Hymn Reflection : “I Gave My Life for Thee”

Published in 1860, and inspired by Jesus’ crown of thorns, this simple poem has touched many lives by reminding them of just what our Lord went through during His earthly ministry. Each of the verses ends with a haunting question, asking if we have given as He did. But the poem was originally burned by its own writer!

Frances Ridley Havergal wrote many poems and hymn texts. She was raised in a religious and educated family. She was reading by the age of four and writing poems by seven. She remained interested in learning throughout her life, and it was a trip to a museum that led to the writing of “I Gave My Life for Thee.”

In January of 1858, a 17-year-old Havergal was visiting an art museum in Dusseldorf, Germany. She sat down in a hallway and looked at a painting of a thorn-crown covered Jesus called Ecce Homo (“Behold the Man”). It can be seen here.

The painting had a short, but powerful, inscription below it which read, “I have done this for you; what have you done for me?” Havergal read the words, and a few more came to her mind, which she immediately wrote down. Upon returning to England, she continued working on the poem, but eventually grew frustrated.

She grew so frustrated, in fact, that she threw the poem into the fire, not to be worked on again. However, the paper somehow fell out of the fireplace, basically unharmed. Amazed, she took it up, but did not work on it any more. A few months later, she finally showed it to her father. He was so touched by the powerful words that he immediately wrote music for it. That music is not the same as we know, however. The version we sing has music written a few years later by Phillip Bliss.

The song that had been thrown in the fire was published in 1860, and Havergal herself was moved upon finally hearing it. She wrote, “I was so overwhelmed on Sunday at hearing three of my hymns touchingly sung in Perry Church, that I never before realized the high privilege of writing for the ‘great congregation,’ especially when they sang, ‘I gave My life for thee’ to my father’s tune Baca.”

It is interesting to note the connection to the painting that inspired the poem. When we see the gaze of Jesus in that painting, we can almost feel the same powerful emotion that led Frances Havergal to pen these words. And, if we stop to consider what we are singing, we are left to answer the same question, “What have you done for me?”

Lyrics

I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed,
That thou might ransomed be, and raised up from the dead
I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me?
I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me?

My Father’s house of light, My glory circled throne
I left for earthly night, for wanderings sad and lone;
I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for Me?
I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for Me?

I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitterest agony, to rescue thee from hell.
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for Me?
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for Me?

And I have brought to thee, down from My home above,
Salvation full and free, My pardon and My love;
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to Me?
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to Me?

Picture from My Hymnal Collection

Video

How far and widely is this song known and sung? Here is a congregation in Malaysia singing Frances Havergal’s great hymn.

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Photo credit: Alex G. on Creative Commons

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