Just as I am, without one plea

Text

Elliott’s text remains mostly unaltered from its original form. She re-published the hymn in 1836 and included a final verse, “Just as I am – of that free love, the breadth, length, depth, and height to prove, here for a season, then above—O Lamb of God, I come.” Most modern hymnals include four common verses - Elliott’s original one, two, three and five - leaving out a more personal fourth verse about Elliott’s own ailments.

Tune

The tune WOODWORTH was composed by well-known hymn-tune composer William Bradbury, originally for Elizabeth Scott’s text “The God of Love Will Sure Indulge” in 1849. Bradbury later adapted the tune to fit Elliott’s text. This meant repeating “I Come” at the end of each verse. While Austin Lovelace claims the hymn “would be far stronger without the repeated words,” no one has come up with another tune so well loved as Bradbury’s (Lovelace, Anatomy of Hymnody.)

Although this is a reflective hymn, it also has the tendency to drag. With so many held notes, if taken too slowly, by the time you come to the end of the verse it’s possible you won’t remember what you just sang! So while still being reflective, keep the tempo moving. A good example of this is found on the album “Be Thou My Vision: Celtic Hymns” as sung by David Arkenstone, which can also be found on youtube.

When/Why/How

“Just as I am” is the perfect hymn of response after a time of confession and assurance, or in response to preaching on God's invitation to rely solely on Him. You could sing the song “All Who are Thirsty” beforehand as a song of invitation. A hymn with a similar theme is “Jesus I Come,” written by William Sleeper and re-tuned by Greg Thompson from Indelible Grace. Both hymns assure us that Christ invites us to come to Him whatever our circumstances or situations. While it might be too much to use both hymns at the same point in the service, if you have a service based on this theme, the two hymns can powerfully echo that message throughout your time of worship.

Suggested Music Resources:

• Johnson, Victor. Just As I Am, I Come - Choir and Pinao to the tune WOODWORTH
• Lund, Emily. Just As I Am - Choir, uses a tune by Emily Lund that incorporates WOODWORTH

Laura de Jong
Hymnary.org

In 1828, at the age of 32, Charlotte Elliott suffered a serious illness that left her a semi-invalid. This caused depression, and within the year she experienced a severe spiritual crisis. Swiss evangelist Henry A. Cesàr Malan was visiting her family, and she confessed to him that she didn’t know how to come to Christ. His famous response was, “Come to him just as you are.” Her depression continued, however. One night, twelve years later, she lay awake, distressed by her uselessness as an invalid, and by doubts of her spiritual life. The next day, as she reflected on the previous night, she decided she needed to meet her spiritual troubles head on and conquer them by the grace of God. So she “gathered up in her soul the grand certainties, not of her emotions, but of her salvation: her Lord, His power, His promise” (Lutheran Hymnal Handbook). She took up pen and paper, and wrote down her own “formulae of faith,” remembering those words of the visiting evangelist. In the end she had the text “Just as I am, without one plea.” Her rule of faith has since become a comfort to millions, and we join with all Christians who experience doubt and uncertainty in their faith when we declare that Christ invites us to come to Him, just as we are.