GOSPEL >> Consecration
SDAH 327
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand:
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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’d Rather Have Jesus
This heartfelt declaration of devotion was first sung in 1939 by George Beverly Shea, who later became well known as the soloist for Billy Graham’s evangelistic crusades. The words were written by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller, whose poem Shea found on the piano one morning—left there by his mother. Moved by its message, he composed a melody on the spot and sang it at church that very day. The hymn reflects the soul’s longing to choose Christ over all earthly gain or praise. It continues to speak deeply to those who have weighed life’s choices and declared, like the Apostle Paul, “I count all things but loss… that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
The lesson talks about the contrast between Satan and Jesus. Satan wants to exalt and lift himself up while Jesus choose to came down to our sinful world and suffer to give us eternal life. May the lyrics of the hymn be our prayer, “ I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.” (Lesson 6, 1st Quarter 2021 -Tuesday, Fall of the Mountain King, 2/02/2021)
Going down the waters in baptism, the believer signifies to the universe that they would rather die to self and let Christ live in the heart. Every idol is uprooted that Jesus alone may reign on the throne of the heart. (Lesson 9, 1st Quarter 2023, Managing for the Master – Sunday, “The Ultimate Original Sin?” 2/26/23)
In his autobiography, Then Sings My Soul, 1968, George Beverly Shea (19 –; see SDAH 75) shares how this tune was premiered in 1939 on an old motorized reed organ in his father’s church in Jersey City: “[Mother] had a habit of leaving little notes –poems, quotations, essays—around the house for her children to read. Her communiques to me were always left on the piano or on my violin case. One Sunday morning, she placed on the piano a little poem by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller. Mother thought its message beautiful. I did, too. Instead of practicing the hymn I had intended to play that Sunday morning in church, I turned to this poem. Melody just seemed to form around the words. When I played and sang it through for the first time, Mother came in from the kitchen where she had overheard. She wrapped both arms around my shoulders and placed her wet cheek net to mine. In church that morning, I sang for the first time, ‘I’d Rather Have Jesus.’”
No information is available about Mrs. Rhea F. Miller.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand:
Refrain
Than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway!
I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.
2
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame;
I’d rather be true to His holy name:
3
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs –
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead:
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Matt 16:26 (c) Songs 2:2; Ps 19:10
Author
Rhea F. Miller (1894-1966)
Year Published
1922
Copyright
Copyright 1922, 1950. Renewed 1939, 1966 by Chancel Music, Inc. Assigned to the Rodeheaver Co. (A Div. of Word, Inc.) All rights reserved. Iternational copyright secured. Used by permission.
Metrical Number
11.11.11.10.Ref.
Composer
George Beverly Shea (1909-2013)
Year Composed
1939
