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!

Refrain

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.

Through death into life everlasting

He passed, and we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more hath dominion—

For more than conquerors we are!

Refrain

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.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;

Believe Him, and all will be well:

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

Refrain

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.

Helen Howarth Lemmel, the author of both the words and music of this hymn, told how it was written. It was 1918, and she saw the following words in a missionary pamphlet entitled Focused (by Lilias Trotter): "So then, turn your eyes upon Him. Look full into His face, and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange, new dimness."

"Suddenly," she said, "as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody.... The verses were written...the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit."

Daughter of a Methodist minister, Helen was born on November 14, 1863 in Wardle England. Her family emigrated from England to America when she was 12 years old. They first settled in Mississippi, then relocated to Wisconsin. She moved to Seattle in 1904, and for three years was music critic for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. While interviewing German singer Ernestine Schumann Hein, Helen was persuaded to go to Europe. A gifted singer, she studied music in Germany for four years. Upon her return to America, she be­gan giving concerts and traveling on the Chautauqua circuit. Eventually, she became a vocal music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. After retirement, she moved to Seattle, Washington, where she was a member of the Ballard Baptist Church. Among her works are a hymnal used by evangelist Billy Sunday for over a decade. Lemmel died at her home in Seattle, Washingon on November 1, 1961.