O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s glow its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to hide from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.
George Matheson, 1886
Read Ezekiel 34:11-16
(The hymnwriter said, “I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was the fruit of pain.” It is significant that he speaks in the third stanza of the “Joy that seekest me through pain.” When we find ourselves in the deepest pain, we may have neither the strength or the resolve to find joy. It is then Joy, Light and Love seeks and finds us. “O love that will not let me go”!)