My Faith Looks Up to Thee Hymn Story and Lyrics – Lyrics, Videos and Stories Behind Hymns

My Faith Looks Up to Thee Hymn Lyrics

Author: Ray Palmer

My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior Divine;
Now hear me while I pray;
Take all my guilt away;
Oh, let me from this day
Be wholly Thine.

May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire;
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire.

While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my Guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.

All thru life’s transient dream,
Until death’s sullen stream
Shall o’er me roll,
Blest Savior, with Thy love,
Fear and distrust remove;
Make me Thy grace to prove
Transform my soul.

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My Faith Look Up to Thee Hymn Story

This famous hymn is the product of Ray Palmer a pastor. It is one of the most loved hymns produced by an American Christian.

Ray Palmer was born in Little Compton in 1808 and grew up in Boston Massachusetts. He attended Yale University. He spent most of his life on earth as a minister of the word of God.

This hymn was written when Ray Palmer was only twenty-two. Ray is quoted as saying “The words of the hymn were born of my own soul”.

This song was written when he was so overwhelmed by all that he owed to the Lord. It was this expression of this debt that led to the words of this hymn. It was an expression of his convictions about faith.

He wrote this as a poem not intending that it will be turned into a song.

Ray Palmer - My faith looks up to thee hymn — Ray Palmer

It is said that he was so absorbed mentally in writing this song that he cried when he finished the final line. He copied the words into a book and used them frequently for meditation.

The music of this hymn was added in 1830 by musician Lowell Mason (1792-1872). They met by chance in Boston and Mason asked Palmer if he had anything that could be included in “Spiritual Songs for Social Worship”.

It was then that Palmer produced which he had been using for his meditation and gave it to Lowell Mason. That is how this song was a private poem about faith that ended up in a song.

In the book, “A Treasure of Hymns”, there is a story that is connected to this hymn. It is said that during the American civil war, eight soldiers met in a tent to pray. They were all worried about their lives that they decided to send a message of comfort to their families in case they died. They all copied the final stanza of this hymn which each one signed. The next morning seven of the soldiers were killed.

Mason once told Palmer, “You may live many years and do many good things, but I think you will be best known to posterity as the author of ‘My Faith Looks Up to Thee.’”