He wrote Shall We Gather at the River, What Can Wash Away My Sin?, Low in the Grave He Lay, Jesus My Savior; as well as the chorus to I Need Thee, O I Need Thee WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE on VCY.tv
Transcript:
Reverend Robert Lowry was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 12, 1826. From a young age, he showed a deep love for music, often entertaining himself with various instruments.
He enrolled at the University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell University) in Pennsylvania, where he excelled academically and graduated at the top of his class in 1854. That same year, he was ordained into the Baptist ministry and began his pastoral career.
Lowry served churches in several locations, including West Chester, Pennsylvania; Bloomingdale Church in New York City; and the prominent Hanson Place Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York. During his time in Brooklyn, he composed some of his most enduring hymns.
Later in life, he returned to Lewisburg, where he pastored the local Baptist church while also serving as a professor of rhetoric (and later literature) at his alma mater, Bucknell University. In 1875, the university honored him with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in recognition of his accomplishments as a preacher, educator, and especially as a prolific hymn writer. He composed both words and music for hundreds of gospel songs and edited numerous hymnals for the prominent publisher Biglow & Main.
Some of his most beloved hymns are still sung in churches today:
- “Shall We Gather at the River?” (1864), a joyful vision of heaven inspired by Revelation’s imagery of the river of life.
- “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” (often titled “What Can Wash Away My Sin?”), based on Revelation’s text, with its powerful refrain emphasizing Christ’s atoning blood.
- His famous Easter resurrection hymn, “Low in the Grave He Lay” (also known as “Christ Arose!” or “Up from the Grave He Arose,” 1874), which vividly captures the triumph of Jesus over death: “Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior! Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord! Up from the grave He arose…”
- The beloved refrain he composed for Annie S. Hawks’s text: “I need Thee, oh, I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.” (From “I Need Thee Every Hour,” 1872.)
Robert Lowry passed away on November 25, 1899, in Plainfield, New Jersey, but his “sermons in song” continue to inspire and uplift believers worldwide. His work helped shape 19th-century gospel music and remains a cherished part of Christian worship.