There is an old hymn called “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”. It’s a well-known hymn with some beautiful lyrics in it. The first verse caught my attention and I found myself stuck on it. Now one thing many people don’t know about me is that I love to know the story behind the songs I like. If I really connect with a song, I will look up the artist and their story behind the song. Sometimes, that can ruin a song for me, but with some songs, like this one, it can give it a whole new meaning and depth. I realised that I didn’t know the history of this hymn, so I decided to look it up.
The history of the hymn
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus was written by a lady named Helen Howarth Lemmel. She was the daughter of a Methodist ministry who immigrated from England to America. She loved music and gave concerts and would eventually go on to be a vocal teacher at the Moody Bible Institute and the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It is estimated that she composed over 500 hymns and poems, which is impressive. She was married but sadly, she became blind, which caused her husband to leave her. Her midlife is described as difficult and full of heartache, and she spent the rest of her older years living off government funds and in less than comfortable accommodation.
Interestingly, at the age of 55, she was given a tract that contained the following statement: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.” And it was this that moved her to write the hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. Which makes the lyrics of the first verse and chorus even more impactful:
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.
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.
Worship in the dark.
How beautiful that despite being blind and having had years of heartache behind her, she wrote about finding abundance in the face and presence of Jesus. As I reflected on the lyrics and the lady who wrote them, I thought of my own life. I have, like everyone I know, experienced, and am still experiencing heartache, disappointment, and pain. Such is the world we live in. But how often do I stop and turn my eyes on Jesus? Not often enough is the answer. And so I stopped, turned my eyes to Jesus, and was reminded that Jesus brings peace, joy, and life in abundance.
He doesn’t promise us an easy road. In fact, most people I know that follow Jesus have had more than their fare share of pain, so we know He doesn’t always take away pain or trials. But what He does promise is his presence and his peace. What He promises is that He won’t leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). There is a beautiful promise in the Psalm 37:5-6:
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
The promise doesn’t say that he will remove the trial, whatever it may be. It tells us that IF we commit our ways to the Lord and trust him, he WILL bring forth our righteousness and justice for us. God will move an act in his way, and our role is not to tell him how to be God or what to do. It is to commit ourselves to him and to trust him to be God.
How do we do this?
We turn our eyes upon Jesus.
When life gets hard, we look in His wonderful face.
When the waves are getting higher, we turn our eyes upon Jesus and let him calm the storm.
We look to his face.
Look to the Son
Look to the face of the Son, the Holy One who is seated on High. And we praise Him. We worship Him. We trust Him and love Him with our whole being. And on the days when it’s too hard and when you can’t muster enough energy to lift your face to His, a whispered ‘Jesus’ will still reach his ears.
May we all look to the Son today. May we look to His wonderful face and allow the things of this world to become dim so that He is all we see.
Reflection Question
What hymns or songs help refocus you on Jesus?
‘My Jesus, I love Thee’ always speaks to me. As for regular songs, that depends on the season, as He is always bringing new (& sometimes old) songs across my path. One of the ones in this season is Phil Wickham’s ‘You’re Beautiful’. Simple, heartfelt, profound.
I haven’t heard of that one but will look it up. Phil Wickham has some great songs for lots of seasons. Thanks for commenting, Rebekah!
I love this song. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Dienece!