GOSPEL >> INVITATION
SDAH 290
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!
Text
1
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!
Refrain
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.
2
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
3
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!
Hymn Info
Biblical Information
(a) John 10:10 (b) Rom 8:34; Rom 6:14; Rom 8:37
Author
Helen H. Lemmel (1864-1961)
Copyright Information
Copyright 1952. Renewal 1980 by John H. Moore. Assigned to Singspiration (ASCAP), Division of th Zndervan Corp. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Metrical Number
9.8.9.8.Ref.
Composer
Helen H. Lemmel
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Notes
Get to know the hymns a little deeper with the SDA Hymnal Companion. Use our song leader’s notes to engage your congregation in singing with understanding. Even better, involve kids in learning this hymn with our homeschooling materials.
As we near the time of Jesus’ return, Jesus shows us the time of trouble that we must first go through. By patiently bearing the trials He allows is to face, we are preparing ourselves for His coming. (Lesson 4, 3rd Quarter 2022 -Wednesday, “The Wise”, 7/20/22
The author of both words and music of this invitation hymn told how it was written. It was 1918, and she saw the following words in a pamphlet by missionary Lillias Trotter: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him. Look full into His face, and you will find that the things of earth will acquire strange, new dimness.”
“Suddenly,” she said, “as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, 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.”
The song was published by the British National Sunday School Union in Glad Songs, 1922, a book of 67 of Lemmel’s works. It became popular in England, then moved to America in 1924 when Harry D. Clarke printed it in his Gospel Truth in Song, No. 2.
Helen Howarth Lemmel was born November 14, 1864, in Wardle, Greater Manchester, England, the daughter of a Wesleyan Methodist pastor. When she was 9 the family moved to America and settled in Wisconsin. She was a fine singer and studied extensively in the United States and Germany, using her talent in concerts, churches, and with a women’s quartet in the Chautauqua Circuit. After a time of teaching privately, she held positions at Monday Bible Institute at both the Chicago and Los Angeles campuses. Her final home for 57 years was in Seattle, Washington, where she was an active member of the Ballard Baptist Church before her death November 1, 1961. Some 500 hymns and a large volume of children’s music came from her facile pen. She died at age 96.
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