Hymn of the Week: January 23, 2023
O Jesus, I Have Promised
Glory to God Hymn 724
Text. John Ernest Bode 1869
O Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
Be thou forever near me,
My Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway
If thou wilt be my guide.
O let me feel thee near me!
The world is ever near:
I see the sights that dazzle;
The tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer
And shield my soul from sin.
O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.
O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee
That where thou art in glory
There shall thy servant be.
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my friend.
Hymn Texts: A Devotional
After witnessing our young confirmands being confirmed a couple of Sundays ago, I kept hearing this particular song running through my head and thought it would be timely to share it. Apparently, this song became so associated with confirmation Sunday that congregations began pleading that it NOT be sung for their confirmation. Sometimes, a hymn can have too much time in a church service.
Bode, John Ernest,
M.A., son of Mr. William Bode, late of the General Post Office, b. 1816, and educated at Eton, the Charter House, and at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating B.A. 1837, and M.A. in due course. Taking Holy Orders in 1841, he became Rector of Westwell, Oxfordshire, in 1847; and then of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, 1860. He was also for a time Tutor of his College, and Classical Examiner. His Bampton Lectures were delivered in 1855. Head at Castle Camps, Oct. 6, 1874. In addition to his Bampton Lectures, and Ballads from Herodotus, he published Hymns from the Gospel of the Day for each Sunday and Festivals of our Lord, 1860; and Short Occasional Poems, Lond., Longmans, 1858.
Our hymn has its origins in the confirmation of the poet’s daughter and two sons in 1866. It was published two years later as a leaflet by SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) entitled “Hymn for the newly Confirmed” and later in the New Appendix to the New and Enlarged Edition of Hymns for Public Worship (1870), and in Church Hymns and Tunes (1874). When it was published in the second edition of the popular Hymns Ancient and Modern (1875), the success of the hymn was assured. Most major hymnals have included it since then.
The text is based on a verse in John 12 following Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his travel to Bethsaida of Galilee just before his impending passion when he shares with his disciples: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor” (John 12:23-26, KJV).
