I Heard the Voice of Jesus

Edwin Hawkins sings “I Heard the Voice of Jesus,” a hymn text written by Horatius Bonar in 1846. Hawkins' version keeps the three verses and adds the spoken words of Jesus as a refrain. Each stanza follows the same pattern, first a word from Jesus, then the singer's response, then the result.

In the first, Jesus says, “Come unto me and rest, lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast,” and the singer says, “I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn, and sad; I found him in a resting place, and he has made me glad.” The refrain adds, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burdens are light.” The second is an invitation to the thirsty, “I freely give the living water,” and the singer reports, “my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.” The third has Jesus calling himself the light of this dark world, and the singer finds “my star, my sun,” and vows to walk in that light until the end of life.

The invitation to rest is Matthew 11:28-30. Living water is John 4:14, and the light of the world is John 8:12.