I Gave My Life for Thee -- Francis Ridley Havergal

Was it because His body looks horribly scarred? Or was it the blood that’s dripping down His forehead? Instead, was Frances R. Havergal overcome by the look of resignation on His face, His hands bound? The inscription below the painting (see it here) also must have stuck with her that day in Dusseldorf, as she contemplated its import and scratched out the first few words of “I Gave My Life for Thee” while sitting in that mid-19^th Century gallery. She wasn’t the first person to be moved by staring at Christ’s beaten visage, but what she created from that moment is somewhat rare. Read on to see why.

Havergal was no doubt influenced by many factors that 1858 day in Germany as she gazed upon the painting called Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) and composed something special as a result. Not the least of these influences was her father William, a minister and writer and hymnist also, who would have a profound impact on his daughter, including in her development of this hymn. This 22-year old was affected deeply by the painting, and its message got inside of her, particularly the caption that she echoes in the song’s first verse. Yet, the poem she began that day she nearly discarded in the flames of a stove, thinking it was a failure. It’s said the paper was inexplicably saved from the fire, and then found by William who urged Frances to persist in its development. What he saw in it we do not know, but perhaps it was the poetry’s rare quality that makes it so different from most other hymns. Pick any church hymnal, and you’ll notice that most of what we believers sing is from us to Him. Frances Havergal sensed something else, in a different direction entirely as she composed.  Her words have us vocalize Jesus’ words, from Him to us, and then back to Him again. One might deduce that Frances had the Spirit from deep inside her being coaching her efforts that day.  How else might one create something that stands apart from most other music?  

‘Who’s the audience for what I’m singing?’, her words make me wonder. Am I really thinking about the words and their origin? What must it have been like for Jesus to leave His home, endure agonizing torture, die in disgrace, and then offer rescue to the people who killed Him? Those are the four divine sacrifices that Frances must have been mulling over, and her own answers to them. How could I mimic Jesus? As I think about the audience, about Frances’ audience in 1858, I come upon something I don’t often consider as I sing and offer praise. He’s not just above. He’s also inside, urging me, coaxing me, convicting me if necessary. Jesus listened to His insides, and He asks me to do the same. That’s how I can start to imitate Him. Am I listening to what’s coming from inside? Are you?

    

 Information on the song was obtained from the books  “Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; and “Then Sings My Soul”, by Robert J. Morgan, 2003, Thomas Nelson, Inc.   

See this site for further biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ridley_Havergal