Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

A favourite hymn written by a brilliant musician, based on some powerful words she once read in a tract. These words about fixing our eyes on Jesus have touched the hearts of millions.

Welcome to another Friday Classic Hymn! Today we're talking about another favourite: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. I only ever knew the chorus of this song because we didn't really sing it in church, but I knew Michael W. Smith's version. He only did the chorus, so I got to know it very well but never really knew any of the verses.

When I started to learn these verses so I could sing them for today's song, I really was impressed with what lovely words they are. Do you know the song? Do you have memories of hearing it or singing it at a certain church? Please share them in the comments below so that we can share in your joy. If a word or a line from the song strikes you today and is meaningful to you, why don't you share that down below as well? That'll be great to see how the song touches you.

Let's get into the history as we always do.

The Story Behind "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"

The author of this great song is Helen Lemmel. She was born in 1864 in England and moved with her family to the States when she was 12 years old. Her father was a Methodist minister, so she grew up around the church. Soon it was discovered that she had a really remarkable singing voice. She had an amazing gift, and before long she was travelling all over the place singing and blessing people with the gift that God had given her. Her family had sent her for singing lessons in Germany, so she really knew what she was doing when she came back and used her voice to travel around and sing to people.

In fact, she was so talented that she taught voice at certain Bible schools. Bible institutes in the States would train people up in music ministry in those days, much like they do today, and she would teach singing to all sorts of prospective music ministers. She was really talented. Not only that, but she was a very talented writer. She wrote many hymns and poems that were widely published.

One day in 1918, a friend gave Helen a pamphlet—it was like a missionary tract—and she read these words in it. That's where the song began: "Then turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness."

Those words had a great impact on her. This is what she says about those words:

"Suddenly, as if commanded to stop and listen, 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 a rhyme or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit."

Amazing that these words from a pamphlet brought these wonderful words of the song into her mind! It must have been a God moment. She said she doesn't know where it came from—it wasn't her own composition. The tune just came into her head with the words. God was doing something special here, I think.

The song was published the same year and instantly became popular. It was published in many hymnals since and went all the way around the world. It's been translated into many different languages, and it's one that really seems to touch people's hearts.

Helen Lemmel died at the age of 97 after a full life of singing God's praise and writing music and poems for Him. This is a song through which she lives on. I enjoy these words and I hope that they're going to touch you today. Let's look at the wonderful lyrics she wrote.

What Do the Lyrics of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" Mean?

Verse One: From Darkness to Light

Verse one goes like this: "O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?"

She's talking about being weary and being in the darkness. Now look how both of those themes get flipped in the second two lines:

"There's light for a look at the Saviour, and life more abundant and free."

When you're in the darkness, look at the Saviour and you will have light. If you're weary and burdened, look at the Saviour and find life abundant and free.

It's a lovely little turn halfway through that verse to explain what God does in our lives. Maybe you need to hear these words today. Maybe you're feeling weary and troubled and like you're in a time of darkness. If you would look to the Saviour, look to the One who is light and who is alive, He can give it to you if you fix your eyes on Him.

The chorus says:

"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."

Beautiful poetry! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, fix your eyes on Him—this is a very biblical idea. She captures something that the biblical writers would say: fix your eyes on God, turn your attention to Him. That pamphlet she read was called "Focused," so it was about where are you going to focus.

Fix your eyes on Jesus and you'll find the things of the earth—the weariness, the trouble, the darkness—grow dim as His light shines.

Where are you fixing your eyes day by day? Where are you fixing your mind and your heart? On Him, in His light and the glory of His grace? Or on the burdens and the weariness and the darkness of the world? Choose to fix your eyes on Him.

Verse Two: Victory Over Death and Sin

Verse two goes like this:

"Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there."

This is a great picture of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross but then was raised from the grave and lives on. The great promise that He gives those who believe in Him and who follow Him is that they will have the same blessing—that though they die in this life, they will be raised up in a new life on the other side of the grave. Do you believe that?

The rest of the verse talks about how sin has no power over us:

"O'er us sin no more hath dominion—for more than conquerors we are!"

This is a great picture of what Jesus does for us in this life. The first half of the verse said after this life we will enjoy His blessing and His salvation, but in this life we also enjoy His salvation from sin. Sin has no power over us, no authority over us anymore when we are His.

We are more than conquerors—not just still living in our sin but forgiven. We are forgiven and then freed from those sins. Wonderful, wonderful good news that we are more than conquerors in Christ!

Then, of course, we hear the chorus again: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus."

Verse Three: His Promises and Our Mission

Verse three goes like this:

"His word shall not fail you—He promised; believe Him, and all will be well."

I wonder if you need to hear that today. God's word will not fail you. If He said it, you can believe it, and all will be well. Even though things are difficult at times, even though there's darkness and weariness and trouble, His word is true. He promises to be with us. He promises to help us. He promises to give us a victory over even the darkest moments in our lives.

Believe in His word. Are you spending time just sitting with His word and learning what it's all about? Are you spending time holding on to the promises of Jesus and believing in what He said? Open your Bible and find promises from God and hang on to them. Believe in them with all your heart, and all will be well.

Then these last two lines say:

"Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!"

Because we have great hope, because we know the truth that is in Him, because we believe that not even death itself can take us away from Him, we go and we share that with the world. A world that is dying of sin and darkness—we go and share the good news and the light of Jesus and share of His perfect salvation.

This is a very Wesleyan word, to say "perfect salvation." If you think about that old hymn "Blessed Assurance," it also talks about perfect salvation. This is such a great truth from God's word that He saves us perfectly, and we can trust in Him for this.

Conclusion

How can we effect all this in our lives? Well, the chorus says it: Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Turn your eyes upon Him. Fix your eyes on Him by reading the Word, by praying, by just knowing yourself to be held by Him.

This is the type of life that He promises us if we do—a life of peace, a life abundant, a life in all of its fullness. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

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