Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior
The great Fanny Crosby wrote "Pass Me Not" when hearing the cry of an inmate during prison ministry. Her words have come to mean a lot to many people, reminding us that when we call out in humble trust, our Lord never passes us by!
Last week I preached a sermon at my church on Zacchaeus. I'll put the link to the sermon below. During the sermon I quoted from a hymn which I've never sung before but which I somehow kind of knew. I knew the story somehow—I'd read it somewhere—and it came to mind. I looked it up and started to learn it, and I thought it's a perfect time to do a Friday Classic Hymn on this song: Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour. Beautiful song.
As I've got to learn it, I've got to really appreciate it. But some people think that the theology in the song is a little bit suspect. Fanny Crosby, the author, has been accused of favouring quantity over quality. She'd write one hymn after the next, or one poem after the next, even if the theology wasn't quite right. So let's have a look at this song and see if these thoughts about Fanny Crosby and this hymn are right.
But before we get into it, if you haven't subscribed to the channel, would you please do that? A reminder that on my website you can find some extra helps for your faith journey—my daily devotions, my Bible in two-year plans, and so on. But let's get into the story of the song.
By the way, if you have any thoughts on the song, if you have any memories of it, if this song has meant something to you in your Christian journey, I'd love for you to share that in the comments below.
The Story Behind "Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour"
This is another Fanny Crosby classic. I've already covered two Fanny Crosby hymns in this series. I've spoken about Blessed Assurance and To God Be the Glory—those are two wonderful hymns still very popular today. I won't tell you her whole life story in this video; you can check that out in the others. But just to remind you, Fanny Crosby was blinded as a very young girl.
Instead of being bitter and getting resentful and living a miserable life because of her troubles, she decided to rise above it. With a deep faith in Christ, she could handle whatever life threw at her. Hers is an amazing story, and I encourage you to read about her and find out more.
In fact, I was thinking about her the other day because my friend Bev died a couple of months ago. Bev was blind, and her joy for life and her zest and positive attitude always made me think of Fanny Crosby. I thought, "I'm sure Bev was like Fanny Crosby," because she didn't let her blindness get to her. Crosby seemed to be like that as well.
She wrote a staggering amount of poems, many of which were set to music. But as I said, I've read before that some people criticise her and say, "Well, her poetry isn't that good. It's very simple and basic." So she compromised quality so that she could write more. I don't think I agree. Maybe I'm not the greatest scholar and critic of these types of things, but I find her words very meaningful, very deep.
The story behind this song is that she was doing some work in a prison. She did a lot of motivational speaking and preaching, turning people to Jesus by telling her story. She was out at a prison doing this and addressed the inmates. Some of her songs were played, and it's said that she heard a voice—one of the inmates shouting out or crying out, "Saviour, do not pass me by!"
Crosby heard this and thought, "Wow, that's a very powerful phrase." So that very night she sat down and wrote this song. Typical songwriter, I guess—looking for inspiration anywhere it might come. That desperate cry of that man really seemed to represent the desperate cry of many people who are longing for a touch from Jesus or from God.
It was 1868 when she wrote this song, and it's said that six years later this had become her most popular song. It was the most well-known of her songs initially, as it was sung at various revival meetings. D.L. Moody, the great evangelist, would use this at his revival meetings. It seemed to touch people's hearts. It isn't too complicated—it just says things the way they are, and many people can relate to these words.
So let's take a look at the lyrics she wrote and see why the song has endured.
What Do the Lyrics of "Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour" Mean?
Verse One
Verse one says this: "Pass me not, O gentle Saviour." That's just a lovely line: "O gentle Saviour." Jesus was tough at times. He was quite hard at times on certain people, but when it came to people who were seeking Him and who were genuine, He had a gentleness to Him which was so beautiful. If you read the Gospels, Jesus' gentleness is evident.
"Pass me not, O gentle Saviour, hear my humble cry." That's the key—it's a humble cry that causes Jesus to stop. The aggressive and challenging cries—Jesus always stopped for those as well, but He always put those people in their place when they came at Him with that attitude. But those who came humble always were blessed by His gentleness and His love.
"While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by."
Now this is where some people criticise this song. They say Jesus never tends to some at the expense of others. Of course, when He was in His human form, He could only be in one place at a time. But God is everywhere. God can tend to everybody at once, and so nobody needs to say, "Don't pass me by."
I mentioned earlier that I preached on Zacchaeus in my church a short time ago, and I used this hymn. What I was saying was that Zacchaeus climbed that tree to have a look at Jesus passing by. But Jesus saw him and said, "Come down, come down and meet with Me." Zacchaeus had to come down from the tree and get close to Him.
I was saying many of us prefer to stay in the tree and let Jesus go on by, instead of coming down and getting close. We like to observe Him from a distance instead of welcoming Him into our homes.
Jesus doesn't pass us by. But on the other hand, for those who want nothing to do with Him, Jesus would shake the dust off of His feet and move on to the next town when there were people who wanted nothing to do with Him.
This verse is a heartfelt cry: "Don't pass me by!" And He won't. Of course He won't pass you by if you are humbly crying out to Him. He's there for you, and He'll meet with you right where you are.
Chorus
Now let's have a look at the chorus, where she writes pretty much the same as the first verse, except for the first line. She says, "Saviour, Saviour," and then the rest is the same as verse one: "Hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by."
I think that many people believe that God's got better things to do than to try and connect with them. I think many of us fall into this trap that says, "I'm not important enough for God to care for me." So He's calling on other people, and He's going and tending to other important things—the wars and the politicians and the big stuff that can have huge impact in the world. God's interested in that, but me in my little life here in the middle of nowhere? He's not interested.
That's not true. That's certainly not true. It's not as if God is calling on the important jobs and leaving you, passing you by. No, He's the Saviour. He is the Saviour of all, and He sees each one of us and offers us His salvation and His gentle touch and His gentle transformation.
Would you know this today and get it into your heart that you are important enough—because you're His creation—for Him to care about you? He's not going to pass you by if you look to Him and humbly cry out to Him.
Verse Two
Verse two goes on and says, "Let me at the throne of mercy find a sweet relief, kneeling there in deep contrition, help my unbelief."
Again, do you sense this gentleness and this humility in Fanny Crosby's words? These words of deep contrition—let me come not arrogantly and boldly into God's presence and say, "Well, I'm doing okay, I'm a good person," but coming with a deep sense of contrition, saying, "Lord, I need Your mercy. I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough to merit my own place here at Your feet, but I am sorry, and I am not the way that I should be."
When we come humble and honest before God, that is when we can find His beautiful mercy.
That line, "help my unbelief," reminds me of the man who said to Jesus, "I believe, but help my unbelief." You know, I do believe, but I need to believe more. I wonder how many of us can relate, saying to Jesus, "Yes, I believe, but oh, deepen my faith. Oh, get rid of all the last little bits of unbelief that I may fully throw myself at Your throne."
As this verse says, it is there that we find sweet relief. It is when we are bowed before the throne of Jesus that we find relief. Because, you know, we end up feeling guilty because of the things we've done and haven't done. We end up shaming ourselves and feeling that God must hate us. We end up stressing and struggling our way through life.
But at the throne of mercy, Jesus offers a sweet relief from all these things by setting us free and giving us new life. Have you knelt at His throne and found the life that He gives?
Verse Three
Verse three goes like this: "Trusting only in Thy merit, would I seek Thy face." Not my own merit—I haven't earned it. I just haven't earned it, no matter how good I've been. But it's Your merit, Lord. It's because of Your love that I'm here.
"Heal my wounded, broken spirit, Save me by Thy grace."
This reminds me of the words of David in Psalm 51, where he says the sacrifice of a broken heart You will not reject. He'd realised that even if he did all the old ritual sacrifices of the Old Testament, God was more interested in his heart.
You've got to come to God with your honest and sometimes wounded and broken heart, or wounded and broken spirit, so that He can work with you. So many people come to God again with the sense of, "Look at me, look at what I've done." But the true Christian—I believe even the holiest Christian—comes to God and says, "I need Your grace. I need Your grace because I cannot merit my own way."
In fact, this life is a way of breaking my spirit down, but Lord, I believe You can save me and heal me. This is a verse that touches me, and maybe you can relate to these words too: saved by His grace and His grace alone, not by what I've done. Oh, that is the good news.
Verse Four
Then verse four goes like this: "Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me."
Psalm 63 says that God's love is better than life, and it's like a spring bubbling over, giving us new life. Oh, do you know the source of all comforts, like a spring welling over into your life? That's who Jesus is. If you will go to Him, you will find comfort no matter what you're facing.
"Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven but Thee?"
Who do I have except You, Lord? I've got nobody. Nobody else can save. Nobody else can redeem. Oh yes, I'm not saying that you don't cherish the people in your life—of course you've got lovely, wonderful people who He has blessed you with. But none of them can save. None of them can redeem. And in the end, none of them can comfort quite like your Saviour.
So we go to Him and say, "I have none in heaven but You. You are the one who saves me, and so do not pass me by."
Conclusion
This is an interesting song about, "Lord, please don't forget about me. Please don't leave me here." Again I say to you, when you come humble, when you come genuinely searching for Him, there's no way that He'll pass you by.
The Bible says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone. If you come genuinely wanting Him, He will meet you there. He will meet you right where you are, even though you don't have the merit to stand before Him, even though you haven't been good enough, even though you might have a wounded and broken spirit. He will meet you there if you come humble and looking for Him.
Let's sing it, shall we? I hope you'll sing it with me, and I hope that you'll go and check out the rest of my Friday Classics. These have been so fun to do, and I've really enjoyed them.
Thank you, by the way, for all who support this ministry. I'll get donations from some of you—whether through Patreon or PayPal—to support the time and effort that I put into these. That really humbles me. Thank you so much for doing that. But it's free for all. I don't want anyone to have to pay for this content. Watch it, enjoy it, and yes, sing along with me as we sing this beautiful one.
