Songfacts®: “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” is a classic hymn that holds out a promise of Christ’s help for troubled souls. … She wrote more than 500 hymns and poems, of which “Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus” is best known, and continued to write until the end of her life. Lemmel died in 1961 at 97 years of age.
What is the story behind the hymn Turn your eyes upon Jesus?
“The Heavenly Vision”, also known as “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” (the first line of its chorus), is a hymn written by Helen Howarth Lemmel. It was inspired by a tract entitled Focused, written by the missionary Isabella Lilias Trotter.
Did Helen Lemmel go blind?
They moved back to the United States in 1911 and she continued singing in the gospel music circuits. Eventually, she became the vocal music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. But then tragedy struck. She developed an affliction that resulted in blindness.
How old is turn your eyes upon Jesus?
“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” is a classic hymn that holds out a promise of Christ’s help for troubled souls. The song has been included in most evangelical hymnals since the words were first written by Helen Howarth Lemmel in 1918 and has been translated into many languages around the world.
Who was Helen Howarth?
We’re here in Seattle at Ballard Baptist Church, built in 1919, where Helen Lemmel was a member while she wrote Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus. She was born Mary Helen Howarth in the Manchester area of England, November 14, 1863, to a Methodist Minister.
How are hymns written?
Hymns are always strophic, meaning the same tune is repeated for each verse/chorus set. In order to make this work, hymns are all metric poetry, with the meter remaining unchanged from verse to verse. Some hymns have an added “chorus” which is repeated at the end of each verse, but many just consist of verses.