"Here I Am, Lord", also known as "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky" after its opening line, is a Christian hymn written by the American composer of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

liturgical music

Dan Schutte Daniel Laurent Schutte is an American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a contemporary Christian songwriter best known for composing the hymn " Here I Am, Lord" (1981, also known as " I, the Lord of Sea and Sky") and over 165 published h ...

in 1979 and published in 1981. Its words are based on

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

6:8 and

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...

3:4. It is published by

OCP Publications Oregon Catholic Press (OCP, originally the Catholic Truth Society of Oregon) is a publisher of Catholic liturgical music based in Portland, Oregon. It published the newspapers '' Catholic Sentinel'' and ''El Centinela''; both papers have been di ...

. Schutte wrote the song at age 31 when he was studying theology at the

Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley The Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University is a Jesuit seminary within Santa Clara University and one of the member colleges of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California. Prior to its merger with Santa Clara Univers ...

. He was requested to compose, on short notice, a piece for the ordination Mass of a deacon, incorporating in the lyrics God's word, of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

as the light, and the bread and wine of the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. Schutte's hymn is also sung in many

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

worship services and is found in multiple hymnals and missalettes. In 2004 a survey conducted by '' the Tablet'', an international Catholic magazine, reported "Here I Am, Lord" as readers' favorite. A poll conducted by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians found among members that it came in second among "songs that make a difference". In 2013 a survey conducted by ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'', "Here I Am, Lord" was named the fifth most popular hymn in Britain. In 2017 ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

'' ran an article detailing the impact this song has had on the spirituality of American Catholics. In 2019 "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky" was voted the United Kingdom's 10th favorite hymn.

References

{{authority control Contemporary Catholic liturgical music Christian songs 1979 songs