Jesus Lover of My Soul
A classic Charles Wesley hymn. Did he write it in a storm? When a bird flew into his office? When he was chased by a crowd after preaching?
Welcome to Friday Classic Hymns. Today we're looking at one of Charles Wesley's greatest songs. It's been loved by the church ever since it was written, and for good reason.
My memory of the song was singing it at my Gran's funeral. She requested it specifically. I didn't know the song despite growing up in a Methodist Church—we never really sang this. I had to go and learn the song for the service, and it's had a pretty precious place in my heart ever since then.
Do you have any memories of the song? Does it mean anything specific for you, or do any of the lines really resonate with you? I'd love for you to share that in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Let's get into the interesting history of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul."
The Story Behind "Jesus, Lover of My Soul"
Charles Wesley was the great hymn writer of the Methodist movement of the 18th century. I told his story in the video on "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," so you can check that one out—I'll put the link below. But to recap briefly: he grew up in a Christian home. His dad was a minister, his brothers were all Christians, and his mum was a great Christian herself. He received a great education, and he and his brother John both became Anglican ministers. They went overseas to Georgia to do some mission work and failed spectacularly. They came back, both of them feeling very depressed, but God really changed their lives when they returned to England.
It was through a group of Christians called the Moravians that both of them learnt salvation by faith—not by what they'd done, not by good works, but by faith. John and Charles Wesley's lives were changed by this great realisation that God loved them and that just by placing their faith in Him, they would be made new. The Methodist movement then took off. Both of the Wesleys became quite known in England—John more as a preacher and as an organiser of the movement, Charles as the great hymn writer who wrote thousands of songs and compiled many great hymnals.
This is one that has an interesting story—or at least nobody knows which one is true. There are three variations of the story.
The first story is that Charles Wesley was on a ship in a storm. As he sat in his cabin wondering if he was going to make it through the storm, he wrote "Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly." For him, these were words that signified his desire to be covered, protected, and sheltered by God.
The second story is probably the one that is most associated with this hymn, so it's probably the most likely of the three. He was sitting in his office one day when a bird flew in through the window and sort of nestled itself in his coat. It was as if it was taking refuge in him. He wrote that same line: "Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly." If a bird could find shelter like that in somebody stronger and bigger than itself, then that's what he wanted to do. That's the most likely and the most repeated story that inspired this hymn.
Another story that seems to be connected with this hymn was made popular by Ira Sankey, who was one of the great song evangelists of the 1800s. According to him, Wesley wrote the song when he was preaching this new doctrine of salvation by faith, not by works. Much like his brother John, wherever he went and preached that, he got chased out of town by riots and mobs because they didn't like what he was saying. On one occasion, a mob chased him out of town. He managed to escape into a farmhouse and shut the door behind him. He was sitting in this farmhouse with a crowd outside screaming for his murder, and he came up with the song "Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly"—again asking for safety and picturing God as one who could give him security.
It doesn't really matter which one is true, but what matters is that he wrote a song for the person who finds their faith in Christ and the security and comfort that comes from that faith.
His brother John didn't really like this song. He thought it was too sentimental, so it was left out of the early Methodist hymnals. Only after Charles died did it actually find any sort of popularity—strangely enough—and it really did become popular.
Henry Ward Beecher, who was a great preacher of the following century, once wrote this:
"I would rather have written that hymn of Wesley's than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on earth. It is more glorious. It has more power in it. I would rather be the author of that hymn than to hold the wealth of the richest man in New York. He will die after a little while, put out of men's thoughts. What will there be to speak of him? But people will go on singing that hymn until the last trump brings forth the angel band, and then I think it will mount upon some lips to the very presence of God."
Another moving story related to this hymn comes out of the American Civil War. A soldier was about to kill another soldier—he had an open shot of this man—but as he was about to take his shot, he heard this man singing this hymn. He paused and ended up not killing him. Years later, thirty years later, on a ship somewhere in the US, the soldier heard that same voice singing that same hymn. He went to find this voice and say to him, "This is what happened—you singing that hymn stopped me from taking a shot at you." Amazing stuff.
Dwight Moody, who was one of the great evangelists of times past, was buried to this hymn—much like my Gran. One of his friends talks about remembering this hymn always, because seeing Moody lowered into the ground to the tune of this song, into the words of the song, always stuck with him.
Maybe we should be singing it again. Maybe we should be bringing it back into people's lives, because these are some powerful words. Wesley wrote something special when he wrote this one. I hope that it will become as well known as it used to be. Let's look at these lyrics that he wrote, and then I'll sing it after that.
What Do the Lyrics of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" Mean?
Verse 1: "Jesus, lover of my soul"
Verse 1 says: "Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly."
That sounds a little outdated, right? We don't like to use the word "bosom" anymore, but it basically means "Lord, let me be held close to Your chest." You can picture Jesus with His arms around someone, pulling them in for a nice hug. Let me be held by Your embrace.
The rest of this verse seems to support the idea that Wesley wrote this during a storm: "While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high."
Whilst there's a storm raging, hold me close, Lord. Many people have found great hope and great comfort in singing that during difficult times. Maybe you will as well, getting to know the song and maybe counting it as a new favourite. Whenever you go through difficult times, you can sing this: "Lord, Jesus, lover of my soul, let me be held close to You whilst the waters rage and whilst the storms go on."
I love that phrase "Lover of My Soul." A lot of people have written songs with this phrase now, and Wesley was the one who kind of coined it and made it famous. Yes, He is—He's the one who loves our souls deeply. Isn't that why we love Him too?
The verse continues: "Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, till the storm of life is past."
Again, there's that refuge from a storm.
"Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last."
Was he talking about the end of life, being received by God into the haven of heaven, and God receiving his soul at last? Maybe that's why this is a popular funeral hymn, because isn't that all of our hope—to be received at home by God at last, one day when this life is over? But in the meantime, we ask Him to shield us from the storms of life, and we trust Him to do that.
Verse 2: "Other refuge have I none"
Verse 2 says this: "Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee."
In other words, I don't have any other place to go except to You, Lord. I trust in You and You alone for my salvation.
"Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me."
Isn't that the cry of our hearts when we go through difficult times? Don't leave me alone, Lord. Don't leave me—just come and comfort me, please.
"All my trust on Thee is stayed."
I love that—it's fixed on You, Lord.
"All my help from Thee I bring."
In other words, the help that I get all comes from God.
"Cover my defenceless head with the shadow of Thy wing."
There's a phrase from the Psalms: "Hide me in the shadow of Your wings." I like this picture of God's wings kind of covering over us and keeping us safe through the storms of life. Maybe you need to hear this today—that when times are tough, when you go through dark moments, God is there to hold you and keep you safe and comfort you and shield you.
Verse 3: "Thou, O Christ, art all I want"
Verse 3 says this: "Thou, O Christ, art all I want; more than all in Thee I find."
Yes, this is the cry of every Christian: "You're everything to me, Lord. More than all, I love You more than anything. You mean more to me than anything else." Isn't that a great thing to say to God?
"Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind."
That's what God does. In a sense, all those words describe us—we're fallen, we're faint a lot of the time, we're sick and blind. Jesus is the one who comes and raises us and cheers our hearts and heals us and leads us when we can't see. Oh, praise God for being this person to us.
"Just and holy is Thy name."
That's a beautiful line of praise: "Just and holy is Thy Name."
"I am all unrighteousness!"
I am just covered in sin, as the next line says.
"Vile and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace."
Wesley had realised that no matter how hard he had tried to match up, he didn't have it in him. But God was full of truth and grace, and even though he was sinful, God could save him by grace. Wonderful to sing.
Verse 4: "Plenteous grace with Thee is found"
The last verse says: "Plenteous grace with Thee is found."
I love that—"plenteous." So much grace is found in God.
"Grace to cover all my sin."
As the next line says, yes, even though I am unrighteous and vile and full of sin, there is grace to cover my sins and forgive me.
He says in the next line: "Let the healing streams abound, make and keep me pure within."
Very Wesleyan—"Come, Lord, and forgive me, but make me pure and keep me pure going forward." Let Your grace not only forgive but cleanse me and keep me pure. Love this way of thinking.
Then he says: "Thou of life the Fountain art."
You're the Fountain of Life, Lord. You're the one who brings life abundant on earth and in heaven.
"Freely let me take of Thee."
Yes, Lord, let me just enjoy what You give.
"Spring Thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity."
Let Your life spring in my heart and raise me up, I suppose, to eternity one day.
Conclusion
This is a wonderful, wonderful hymn. The language is a little bit old-fashioned now. It's not one that you can just change "Thou" to "You" and it all sort of comes right—it sounds a little bit old-fashioned to modern ears. But it shouldn't stop us singing it, I don't think, because what powerful words about God's love, His grace, and His comfort.
I pray that it will bless you today.
If you've enjoyed this exploration of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," please consider supporting this ministry through Patreon or PayPal. You can also explore more content through my daily devotions and Canaan Melodies.
References
Charles Wesley, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (1738)
Henry Ward Beecher, quoted commentary on the hymn
Ira Sankey, accounts of the hymn's origin
Dwight L. Moody, funeral service records
