“One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me: ‘I Need Thee Every Hour …’”
Annie Hawks wrote those words while discussing how her powerful poem, eventually a hymn many of us know and love, came to be. I have experienced these types of moments myself, and I suspect those reading these words can identify with the experience as well. For me, I have a long commute and the day I am writing this, I had one of those moments as I was on a lonely road in the forest. The sky was filled with large fluffy clouds interrupting the blue sky. The vividness of the green forest and the dark gray road seemed to pop to the eye as it had just rained. The sun was setting, and the thought crossed my mind that nobody can paint like God can. Mrs. Hawks’s hymn then shuffled through my radio and I sang with the acapella group which I enjoy. The rest of my hour-long drive, I was consumed with the idea of how much I needed Christ every second of every day.
Want and need are ideas which are often confused. Children are the easiest example to understand. They say they need something, a toy, or a snack, or some trivial thing. Adults must teach children that those types of things are wants. Those things make life more enjoyable, or they enhance our existence, but without them, we will still be alive and move on without them. A need is a different concept. Without water, the human body can exist for only three to five days. The only reason it can exist that long is that there is a store of that water in the body from which to draw until it is depleted. We need water. We need to sleep. Without it, a terrible Russian experiment proved that humans go insane and regress to animalistic behavior without higher reasoning.
“I need thee every hour …” The word “need” is chosen. God is gracious to us even though we are not deserving. His tender voice, speaking to our soul gives us calm and direction. In needing Him, if we keep Him close, temptations that might lead us to destruction lose all their power. God provides joy and comfort in pain. Without Him, as the preacher in Ecclesiastes says, “All is vanity.” His rich promises are fulfilled in us, and our soul grows and learns how to live. We need Him so that He may make us His, and in doing so He gives us eternal life, and we will never perish, and no one will snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28).
Not only do we need Him, but we also need Him as much as we need air to breathe to live. Annie Hawks’s beautiful poem, and Robert Lowry’s now 150-year-old tune help us as we sing letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).
The next time you have one of those moments, do not forget to offer thanks to God, and keep Him in the forefront of your mind because you truly need Him for He is life.
Lance Byers