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Hymn History: "I Am Thine" · Traveler’s Tales

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  Often the greatest distance in your life is not
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  measured in miles, because you can sit in a
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  church pew and still feel far from God. You can
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  read your Bible, sing the hymns, say your prayers, and yet
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  know in your heart that somehow the closeness you once enjoyed
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  with the Lord has faded. This truth is what makes one
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  old hymn so powerful. It is not really a song about finding
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  God. It is the prayer of someone who already belongs to
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  him but longs to be closer still.
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  I am thine, O Lord. I have heard thy voice,
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  and it told thy love to me. But I long to
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  rise in the arms of faith and be
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  closer drawn to thee. Those words came from one of
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  the most remarkable hymn writers in Christian history,
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  Fanny Crosby. Welcome to Traveler's Tales, produced by
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  Enjoying the Journey. I am your host, Greg Dowdy.
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  Fanny Crosby has often been called the Queen of American Hymn Writers.
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  During her 95 years of life, she wrote more than 8,000 hymns.
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  Her songs were sung in churches, revival meetings, and gospel missions across
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  America and beyond. But Fanny Crosby's
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  influence extended far beyond the hymnal. During the latter part of the
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  19th century, she became one of the best-known figures in America.
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  Crowds gathered to hear her speak when she traveled,
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  usually by train. She was fiercely independent. Though blind
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  from infancy, she insisted on traveling alone well into her 80s.
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  And despite her fame, Fanny chose to live simply in
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  the poorer neighborhoods of Manhattan. She wanted to remain close to the rescue
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  missions where she ministered among the homeless, the poor, and those battling addiction.
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  Yet perhaps one of the most extraordinary things about Fanny Crosby was something
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  few people could see. It was what she carried in her mind
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  and heart. Because Fanny could not read the Bible with her eyes,
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  others helped her store it in her memory. Her grandmother Eunice began
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  teaching her scripture as a child. Later, the Crosby family's landlady,
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  Mrs. Hawley, continued the work with an astonishing goal: to
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  help young Fanny memorize enormous portions of the Bible week
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  after week, chapter after chapter. Fanny committed Scripture to memory.
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  Eventually, she could recite all of Genesis, Exodus,
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  Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy,
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  the 4 Gospels, most of the Psalms, all of
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  the Proverbs, and large portions of the rest of Scripture.
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  Think about that. The woman who could not see the words on the page
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  had filled her heart with them. Perhaps that explains
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  something about her hymns. They were not simply clever poetry written
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  about the Bible. They flowed from a mind saturated with
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  the Bible. Long before Fanny Crosby wrote thousands of hymns,
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  someone had patiently helped her hide thousands of verses in
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  her heart. There is a powerful lesson there for us.
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  We live in an age when Scripture is more accessible than ever.
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  We can listen to the Bible while driving. We can search any
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  verse in seconds, but having access to the Word of
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  God is not the same as having the Word of God abiding
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  in us. Fanny Crosby reminds us that what we put
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  into our hearts eventually comes out in our lives.
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  Psalm 119:11 says, thy word have I hid
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  in mine heart that I might not sin against thee.
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  If we want our words, decisions, our attitudes,
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  our responses to reflect Christ, then our hearts
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  must be filled with His Word. And it was from that reservoir
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  of Scripture that one of Fanny's most beloved hymns was born.
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  According to the hymn singer and evangelist Ira Sankey,
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  Fanny Crosby was visiting the home of her longtime musical collaborator,
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  William H. Doane, in Cincinnati, Ohio. As evening
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  approached, the two began talking about a simple but profound subject:
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  the nearness of God. The sun was setting,
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  shadows were beginning to fill the room, and their conversation turned toward
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  what it means to live close to the Lord. Something about
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  that conversation stayed with Fanny. Before she retired
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  for the evening, she had written the words that would become I
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  Am Thine, O Lord. William Doane supplied the melody,
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  and the hymn was first published in 1875.
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  But notice what Fanny wrote: She began with assurance:
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  I am thine, O Lord. That is relationship.
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  She knew to whom she belonged. Then came
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  desire: But I long to rise in the arms of faith
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  and be closer drawn to thee. That is fellowship.
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  Fanny understood something every Christian eventually learns: knowing
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  that you belong to God should create within you a desire to walk more
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  closely with God. There is always another step
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  nearer, more of his word to understand,
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  more of God's character to know, more of
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  our lives to surrender to him, more of his presence
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  to enjoy. And then come perhaps the most familiar
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  cry of the hymn: Draw me nearer, nearer,
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  blessed Lord. What a prayer! Not,
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  Lord, make my life easier. Lord, give me more.
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  Not even, Lord, change my circumstances. Simply,
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  Lord, draw me nearer. Maybe that is the
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  prayer some of us need today. Perhaps the greatest
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  need in your life is not for God to change what is around you,
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  but to deepen what is happening within you.
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  Before asking God for a different circumstance, ask him for a closer walk.
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  Before asking him to remove the difficulty,
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  ask him to use it to draw you nearer.
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  Before asking for more blessings from his hand,
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  ask for a greater desire for his heart.
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  When I Am Thine, O Lord was first published, a simple scripture
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  appeared beneath the hymn: Let us draw near with a true heart,
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  Hebrews 10:22. And that invitation is still open.
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  You may feel that you've wandered. Draw near.
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  You may be carrying a burden no one else understands.
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  Draw near. You may be facing an uncertain future,
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  friend. Draw near. You may have
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  walked with Christ for decades and know him better than you have ever
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  known him before. Draw nearer still. Fanny Crosby
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  could not see the setting sun that evening in Cincinnati.
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  She could not watch the shadows gathering around the room,
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  but perhaps she understood better than most the clearest
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  vision a person can possess is not sight with the
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  eyes, but sight with the heart.
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  And from the heart of a blind hymn writer came a prayer that many
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  of us still sing today: Draw me nearer,
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  nearer, blessed Lord. Perhaps today
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  you and I should make it our prayer too. Lord, I know
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  that I am thine. Now Draw me
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  nearer. Thank you for joining us
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  today on Traveler's Tales. Every story we discover along
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  the journey reminds us that the truths of Scripture are meant to shape
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  the way that we live. To continue your journey
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  through God's Word, visit etj.bible, where you'll find Bible studies,
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  devotional resources, and practical tools designed to help
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  you know Christ and His Word more deeply.