"The Heavenly Vision", also known as "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" (the first line of its chorus), is a hymn written by Helen Howarth Lemmel. It was inspired by a tract entitled Focused, written by the missionary Isabella Lilias Trotter. Today the chorus is most widely known, and has become a standard reprinted in many hymnals.
Lemmel first published the hymn in England as a pamphlet in 1918, and then included it in a 1922 collection called Glad Songs. It was included in a 1924 American collection entitled Gospel Truth in Song and was widely reprinted in other collections.
Versions
In 1992 the Christian band Newsboys included the song (combined with "Where You Belong") on their album Not Ashamed and released a video of the song.
Michael W. Smith features the song on his 2001 live worship album Worship.
Country artist Alan Jackson's recording of this song for his father-in-law's funeral in 2005 became the inspiration for his 2006 gospel album Precious Memories.
The refrain of the hymn was used in the worship song, "Center" by Charlie Hall and Matt Redman.
In 2013, the Christian punk pop band Eleventyseven covered the hymn, titled "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", on their Good Spells (EP).