Sarah Flower Adams
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Refrain:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee.
There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.
Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.
Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be nearer, my God, to Thee.
Sarah Flower was born February 22, 1805 in Essex, England, the second daughter of Bejamin and Eliza Flowers. Sarah grew up in a home surrounded by poetry and song writing. Sarah married William Bridges Adams and moved to London where she attended the independant church of William Johnson Fox. She contributed thirteen hymns to his Hymns and Anthems, one of them being "Nearer, My God to Thee". This hymn was written to follow the pastors sermon on Genesis 28:11-19, known as the story of Jacob's ladder, or Jacob's dream. Sarah wrote the hymn in a week and her sister Eliza composed the tune.
Today, the hymn is usually song to the tune "Bethany" by Lowell Mason.