I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
A great man of God who ministered in the Church of Scotland in the 1800s, Horatius Bonar, wrote hymns in his spare time. How blessed we are to still enjoy one of his great hymns – originally titled The Voice From Galilee, likely to have been written for the children of his church.
Introduction
Today's Friday Classic features a famous Scottish hymn which brings the words and purpose of Jesus to life in a very special way - and is written by a very special and influential man. This is a hymn that I didn't know previously. Go and check out my back catalogue if you like hymns - if you enjoy the precious words of these hymns, you'll enjoy all of those episodes that I've done, about 100 of them. Subscribe and join me here every Friday, and maybe share these hymns with others.
I like all types of Christian music, but I'm so enjoying exploring all these old hymns! What are your recollections and memories of this hymn, "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say"? If you have a special memory of the song or just something you'd like to share about the words or the story, pop it in the comments below. I love to read your thoughts.
The Story Behind "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say"
Dr Horatius Bonar is the writer of this great hymn. He was born in 1808 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he was one of 11 children in a very religious family. He lost his father at the age of 12, but his very saintly mother really shaped him and raised him into an exceptional young man of God. He, along with his brothers John and Andrew, became ministers.
He was educated at Edinburgh High School and studied at the University of Edinburgh, received his licence to preach at a young age, and served at St James in Leith as an assistant minister and as a local preacher. At the age of 29 he was ordained as a minister and began serving at the North Parish in Kelso.
Now, in 1843, there was a bit of controversy in the Church of Scotland because the church was denying congregations the freedom to choose their own ministers, and this caused a lot of tension. Eventually there was a split, and the Free Church of Scotland was formed. Bonar was one of the ministers who quite courageously walked away from his established ministry and his safe ministry to become part of the Free Church. Some have said that this really characterises the type of man that he was - willing to do what he had to do, even if it meant loss personally, to stand up for what was right.
Bonar set himself this goal to evangelise the Scottish borderland, and he would go around and preach in villages and on farms and in classrooms. People in Scotland got to know this man because of his extraordinary ministry. He had a solemn but sacred way about him that really seemed to stick with people.
Later on in his ministry, he was called to the newly built Chalmers Memorial Church, which was a really good station, and he was even elected as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. A few years after that, as an older man, he had received an honorary doctorate of Divinity from the University of Aberdeen.
He was so respected. He was a man of great energy, and he spent so much of his time doing ministry and yet still managed to pen about 600 hymns. Hymns were a kind of side project for him in amongst his normal ministry, but he wrote quite prodigiously even so, and he really enjoyed writing for children as well. He had a great love of children, and perhaps this is because of the tragedy in his own life - he married in 1843, but five of his nine children died in quick succession. Maybe this made him really love the thought of writing for the well-being of children, writing hymns that they could sing.
This hymn that we're focusing on today, "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say", was likely written for the children of his parish. It was originally titled "The Voice from Galilee", and it's got this beautiful structure to it where there's an invitation and response.
Bonar's ministry wound down as he aged, and in 1888 he was quite sick and he knew he was dying. But his request at the end of his life was, "Please don't write a biography of me. Point people to Christ, not to Bonar." Again, that just points to his character - selfless and committed to Jesus. So maybe in honour of his words today, let's not use this video to exalt him (even though we've told his story). But let's use this video to exalt Christ, the One that he was pointing to in this beautiful song he wrote.
What Do the Lyrics of "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" Mean?
It's a beautiful song! It has four verses which have this structure to them: the first part of the verse is an invitation from Jesus, the voice of Jesus speaking; and then the second half of the verse is the response.
Verse One
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto Me and rest.
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast."
Of course, Matthew 11:28 is where Jesus said, "Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And that offer remains for all of us today to find rest in Christ. The imagery of laying our head on His breast comes from John 13, at the Last Supper, where John, who's the one who Jesus loved according to John himself, was reclining and leaning on Christ in that way. That's a beautiful illustration of how Jesus wants us to be close to Him, laying down and resting in His arms.
Then the response goes like this:
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.
I came as I was! It reminds me of the old hymn, "Just As I Am". You don't have to get yourself right before you come to Jesus. You come as you are, even if you're weary, if you're worn, if you're sad. And He will give you a resting place and make your heart glad. Isn't that beautiful?
Has Jesus done this for you? Share your story below. How has Jesus taken you from sad to glad as you've rested in Him? Please let us know.
Verse Two
Verse two is the same pattern, but this time the focus is on Jesus as the living water:
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink, and live."
Jesus claimed to be the living water, and He freely gives it to those who will come. You don't have to earn it. It's given freely if you will come to Him in repentance and in faith. Jesus referred to Himself as the living water in John chapter 4, when He was talking to the woman at the well. In John chapter 7, He spoke about how the one who believes in Him has streams of living water flowing from them - the Holy Spirit. Will you stoop and drink from the water that Jesus offers?
The response goes like this:
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.
I love this. If you will come to Jesus and drink of that life-giving stream, you will find great peace. Your soul will be revived. Your thirst will be quenched. I love this imagery because we're all thirsty for something satisfying and quenching, and it is only the living water of Christ that will do that. So many of us try to quench our thirst by drinking sand - worldly things - and that never works. If you're still drinking at the pools of the world, that stuff makes you sick. But if you drink from the river of life that flows from the throne of God (there's some imagery from Revelation for you), then you will be fully satisfied. Find your delight in Christ and Christ alone.
Verse Three
Verse three has the same structure, but a different theme:
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright."
Remember, Jesus in John chapter 8 said, "I am the light of the world." The world is dark, but He is the light. There's this imagery of how in the world you're in the darkness, but the morn will rise when Jesus shines. It's like the sun rising on a new day, and you will have brightness all around you. Do you remember the picture in Revelation about how there will come a time when Christ will be our light, and we won't need the sun? It's because He is shining so brightly. Have you come to Jesus and stepped out of the darkness and into the light?
Well, here are some words that will help you to respond in this way if you need to:
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I'll walk,
Till travelling days are done.
I suppose your star is your guidance. A star was a thing that guided people in those days, and the sun is the one that gives light and life to the world. Jesus is your star and your sun. Have you found this in Him? And in that light of life, I'll walk till travelling days are done. As long as you're on this earth, will you walk in the light by placing your faith in Christ and rejecting the world's evils?
Verse Four
One more verse - and this one is not in all of the hymnals, which is a pity, because this is a beautiful verse. I wonder, if you still sing this, or if you know this hymn, do you know verse four? It goes like this:
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"My Father's house above
Has many mansions; I've a place
Prepared for you in love."
In John 14 Jesus said exactly this, that there are many rooms in the Father's house, and there's one prepared for each of us. He will come back and find us and take us to that heavenly place at just the right time. This is a picture of eternal life - of the life that those who believe in Jesus will enjoy on the other side of the grave. Have you responded to this offer so that you can enjoy that?
This is how Bonar responded:
I trust in Jesus; in that house,
According to His Word,
Redeemed by grace, my soul shall live
Forever with the Lord.
There is earthly help that Jesus provides. When you place your faith in Him, He provides rest. He provides a light in the darkness. He provides a quality of life by sustaining and quenching our spiritual thirsts. But then this verse reminds us that there's an eternal aspect to this as well - that after our death, we will go to be with Him in a beautiful place if our faith is in Him.
Conclusion
So what do you think of this hymn? I love it, I really love it. The tune we're going to sing now is called Vox Dilecti. It was written by John Dykes in 1868 - the same man, by the way, who wrote the tune for "Holy, Holy, Holy". And it's a brilliant piece of music. I don't normally comment on the music, but this particular one is brilliant because the first half, where Jesus is offering that thing that He offers in each verse, is in a minor key, so it sounds almost dark and mysterious. And then as we get to the response, it changes into that same major key and it lifts! It suddenly sounds peaceful, and it's a brilliant technique to do a change like that, which is very rare in most modern music. I hope that you'll hear it as we sing it in a moment.
Before we sing it, thank you for supporting my work. Many of you join me on Patreon, where you get free downloads of the songs that I do every week and free extra devotions. I've a daily devotions channel and there's an extra devotion every week for those who support for any amount a month. I really appreciate it if you would consider doing this so I could continue having people edit the videos and upkeep the countless things I do on my website - all the devotions and posts. Your help really helps me to do that and to provide for my family. So thank you.
Please sing it with me now, and let's just really take stock of what Jesus is offering us, and in joy, respond to Him with the words in the song.
References
Colquhoun, Frank. "The Voice from Galilee" - Chapter 12, pages 45-48.
Biography of Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889 - Spiritual Songsters
