The classic hymn ‘I Need Thee Every Hour’ is beautifully covered in a YouTube video by Hymns of Grace. It’s gentle, slow, and sung in a simply beautiful setting. Watch the video to see and hear the wonderful song. 

In the video, a woman sings on a stage in a large room. A man plays the piano nearby. Glowing yellow lights shine all around them as the woman sings with graceful intention and strength. Hearing her voice echo in the large acoustic room sounds ethereal and immersive. 

‘I Need Thee Every Hour’ is an emotional song that speaks of a vulnerable need for God. It acknowledges that life has many downfalls and temptations and that life is hard to bear without Christ. 

The hymn was written by Annie Sherwood Hawks in 1872. Annie wrote of the hymn, “I remember well the morning, many years ago, when in the midst of the daily cares of my home, then in a distant city, I was so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him either in joy or pain, these words ‘I need thee every hour’ were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me.”

That day, she scribbled down the lyrics, and a few months later, they were set to music. At the time, Annie did not completely understand the significance of the words she wrote. She said later that she only truly understood the words’ meaning after she experienced profound loss. 

“Now when I hear them sung, as I have sometimes, by hundreds of voices in chorus, I find it difficult to think they were ever, consciously, my own thought or penned by my own hand,” she said. 

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalms 27:1