Nearer, My God, To Thee

Nearer, My God, To Thee

110 years ago, on April 15, 1912, the ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg with 2,224 people on board. Many tragic stories have been told about that night, but the most memorable for me was hearing about the orchestra which continued to play as the ship slipped below the icy waters.

What song did they choose to play? Many survivors related that their last memory of the sinking ship was hearing the band defiantly play, “Nearer, My God To Thee.”

That hymn was written by Sarah Adams, an actress who had to abandon the stage because of her health. She found great pleasure, however, in writing poetry.

One day, her pastor mentioned that he was searching for a hymn to complement his upcoming sermon about Jacob. Jacob, in Genesis 28, was fleeing from his brother - whom he had cheated - when he stopped for the night, resting his head on a stone pillow. God appeared to him there, in a dream now known as Jacob’s Ladder. He later named the place Bethel (house of God).

Sarah’s hymn was exactly what her pastor needed, taking the listener into the wilderness with Jacob, singing of the angels ascending and descending on the steps. Jacob walked away from that event with a new found appreciation for God.

The hymn was named after Jacob’s close encounter with God. Unfortunately, Sarah Adams passed away from tuberculosis at the young age of 43. She died before her song became famous. Ten years after her death, Lowell Mason composed the music we associate with it today and it became wildly popular. By the time the Titanic sailed, it was one of the most popular songs in the world.

It brought comfort to those men and women who were on board the Titanic and it is said that William McKinley quoted the hymn when he was assassinated. It was played at his funeral and for the interment of James Garfield, as well.