CHRISTIAN LIFE >> MEDITATION AND PRAYER
SDAH 483
I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.
This hymn appears in:
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: I Need Thee Every Hour
Annie Sherwood Hawks penned this hymn in June 1872 while doing ordinary household chores, suddenly impressed with the thought that she needed God in every circumstance—whether in joy or in trial. Encouraged by her pastor, Robert Lowry, she wrote the verses, and he added the refrain and composed the tune. First sung at the National Convention of Sunday Schools in Cincinnati that same year, the hymn’s heartfelt plea reflects Hawks’ deep sense of God’s nearness. Of her nearly 400 hymns, this remains her most enduring, reminding believers that our walk with Christ is not just for special moments, but for every hour of life.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Annie Sherwood Hawks was a member of a Baptist church in Brooklyn, New York, during the pastorate of Robert Lowry (1826-1899; see Biographies). He encouraged her to write hymns, and this-one of her almost 400 Sunday school songs-was written in June, 1872, especially for his collection of original songs for the Baptist Sunday School Association. There was a fifth stanza:
I need Thee every hour,
most Most Holy One.
O make me Thine indeed,
Thou blessed Son.
The words came to her in an atmosphere of love and joy while she was engaged in routine household duties. She experienced a sense of nearness to God and wondered how one could live without Him, either in joy or in pain. Then the title “I Need Thee Every Hour” flashed into her mind. Lowry added the words of the refrain and composed the tune. The hymn was printed in leaflet form and sung at the National Convention of Sunday Schools at Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1872. It then appeared in Lowry’s Royal Diadem, 1873. The emphasis on “every hour” led Major D. W. Whittle to write SDAH 507, “Moment by Moment.”
Annie S. Hawks was born on May 28, 1835, in Hoosick, New York, and died in Bennington, Vermont, on January 3, 1918. She wrote some 400 hymns, but this is the only one currently in use.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.
Refrain
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.
2
I need thee every hour; stay thou nearby;
temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.
3
I need thee every hour, in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
4
I need thee every hour; teach me thy will;
and thy rich promises in me fulfill.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(r) 2 Cor 3:5
Author
Annie S. Hawks (1835-1918)
Year Published
1872
Metrical Number
6.4.6.4.Ref.
Composer
Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
Year Composed
1872
