Look unto Christ
#1032 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Look unto Christ”
A verse heard at a seminary devotional carried Sherrie Boren through years of anxiety — and thirty years later became her hymn: doubt not, fear not, heed not, press on.
An Anxious Child and a Verse
Sherrie Manwill Boren first heard Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 — 'Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not' — at a high school seminary devotional in the late 1990s. She needed it more than most: she describes herself as an anxious child who hid her struggles, and during her sophomore year at BYU, severe anxiety left her unable to eat or sleep.
The turning point came in her dorm room — a spiritual experience that pointed her toward deliberately studying the Savior. She looked up every scripture under 'Comfort' in the Topical Guide and discovered nearly all of them pointed to Him. 'As I reached for my Savior,' she says, 'I began to feel His power flowing into my life, bringing comfort and peace.'
Thirty Years to a Hymn
Roughly three decades after first hearing the verse, Boren set it to music. Each of the hymn's four verses ends on a charge lifted from the scriptures she had clung to: Doubt not. Fear not. Heed not. Press on.
She is honest about what the hymn does and doesn't promise: 'Looking unto Christ doesn't always take away the problem.' But, she adds, 'as we rivet our focus upon the Savior, our fears will fade and we will find the strength to move forward.'
Named for the Mountain Above Her Town
Released June 12, 2025, as hymn #1032, the hymn carries the tune name MOUNT MAHOGANY — matching the 9,000-foot Wasatch peak that rises directly above her home in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Together with 'Holy Places' (#1026), it gives Boren two hymns in the new collection — both grown from single verses of scripture that had first grown in her.
Did You Know?
- Boren first heard the hymn's core scripture at a seminary devotional in high school — the hymn came roughly 30 years later.
- Each verse ends on a scriptural charge: Doubt not, Fear not, Heed not, Press on.
- During a battle with severe anxiety at BYU, she read every scripture under 'Comfort' in the Topical Guide — and found nearly all pointed to Christ.
- The tune name MOUNT MAHOGANY matches the Wasatch peak above her hometown of Pleasant Grove, Utah.
- It's her second hymn in the new hymnbook, alongside 'Holy Places.'
Scripture Connections
- Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 — 'Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not' — the verse that carried her, and became the hymn.
- Jacob 3:1 — 'Look unto God with firmness of mind... he will console you in your afflictions.'
- Doctrine and Covenants 68:6 — 'Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.'
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- Sherrie Boren says looking to Christ 'doesn't always take away the problem.' What does it do instead?
- A single scripture verse carried her for thirty years. Do you have a verse like that? Where would you look for one?
- When anxiety or worry gets loud, what helps you 'rivet your focus' on the Savior?
- The hymn's four charges are: doubt not, fear not, heed not, press on. Which one do you need most right now?
Teaching Resources
Categories
Attribution
Music by: Sherrie Manwill Boren, 2019 | MOUNT MAHOGANY
Text by: and music: Sherrie Manwill Boren, 2019 | MOUNT MAHOGANY
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints