“I Heard the Voice of Jesus’ Say” has a simple structure. Each verse begins with a statement made by Jesus that is then followed by a personal response by the worshiper.
Verse one: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest; lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast.” I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn, and sad; I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad.
The first verse recalls the words of Jesus, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The worship responds by admitting that he was weary, worn, and sad. But when he came to Jesus, he found his resting place, where his burden was removed, and so he was made glad.
Verse two: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one; stoop down and drink and live.” I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
The second verse recalls the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well in our Gospel lesson for this Sunday. John recounts this conversation at Jacob’s well: Jesus answered [the woman], “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” she said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.” Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life” (John 4:10-14).
The worshiper hears these words of Jesus and responds that she came to Jesus and drank from his life-giving stream. She drank from the water of life and was never thirsty again. Her thirst was quenched; her soul was revived; and she now has life in him.
Verse three: I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s light. Look unto me; your morn shall rise and all your day be bright.” I looked to Jesus, and I found in him my star, my sun; and in that light of life I’ll walk till trav’ling days are done.
The third verse recalls Jesus’ words to the crowd gathered on the Mount of Olives: “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The worshiper hears these words of Jesus and responds that he looked to the Son of God. There he found in Jesus, his sun, his star, and the light that he now follows till his traveling days are done.