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turn your eyes upon jesus

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Words: Helen Howarth Lemmel (b. Nov. 14, 1863; d. Nov. 1, 1961)
Music: Helen Howarth Lemmel

Note: You’ll find more about Helen Lemmel, and about how this lovely 1922 gospel song came to be written, in the Wordwise link at the end of this article.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

It’s not surprising that words such as “see” and “seeing” are found about a thousand times in our English Bibles. It’s a common word. And you can add hundreds more if you include forms of the words “look,” “behold,” “gaze,” or “view,” and so on. But not all of those have to do with sights seen with our physical eyes. More may be involved.

Sometimes, there is a physical seeing. But we can tell from the passage that there’s also an important inner dimension to the sight, an inner attitude behind the look. It may be faith, or despair, or lust, that’s involved, or something else. Whatever it is, there’s an inner sight that’s significant.

In the sad story of Abraham’s nephew Lot, he “lifted up his eyes and saw” the lush vegetation around the city of Sodom, and coveted it to graze his flocks and herds, in spite of the moral danger posed by that wicked city (Gen. 13:10-13). Later, the Lord Jesus speaks of the sin of looking at a woman, with an immoral purpose. “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

When it comes to faith in God, words such as “look” are sometimes used. In that case, there’s no physical sight involved–unless we take it to include the act of reading about Him in the Word of God. God says, “Look to Me and be saved” (Isa. 45:22), and we know that it’s speaking of an attitude of surrender, trust and utter dependency.

In the days of His flesh, John the Baptist cried to the multitudes, “Behold! The Lamb of God” That is no longer possible as it once was. But, even so, Hebrews says we need to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” What’s called for is a thoughtful concentration. “Consider Him,” says the writer (Heb. 12:2, 3). Again, it is a look of faith that recognizes who Christ is, and what He has done for us.

Initially, we turn our attention to Him, and trust in Him for our eternal salvation, just as the Israelites gazed upon the serpent in the wilderness and were delivered from physical death (Num. 21:5-9; cf. Jn. 3:14-15). Then we look to Him in worship and fellowship, and look to Him for strength and guidance.

(1) O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Saviour,
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.

Christians are also to be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13), when we shall indeed see the Saviour, face to face in all His glory. Seeing Him at His return is as certain to happen as His followers saw Him depart from this earth (Acts 1:10-11).

In the meantime, like Moses, we endure “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). We see the Lord with Spirit-empowered eyes, the eyes of faith, as He is revealed in the Word of God, and through sharing that Word, we are to make Him known to others.

(3) His Word shall not fail you–He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Questions:

  1. In what other circumstances of life is a “look” far more than a physical act?
  2. What can hinder and cloud our spiritual sight? And what should we do about that?

Links:

Today in 1864 – Helen Lemmel Born

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The frail old woman sits at a table in her tiny room in Seattle, Washington. Before her is a small plastic organ–one such as a child might have. But, as she fingers the keys and sings, her poor surroundings seem to fade from view, her face shines with the light of heaven, and tears trickle down her time-lined cheeks. Perhaps in her mind she is seated at a majestic pipe organ in some ornate cathedral. But the place doesn’t matter. She is intent on worshiping her Saviour.

The woman’s name is Helen. In her nineties at the time described, and with little of this world’s goods, her faith sustained her. When asked, “How are you?” her frequent reply was, “I am fine in the things that count.” (Well said!)

Helen Howarth Lemmel was born in England, the daughter of a Methodist clergyman. As a child, she was brought to America, where she spent the remainder of her life. A gifted soloist, she gave concerts in many churches, and taught voice for a time at Moody Bible Institute. She moved to Seattle in 1904, and for three years was music critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Mrs. Lemmel also authored about 500 hymns.

She wrote a lovely song–both words and music–in 1918. Helen Lemmel was given a tract by a visiting missionary. The leaflet was entitled “Focused,” and in it was this exhortation: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him [Christ]. Look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”

Mrs. Lemmel was riveted by those words. She says, “I stood still. And singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody.” The three stanzas of the song were added later the same week.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Saviour,
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.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

(2) Today in 1893 – Boundless Salvation introduced

In November of 1893, the Salvation Army conducted a series of evangelistic meetings in Exeter Hall, in London. They called it The Boundless Salvation Campaign. It was for those meetings that the Army’s founder, William Booth, wrote the words of the song Boundless Salvation (sometimes listed as O Boundless Salvation). It became so identified with him over the years that it came to be known as “The Founder’s Song.” It was first sung in the meeting held on this date, and was published in the Salvation Army magazine War Cry the following month.

O boundless salvation! deep ocean of love,
O fullness of mercy, Christ brought from above,
The whole world redeeming, so rich and so free,
Now flowing for all men, now flowing for all men,
Now flowing for all men, come, roll over me!

My sins they are many, their stains are so deep,
And bitter the tears of remorse that I weep;
But useless is weeping; thou great crimson sea,
Thy waters can cleanse me, thy waters can cleanse me,
Thy waters can cleanse me, come, roll over me!