CHRISTIAN LIFE >> FAITH & TRUST
SDAH 512
Just when I need Him, Jesus is near,
Just when I falter, just when I fear;
Ready to help me, ready to cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
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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: Just When I Need Him Most
Written in 1908 by William Charles Poole, this gentle gospel hymn highlights three precious qualities of Christ—His presence, His faithfulness, and His strength—before gathering them all together in the final stanza by declaring Him “our all.” Poole, who also wrote “I Shall See the King,” shapes the text around the comforting truth that Jesus draws nearest in our moments of deepest need. The tune was composed a year earlier, in 1907, by Charles Homer Gabriel, one of the most influential gospel songwriters of his era and the composer of “The Glory Song” and the melody for “Higher Ground.” Together, Poole’s reassuring words and Gabriel’s warm tune remind us that whenever we are weak, uncertain, or burdened, Christ is present—reliable, strong, and perfectly timely.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
William Charles Poole (1875-1949; see SDAH 426) wrote this hymn in 1908. He chooses three different characteristics of our Lord for his first three stanzas. There are, of course, countless other traits in addition to His presence, His faithfulness, and His strength, so Poole’s last stanza encompasses them all and describes the Lord as “our all.” Poole also wrote SDAH 426, “I Shall See the King.”
The tune, unnamed, was composed in 1907 by Charles Homer Gabriel (1856-1932; see SDAH 435). He also wrote both words and music of SDAH 435, “The Glory Song,” and the tune, also unnamed, for SDAH 625, “Higher Ground.”
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Just when I need Him, Jesus is near,
Just when I falter, just when I fear;
Ready to help me, ready to cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
2
Just when I need Him, Jesus is true,
Never forsaking, all the way through,
Giving for burdens pleasures anew,
Just when I need Him most.
Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
3
Just when I need Him, Jesus is strong,
Bearing my burdens all the day long;
For all my sorrow giving a song,
Just when I need Him most.
Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
4
Just when I need Him, He is my all,
Answering when upon Him I call;
Tenderly watching lest I should fall,
Just when I need Him most.
Just when I need Him most,
Just when I need Him most,
Jesus is near to comfort and cheer,
Just when I need Him most.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(c) Matt 11:29 (d) Col 3:11 (r) 2 Thess 2:16, 17; Matt 14:27
Author
William Poole (1875-1949)
Year Published
1907
Copyright
Copyright 1908 by Charles H. Gabriel. Renewed 1936 The Rodeheaver Co. (A Div of Word, Inc.). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Metrical Number
9.9.9.6.Ref.
Composer
Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932)
Year Composed
1907
