“Precious Lord, take my hand” (hymn 800 in Wonder, Love, and Praise) is our communion hymn this Sunday. It is a song of great emotional intensity and has been described as the “quintessential gospel song.” During the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, it was a source of comfort, hope, and strength at healing services.
You may have heard Jennifer Holliday’s powerful rendition of “Precious Lord” at the July 30 funeral service for Rep. John Lewis at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. A favorite of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Precious Lord” was sung at the rally on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, where Dr. King gave his famous last speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” He was assassinated the next day. In keeping with Dr. King’s wish, “Precious Lord” was sung at his funeral by Mahalia Jackson. Also a favorite hymn of President Lyndon Johnson, he too had requested it for his funeral, sung by Leontyne Price.
Although some people think that it was written by the famous jazz trombonist and big bandleader Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956), “Precious Lord, take my hand” comes from Thomas Andrew Dorsey (1899-1993). He was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, the son of a black sharecropper and Baptist minister. Influenced by the jazz and blues pianists in Atlanta, he formed the Wildcat’s Jazz Band in 1923 with Ma Rainey (1886-1939), the “Mother of the Blues.” He became a vaudeville theater pianist and even played piano at one of Al Capone’s Chicago speakeasies. After experiencing “a definite spiritual change” in 1921, he wrote over 200 gospel songs and is remembered as the “father of gospel music.” For over forty years he directed the choir at Chicago’s historic Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Sometimes hymns have their origins in tragedy, and “Precious Lord, take my hand” is such a hymn. Thomas A. Dorsey and his wife, Nettie, were living on Chicago’s South Side in 1932 when they were expecting their first child. He was invited to be the song leader at a huge revival meeting in St. Louis and drove there down Route 66 in his Model A Ford. While he was leading the singing the next night, he was handed a telegram of four words: “Your wife just died.” A friend drove him through the night back to Chicago. His wife had died while giving birth to Thomas Jr., and his newborn son died the next evening.
After his wife and son were buried in the same casket, Dorsey confessed that he “fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve him anymore or write Gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well.” But a week later while he was alone in a room with a piano, he suddenly felt a quiet stillness and calm. His hands began to move over the piano keys, playing a melody that he thought he had never heard before. Then words came into his head, and “they just seemed to fall into place.” The words were “Precious Lord, take my hand.”
The music that came to Dorsey’s head was actually from an old gospel hymn “Must Jesus bear the cross alone,” composed by George N. Allen (1812-1877). Allen was born in Mansfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Oberlin College, and was professor of sacred music and geology there for many years. His work led to the founding of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1865.
Sometimes in our modern world the word “precious” has sentimental overtones, but not in this hymn. To sing “Precious Lord” in the spirit of its black gospel hymn roots, “precious” takes on the character of its biblical use. (For example, take a look at 1 Samuel 26:21-24, 1 Kings 10:2, and Psalm 36:7.) This is not to say that it is wrong to feel sentimental or emotional when singing this or any hymn. But it is good for us to remember that even a hymn that grows out of personal tragedy can be a powerful witness to our faith, especially when sung in a community where Christ’s presence becomes more evident as we share our pains and sorrows. What a beautiful hymn for us to sing together hopefully while still apart, as we travel on our spiritual journey.
Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.
When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone;
Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand, lest I fall.
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.
When the darkness appears and the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone;
At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.
