Pass Me Not
Words: Frances Jane (“Fanny”) Crosby (b. March 24, 1820; d. Feb. 12, 1915)
Music: William Howard Doane (b. Feb. 3, 1832; Dec. 23, 1915)
(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)
The Gospel of Luke records the healing of blind Bartimaeus with these words:
It happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, that I may receive my sight.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Lk. 18:35-43
There’s touching poignancy to the words of Bartimaeus. What a tragedy if the One who had power to help passed by, unheeding! Bartimaeus could not see the Lord, but he clearly knew who He was. “Son of David” was a messianic title (cf. Matt. 21:15; 22:42; Mk. 12:15). He believed that Christ had the power to heal him, and the Lord did just that.
There is an interesting parallel in the writing of the song. On one occasion, Fanny Crosby was asked to speak to the convicts at a state prison. I don’t know if she made reference to this biblical incident, but it seems likely. While she was addressing the men, all at once, one of the prisoners stood and cried out in anguish, “God…Lord…don’t pass me by!” He was followed by others who did the same.
Fanny was so arrested by the urgent pleas of the men that she could not get their cries out of her mind. She said later, “I wrote the lines [of the hymn] with the men’s pleading wail still in my ears.”
(1) Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Saviour, Saviour,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
There’s some good Bible teaching, simply expressed, in the stanzas that follow. “Help my unbelief” (CH-2) is an allusion to the father of a demon-possessed boy, who brought his son to Jesus. Did he have faith that the Lord could heal him? He said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mk. 9:24). We can identify with that. We all need our faith to grow.
In (3) we have, “Trusting only in Thy merit…save me by Thy grace.” It’s a clear recognition that salvation is all of God. We can do nothing to earn it (cf. Eph. 2:8-9). A similar theme is pursued in the final stanza. Christ is “the Spring of all more comfort,” and no other in heaven or earth can rescue us from sin’s condemnation. Here, she alludes to the words of the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You” (Ps. 73:25).
(4) Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heav’n but Thee?
This is a fine gospel song. I encourage you to use it often, to call sinners to the Saviour.
Questions:
- How does blind Bartimaeus serve as a picture of every sinner in need?
- How does Christ’s healing of this man serve as a picture of the spiritual help He can give the sinner?
Links:
- 24 March 1820 – Fanny Crosby Born
- Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior (The Cyber Hymnal)