Pass Me Not

Words by Fanny J. Crosby Music by W. H. Doane

"Pass me not, O gentle Saviour
Hear my humble cry.”

An earnest Christian pastor told of a young man about whom he had long felt much anxiety, as he had seemed so unconcerned about his soul, and was, in reality, a real cause of disturbance and interruption in the classes for other young men.

Meeting him one day, the loving pastor sought once more to influence him, urging, ”We want you for Christ and his service. ”There was a certain change in his manner which did not escape the eye of the prayerful watcher for souls, and—lacking time to do more—he seized the opportunity to secure the presence of his young friend at a Christian Endeavor meeting soon to be held. True to his promise he was there. When an opportunity was given for some of the young men to choose a song, it was seen that he was urging his companion to select some particular hymn. The other, yielding to his request, asked if the hymn, ”Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,” might be sung; and both young men joined in the singing with evident interest and heartiness. Later in the evening it was requested that all who were definitely on the Lord's side would confess their allegiance by standing. Whereupon the one over whom the heart of the pastor was specially yearning rose at once, and with decision.

“Tell me about your conversion, ”the thankful pastor requested at the close of the meeting, when hands were clasped in glad, brotherly welcome and Recognition.

"Oh, yes,” assented the other. ”It was all through that hymn we have just sung. I was working on the canal at G—, and there was a meeting being held at the Mariner's Chapel, near by. The words floated out over the water, and from the tug where I was working I could hear them plainly enough. When they were just going to sing those lines—

'While on others Thou are calling,
Do not pass me by!'

a great fear came over me, and I thought, ' Oh, if the Lord were to pass me by, how terrible it would be!' Then and there, on the tug, I cried out: ' O Lord, do not pass me by.' And”—with a bright smile—”he didn't pass me by. I am saved."

No hymn in our collection was more popular than this at our meetings in London in 1874. It was sung almost every day in Her Majesty's Theater, in Pall Mall, and has been translated into several languages.

At one of our noonday prayer-meetings in Glasgow a prominent gentleman was awakened by the singing of this hymn. He had been very much opposed to our meetings, and his opposition was not lessened when he saw his wife converted. That day he had agreed to attend the meeting for the last time, as a sort of concession; and that was the day when the Spirit of God touched him by this hymn.