My Jesus I Love Thee is a poem written by William Ralph Featherston around 1864. He is said to have been either 12 or 16 years old when he wrote the poem. The first two lines of this poem are nearly the same as a hymn written by Caleb J. Taylor, published in 1804; this hymn is used as the basis for the song Imandra by Ananias Davisson in the Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony in 1820, reprinted in Southern Harmony in 1835. There are other similarities between Featherston's poem and camp-meeting songs published in the 1820s onward.
In 1876 Adoniram Gordon added music to Featherston's poem. Featherston died at the age of 27, well before his poem had become a well-known inspirational hymn. The poem is believed to have been his only publicly published work.
Video My Jesus I Love Thee
Inspiration
According to Tim Challies,
- Not much is known about Featherston, except that he attended a Methodist church in Montreal, that he was young when he wrote the poem (12 or 16 years old), and that he died at just 27 years of age. One story about how the poem became public is that Featherston mailed it to his aunt in Los Angeles who, upon reading it, quickly sought its publication... It wasn't until several years after Featherston's death that Adoniram Judson Gordon (founder of Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) added a melody and published it in his book of hymns, thus forever transforming this poem to a song.
Maps My Jesus I Love Thee
Notable recordings
- Amy Grant recorded a version of the song for her 2002 studio album Legacy... Hymns and Faith that was later included on her 2015 compilation album Be Still and Know... Hymns & Faith.
- Paul Baloche performed the song in a various artist album, Hymns 4 Worship, Vol. 2: Just As I Am which was released in 2005.
- Selah recorded a three-stanza version of the song in their 2009 album, You Deliver Me.
- In 2013, Darlene Zschech, along with Michael W. Smith, recorded an extra verse to this on the live worship DVD, Revealing Jesus.
References
Additional Sources
- Reynolds, William Jensen. Hymns of Our Faith. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1964. (p. 291)
- Taylor, Gordon Harry. Companion to the Song Book of the Salvation Army. St. Albans, England: The Campfield Press, 1988. (p. 300)
- Center for Church Music
Source of article : Wikipedia
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