CHRISTIAN LIFE >> our love for god
SDAH 456
I have a Friend so precious,
So very dear to me,
He loves me with such tender love,
He loves so faithfully;
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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: My Lord and I
Inspired by a Sunday evening sermon on Matthew 11:29, Mary Ann Elizabeth Lancaster (née Shorey) penned this hymn the very next morning in 1890 while going about her household tasks. The message of “Take My yoke… and ye shall find rest” blossomed into a reflection on the believer’s close companionship with Christ—dwelling, walking, talking, and working with Him. Published later that year, the hymn points to the joy and rest found in daily fellowship with Jesus. Its tune, also titled My Lord and I, was composed by Hubert Platt Main in 1903. Main, a prolific composer and arranger in American gospel music, also contributed settings for several other hymns in our hymnal. Here, his warm, singable melody supports the text’s personal testimony, inviting worshipers to embrace a life yoked with the gentle and lowly Savior.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Mary Ann Elizabeth Lancaster, née Shorey (1851- ?), was in attendance at church one Sunday evening in the summer of 1890 at Leytonstone, Essex, England, and heard a sermon preached on Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls.” The next morning, while engaged in her household duties, she was reviewing the sermon and the thoughts suggested by it when the words of this hymn began to form in her mind. The hymn was printed in December 1890. Note its four aspects of dwelling, walking, talking, and working with the Lord.
The tune, called MY LORD AND I in Church Hymnal, 1941, was composed by Hubert Platt Main (1839-1925; see SDAH 36), and copy righted in 1903. Main also arranged tunes for SDAH 36, BELOVED, and SDAH 325 and 621, ELLESDIE.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
I have a Friend so precious,
So very dear to me,
He loves me with such tender love,
He loves so faithfully;
I could not live apart from Him,
I love to feel Him nigh,
And so we dwell together,
My Lord and I.
2
Sometimes I’m faint and weary,
He knows that I am weak,
And as He bids me lean on Him,
His help I gladly seek;
He leads me in the paths of light,
Beneath a sunny sky,
And so we walk together,
My Lord and I.
3
I tell Him all my sorrows,
I tell Him all my joys,
I tell Him all that pleases me,
I tell Him what annoys;
He tells me what I ought to do,
He tells me how to try,
And so we talk together,
My Lord and I.
4
He knows that I am longing
Some weary soul to win,
And so He bids me go and speak
The loving word for Him;
He bids me tell His wondrous love,
And why He came to die,
And so we work together,
My Lord and I.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) 1 John 4:9 (c) Matt 11:28; Col 2:6
Author
Mary Ann Shorey (1851-?)
Year Published
1890
Metrical Number
7.6.8.6.8.6.7.4.
Composer
Hubert P. Main (1839-1925)
