#569 Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Words by Fanny J. Crosby, 1868, (1820-1915)

Music by William H. Doane, 1870, (1832-1915)

 

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,

hear my humble cry;

while on others thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

 

Refrain

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;

while on others thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

 

Let me at thy throne of mercy

find a sweet relief,

kneeling there in deep contrition;

help my unbelief.

 

Refrain

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;

while on others thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

 

Trusting only in thy merit,

would I seek thy face;

heal my wounded, broken spirit,

save me by thy grace.

 

Refrain

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;

while on others thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

 

Thou the spring of all my comfort,

more than life to me,

whom have I on earth beside thee?

Whom in heaven but thee?

 

Refrain

Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;

while on others thou art calling,

do not pass me by.

     Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior is another by the beloved blind hymn-writer Fanny Crosby. One day in 1868 she was visiting a prison in New York, and speaking to a group of prisoners, appealing to them to accept Christ as their Savior. She was interrupted by a prisoner who suddenly exclaimed, “Good Lord, don't pass me by!”

 

     Her friend William Howard Doane, who composed many tunes for her words, was present, and suggested she write a hymn with the title, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. Being blind herself, she readily understood the feelings of the blind beggar whose story is the basis of the hymn. Doane composed the tune especially for these words in 1870.