Do not think me gentle because I speak in praise of gentleness, or elegant because I honour the grace that keeps this world. I am a [wo]man crude as any, gross of speech, intolerant, stubborn, angry, full of fits and furies. That I may have spoken well at times, is not natural. A wonder is what it is. (Wendell Berry)

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Hymn #20

I got the coolest thing ever the other day from my friend Joanna Sneller. She sent me a hymn book- it's really old and leather bound and it has a publication date of 1916, so it's really old. I've been reading through it and I've come across some really amazing hymns and I wanted to write one on here. I don't know the author because it doesn't say, so here it is:

At even ere the sun was set,
The sick, O LORD, around Thee lay;
Oh, in what divers pains they met!
Oh, with what joy they went away!
Once more 'tis eventide, and we
Oppress'd with various ills draw near;
What if They Form we cannot see?
We know and feel that Thou art here.

O Savior Christ, our woes dispel;
For some are sick, and some are sad,
And some have never loved Thee well,
And some have lost the love they had;
And some have found the world is vain,
Yet from the world they break not free;
And some have friends who give them pain,
Yet have not sought a friend in Thee;

And none, O LORD, have perfect rest,
For none are wholly free from sin;
And they, who fain would serve Thee best,
Are conscious most of wrong within;

O Saviour Christ, Thou too art Man;
Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried;
Thy kind but searching glance can scan
The very wounds that shame would hide;
Thy touch has still its ancient power;
No word from thee can fruitless fall;
Hear, in this solemn evening hour,
And in Thy mercy, heal us all.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

H-m-m... You gave me a smile with you're "really old" hymnal. A very relative term. I have hymn books in my library from the 1800's, and one from 1779.

The beautiful hymn you quote was written by Henry Twells. Today is the 187th anniversary of his birth. If you'd like to read how the hymn came to be written, check out my daily blog on hymn history, Wordwise Hymns.