find one (from heaven)
crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory”
A similar statement is made in Rev. 4:8, “Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
Jesus is Holy – In John 6:69, Peter acknowledged his
understanding of who Jesus was saying, “We
have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.” This is a
declaration of His holiness among other attributes.
In Acts 2:27 where Peter quotes from Psalm 16 of Jesus he says, “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy
One to see corruption.” IN
Mark 1:24 even the demons recognized Him saying, “I know who you are –
the Holy One of God.”
In this phrase we again are reminded of WHO we are approaching.
The holiness of God is something that cannot be overemphasized.
The word Holy in reference to God means, that He is divine and
pure in its most magnificent sense.
We cannot truly fathom the greatness of His holiness, but the
BETTER we grasp the concept that He is holy, the more we will stand in
awe of His presence and humbly bow before Him and submit to His will.
That is why, as we sing this song, we remind ourselves that we
are approaching not just some good guy, but our HEAVENLY FATHER and His
Son! May that thought wake
us up.
And in this may we remind ourselves that He has not part with sin – (cf.
Isa. 59:2, Habakkuk 1:13 begins, “You
are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”
May we keep this in
mind as we seek to approach Him with our meager requests!
b.
O make me Thine indeed,
thou blessed Son
In this final
phrase, we find surrender to Him.
First, there is obeying the gospel – by belief (Mark 16:16, Rom.
10:9-10), repentance (Acts 2:38, 3:19),
confession (Matt. 10:32-33, Rom. 10:9-10, cf. Acts 8:37) and
being baptized – immersed – for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts
22:16, 2:38, 1 Pet. 3:21).
We are told in Galatians 3:27 that in baptism you put on Christ.
BUT, belonging to Him continues beyond that initial act of obedience – 2
Cor. 5:17 says, “If anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all
things have become new.”
A part of this is the reminder to remain faithful to Him.
I need Thee, O I need Thee.
Every hour I need Thee.
O bless me thou my Savior, I come to Thee.
In the chorus we find the “groaning” of our need for Him.
Of all the places we could turn to in this world, we choose to
come to Him! Because we know
that He, more than anyone or anything else in this life can give us true
fulfillment. Romans 8:37
says, “Yet in all these things we
are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
And
thus we see another song that we sing from time to time.
This one reminds us that we are helpless without our Lord.
It is tragic that so many in this world live as if they do not
need Him. Perhaps they will
do well in this life (though that is certainly not guaranteed), but when
they face eternity they WILL see how much they needed Him.
(Every knee shall bow).
Sadly it will be too late.
If only more in the world would realize this.
This song also contains a 5th verse (actually #4) which says,
“I need the every hour.
Teach me Thy will. And thy rich promises, in me fulfill.”
This song is often sung just before prayers as a reminder of our
dependence on Him both in our lives and in our request.
It could also be sung as an invitation.
Do
you need Him? Have you
submitted to Him and put Him on in your life?
If not, let me urge you to make yourself right today, while you
still have opportunity. Revelation 320 says, “Behold,
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to
him and dine with him, and he with me.”
If you will come – He will receive you!
Why not now, this very hour?