A hymn and its story
Nearer, My God, to Thee
Nearer, My God, to Thee was written in 1841 by Sarah Flower Adams, an English writer, and retells Jacob's dream of the ladder at Bethel in Genesis 28. It is a prayer to be drawn closer to God through every hardship, even when the way runs through a cross.
Words by Sarah Flower Adams, 1841 · from Jacob's dream in Genesis 28
A hymn written from a man sleeping on a stone, dreaming of a ladder, for anyone whose hardest circumstances have become the place they met God.
Nearer, My God, to Thee at a glance
- Words
- Sarah Flower Adams, 1841
- Based on
- Genesis 28
- Usual tune in America
- BETHANY, by Lowell Mason
Who wrote Nearer, My God, to Thee, and why?
Sarah Flower Adams wrote these words in 1841 in England. The hymn retells Genesis 28, where Jacob, running from his brother and sleeping in the open with a stone for a pillow, dreams of a ladder set on the earth with its top reaching heaven, and wakes to say that God was in that place and he had not known it.
The hymn is widely associated with the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and is often said to have been played by the ship's band as she went down. Survivor accounts disagree about which tune, and some name a different piece altogether, so the story is best treated as a strong tradition rather than an established fact. The hymn had already been sung in grief for seventy years before that night.
The words of Nearer, My God, to Thee
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, 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.
The Scripture behind Nearer, My God, to Thee
What does Nearer, My God, to Thee mean?
The line people remember is the one that is hardest to sing: even though it be a cross that raiseth me. The hymn does not ask for the trouble to be removed. It asks that the trouble be the thing that brings the singer closer to God. Jacob had a stone for a pillow and nothing had gone right, and that is exactly where the ladder appeared. That is why this is sung in grief rather than in triumph.
Sing it, and mean it
A hymn is a prayer you can carry in your chest. The people who wrote these did not write from a stage; they wrote from shipwreck and sickbeds, from ordinary faithful mornings, and handed us words for the days we cannot find our own. You do not have to sing well. You only have to lift it, and mean it, to the One it is about.
Meet the One these hymns are aboutWorship in The Living BreadWhen you are grievingAsk someone to prayJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Who wrote Nearer, My God, to Thee?
- Sarah Flower Adams, an English writer, wrote the words in 1841. The hymn retells Jacob's dream of the ladder in Genesis 28.
- Was Nearer, My God, to Thee played on the Titanic?
- It is widely reported, and it is a strong tradition rather than a settled fact. Survivor accounts disagree about the tune, and some name a different piece. The hymn was already well loved long before 1912.
- What Scripture is Nearer, My God, to Thee based on?
- Genesis 28, where Jacob sleeps with a stone for a pillow and dreams of a ladder reaching to heaven, then wakes saying that God was in that place and he had not known it.
Sources
Dates and attributions are checked against these sources. The reflections are our own words.
