My Jesus I Love Thee
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
William Ralph Featherston, 1864
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"My Jesus, I Love Thee"
 Performed by Frederic C. Freemantel. Recorded in Philadelphia, November 8, 1908. |
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My Jesus I Love Thee is a poem written by William Ralph Featherston around 1864. Featherston is said to have been either 12 or 16 years old when he wrote the poem.[1] In 1876 Adoniram Gordon added music to it. Featherston died at the age of 27, well before his poem had become a well-known inspirational hymn. The poem is believed to have been Featherston's only publicly published work.
Inspiration
According to Tim Challies,[1]
- Not much is known about Featherston, except that he attended a Methodist church in Montreal, that he was young when he wrote the poem (12 or 16 years old), and that he died at just 27 years of age. One story about how the poem became public is that Featherston mailed it to his aunt in Los Angeles who, upon reading it, quickly sought its publication... It wasn’t until several years after Featherston’s death that Adoniram Judson Gordon (founder of Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) added a melody and published it in his book of hymns, thus forever transforming this poem to a song.
Notable Recordings
- Amy Grant recorded a version of the song for her 2002 studio album Legacy... Hymns and Faith that was later included on her 2015 compilation album Be Still and Know... Hymns & Faith.[2]
- Paul Baloche performed the song in a various artist album, Hymns 4 Worship, Vol. 2: Just As I Am which was released in 2005.[3]
- Selah (band) recorded a 3three-stanza version of the song in their 2009 album, You Deliver Me.[4]
- In 2013, Darlene Zschech, along with Michael W. Smith, recorded an extra verse to this on the live worship DVD, Revealing Jesus.[5]
References
- 1 2 "Hymn Stories: My Jesus I Love Thee | Challies Dot Com". Challies.com. March 10, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ↑ "Be Still and Know... Hymns & Faith". AllMusic. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- ↑ "My Jesus I Love Thee". Amazon. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
- ↑ "MY JESUS I LOVE THEE (TRACK #9)". Selah. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
- ↑ Darlene Zschech (March 5, 2013). "My Jesus, I Love Thee from Darlene Zschech's #RevealingJesus Project". YouTube. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
Additional Sources
- Reynolds, William Jensen. Hymns of Our Faith. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1964. (p. 291)
- Taylor, Gordon Harry. Companion to the Song Book of the Salvation Army. St. Albans, England: The Campfield Press, 1988. (p. 300)
- Center for Church Music