Inspired by Isabella Lilias Trotter,” Helen Howarth Lemmel wrote the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” in 1918.

Originally from London, England, Trotter was interested in art. When art critics saw her early work, they invested in her training because she had such potential. But she felt the call from God to share Jesus with others. She started in London as she reached out to prostitutes. As her love for Jesus grew, she said she felt the call to go to Algeria in Northern Africa, where she gave up her career in art so she could be a missionary. She wrote numerous tracts, including one titled, “Focused,” which was the one Lemmel read.

This tract inspired her to write the hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” Later, she published it in a pamphlet in 1918 and in a collection titled, “Glad Songs” in 1922. The song made its debut in the United States in 1924 in an American song collection known as “Gospel Truth in Song,” which was published by Harry Clarke.

A gifted singer, “Lemmel had a successful concert career in the Midwest as a young woman and also was the vocal music teacher for a number of years at the Moody Bible Institute,” according to SongFacts. “She wrote more than 500 hymns and poems, of which 'Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus' is best known and continued to write until Lemmel died in 1961 at the age of 97 years.”

The song begins with “O soul, are you weary and troubled?/ No light in the darkness you see?/ There's light for a look at the Savior,/And life more abundant and free!”

This hymn has such a beautiful melody and the words are so meaningful.

The refrain continues with “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,/ Look full in His wonderful face,/ And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,/ In the light of His glory and grace.”

I love the chorus with its haunting melody and alluring words. We all need to turn our eyes upon Jesus and we will know that he loves us, as well.

Information collected from Wikipedia, WordPress and SongFacts.