Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus Lyrics
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
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.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O'er us sin no more hath dominion-
For more than conqu'rors we are!
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!
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.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus Guitar Chords
D A7DGEm
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
DA7 D
No light in the darkness you see?
D B7EA
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
DA E7AA7
And life more abundant and free!
DA7 Bm D7
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
GEm AA7
Look full in His wonderful face,
D F#m BmDG
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
D A7DGD
In the light of His glory and grace.
Scripture References
- Isaiah 45:22 - Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth.
- Hebrews 12:1,2 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us runwith perseverancethe race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneerand perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Story
Helen H. Lemmel was born in England in 1863. She immigrated to the United States as a child, where she studied music and became a gifted vocalist. She returned to Europe to continue her music study and eventually married a wealthy European. But in midlife she went through multiple heartache. She became blind, and around the same time her husband left her.
Lemmel was a gifted hymn writer who wrote nearly 500 hymns during her lifetime. The most well known of these was Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, which was originally titled "The Heavenly Vision". The lyrics were inspired by a tract read to her that was written by Lilias Trotter. It read:
Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen harmless worlds at once -- art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the good hiding the best." It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Dare to have it out with God, and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focused on Christ and His Glory. Turn your soul's vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him.
The words ring even more true today than they did 100 years ago. Our world is filled with so many distractions, diversions, and things that would turn us away from God. When so many of us are mired in our careers or our entertainment or managing our homes, how many of us "Dare to have it out with God" and turn our soul's vision back to Jesus?
Lemmel said that when she heard these words, she "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 not to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit."
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