I Am Thine, O Lord Lyrics Fanny J. Crosby, 1875
4 verses and a refrain, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice,
And it told thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to thee.
Refrain Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To thy precious, bleeding side.
Verse 2. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in thine.
Verse 3. O the pure delight of a single hour
That before thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in pray’r, and with thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend.
Verse 4. There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea,
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with thee.
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1875, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind I Am Thine, O Lord
Fanny J. Crosby wrote these words and W. Howard Doane wrote the tune. Crosby was visiting Doane's home in Cincinnati, and the two talked at length about how near God is to his people. The year is 1875 in most sources, but Discipleship Ministries dates the writing to 1874. The song first appeared in 1875 in the Sunday school book Brightest and Best for the Sunday School, published in Chicago by Biglow and Main.
Crosby told the story two ways in 1906. Ira Sankey's book says she wrote the words that evening after the talk, and Doane set them to music. Her own memoir, Memories of Eighty Years, says she heard the melody first and then wrote the words to it. The Hymnology Archive suggests both can be true if Doane played a tune during the conversation.
The original printing carried Hebrews 10:22 above the words, a call to draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. The text also echoes James 4:8. The refrain gave the hymn its second title, "Draw Me Nearer." Hymnary.org lists Doane's tune in A flat major and dates it to 1875. Crosby was blind from six weeks of age and wrote thousands of gospel songs.
Fanny J. Crosby
1820-03-24 to 1915
Fanny Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, New York, on March 24, 1820. She lost her sight at about six weeks old after an illness and poor medical treatment. She began writing Sunday school hymns for William B. Bradbury in 1864, and her first hymn appeared that year in The Golden Censer. On March 5, 1858, she married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician she had met at the New York Institution for the Blind. Hymnary counts about eight thousand poems, including more than four thousand hymns for Biglow and Main, and she used nearly two hundred pen names. Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology gives her birth year as 1823, which differs from the other sources.
William H. Doane
1832-02-03 to 1915
William Howard Doane was born in Preston, Connecticut. He ran a large woodworking machinery plant in Cincinnati and led civic work there. He supported the evangelistic work of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey and helped endow Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He wrote more than 2,200 hymn and gospel song tunes and edited more than forty songbooks. His first Sunday school hymnbook, Sabbath Gems, appeared in 1861. He set many texts by Fanny J. Crosby, including To God Be the Glory.
- Discipleship Ministries: History of Hymns, I Am Thine, O Lord , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive: Draw Me Nearer , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: I AM THINE (Doane) , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in I Am Thine, O Lord
The Bible passages behind the words, with the verse of the hymn that draws on each.
- Hebrews 10:22 In verse 22 of the hymn
- James 4:8
- John 10:27
- Psalm 25:14
I Am Thine, O Lord videos
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I am Thine, O Lord Savedandkept, Congregation
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Draw Me Nearer • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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"I am Thine O Lord" by 200 Voice Mass Choir for Classic Hymns album " Sweet Hour Of Prayer" Classic Hymns, Choir
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I Am Thine O Lord (Draw Me Nearer) - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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I Am Thine O Lord | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video Reawaken Hymns, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Print and project
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in A♭.
Questions people ask
Who wrote I Am Thine, O Lord?
Crosby wrote the words and Doane wrote the tune. They worked together on many songs, and this one dates to 1874 or 1875 depending on the source.
Why is the hymn also called Draw Me Nearer?
The refrain asks to be drawn nearer to God, and many hymnals use that phrase as the title. The Hymnology Archive files the hymn under Draw Me Nearer.
Which Bible verse is behind the hymn?
The first printing carried Hebrews 10:22, which urges believers to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. The words also echo James 4:8.
Is I Am Thine, O Lord in the public domain?
Yes. The words are public domain in the United States, first published in 1875. Doane's tune dates to 1875 and is public domain as well.
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