“I heard the voice of Jesus say,” by Horatius Bonar, is at times titled “Christ’s Invitation.” According to John Julian, it was first published in his Hymns Original and Selected, in 1846. It appears below as found in Bonar’s Hymns of Faith and Hope (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1857, pp. 145-146). It is titled “The Voice from Galilee” followed by the Scripture text “Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace —John i. 16.” The hymn consists of three stanzas of 8 lines, Common Meter Doubled.
Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad,
I found in him a resting-place,
And he has made me glad.
2. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Behold, I freely give
The living water,—thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream,
My thirst was quench’d, my soul revived,
And now I live in him.
3. I heard the voice of Jesus say,
I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.
I look’d to Jesus, and I found
In him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk
Till travelling days are done.
The structure of the hymn captures the idea of something Jesus says, and then relates the hearer’s response to what he said. The first stanza is based on Matthew 11:28, Jesus’s exhortation, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The hearer responds to the voice of Jesus – “Come unto me” with “I came,” and “I will give you rest” with “I found in him a resting-place.” The second stanza is, I believe, a composite of John 4:10-14 and Revelation 21:6, “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” The hearer responds to the voice of Jesus – “I freely give the living water…drink, and live” with “I drank…now I live in him.” The third stanza is based on John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world…” The hearer responds to the voice of Jesus – “I am this dark world’s Light; look unto me” with “I looked…I found in him my Star, my Sun.”
This has been and is a popular hymn, and for that reason has been paired with many different tunes. With the tune Vox Dilecti, John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) tried to capture the contrast of the first and second halves of the stanzas. He used the key of G minor to present Jesus’s invitation, and then changed to the key of G Major in the second half to express the acceptance of the invitation and the satisfaction that accompanied it. In The Sacred Harp, the lines of Bonar are paired with the tune I Would See Jesus (No. 75). That tune does not change keys, but does express a sort of vociferous exuberance in the second half of the tune. [Note: the first stanza used in The Sacred Harp is not by Bonar; the linked clip does not include the words by Bonar but will give you an idea what the tune sounds like.]
Horatius Bonar was born at Old Broughton, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1808, the son of James Bonar and Marjory Pyott Maitland. Though a minister and theological writer, he is probably best remembered today as a hymnwriter. Bonar was ordained in the Church of Scotland in 1837, and in 1843 he joined the Free Church of Scotland. Bonar authored Kelso Tracts, Thoughts on Genesis, other books, and numerous works of poetry. He died at his home in Edinburgh on July 31, 1889. Horatius Bonar and his wife Jane Catharine Lundie are buried in the Canongate Churchyard in Edinburgh.
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