Thursday, April 3, 2008

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

The other morning at our meeting with Dr. Ortlund, he quoted from (and sang a few bars of :-) the hymn "Pass Me Not," which neither David nor I ever recalled hearing.
Later that day I looked it up online. CyberHymnal lists it as Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior by the incomparable Fanny J. Crosby. What a great song!

You can read some backstory on the hymn and hear the melody at the previous link. It really is wonderful. I'm gonna see if Josh can work it up for us to sing at Element sometime.

Lyrics:
Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain

Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.


Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.

Refrain

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

Refrain

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in Heav’n but Thee?

Refrain

6 comments:

Daniel said...

You grew up Baptist and didn't sing this?!?!?!?!

We did, which surprises me because it's pretty Calvinistic and we weren't in a Calvinistic church growing up.

Plus, MC Hammer did a version on the album "Too Legit to Quit"

:-)

Anonymous said...

We sang most ever week. Some didn't like it however because whatthey believed were Calvinistic meanings. One of our song leaders would not lead it.

Anonymous said...

I meant we sang it most every week. I should add that I think it's song that Calvinist and non-Calvinist could sing.

Jared said...

Wow, I guess I missed out. I mean, we sang hymns growing up, but I don't remember this one at all.

I'm also hard pressed to see what might make it "too" Calvinist. Is it the idea that the Lord might pass someone by? I wonder.

Surely it's not "trusting only in Thy merit." That is something Calvinism stresses, but as stated, surely that's something Arminians would affirm as well.

Anonymous said...

we used to sing this one at my old baptist church too. the melody is a bit of a sea shanty though - might need a bit of modernising

dan said...

I don't remember ever singing this hymn either, but Fernando Ortega does a great version of it.