Hymn Of The Week: August 24, 2020
Hymn of the Week:
O Love That Wilt Not Let me Go
Text by George Matheson (1842-1906)
Music by Albert J. Peace (1844-1912)
O Love That Wilt Not Let me Go
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 oceans depths its flow.
May richer fuller be.
O light followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee.
My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine's blaze it's day.
May brighter fairer be.
O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee.
I chase 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 fly from thee.
I lay in dust's life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red.
Life that shall endless be.
George Matheson was only a teenager when he learned that his poor eyesight was failing further. He was still determined to attend Glasgow University and graduated by age 19. He went on to do his graduate studies in theology but was by then completely blind. His sister moved in with him , learning Hebrew and Greek to aid him in his classes. George’s fiancé, when he became legally blind, broke the engagement which hurt George deeply. He rejoiced with his sster when she became married and it was after her wedding that he came to understand and appreciate more fully God’s love for him. Never limited, conditional, withdrawn or uncertain. He remained unmarried and eventually became minister at St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The following his Dr. Matheson’s account of writing the hymn in his own words.
“My hymn was composed in the manse of Innellan on the evening of June 6th, 1882. I was at the time alone. It was the day of my sister’s marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this one came like a day spring from on high. I have never been able to gain once more the same fervor in verse. ”
The hymn appeared in the Church of Scotland monthly magazine, ”Life and Work, ” in January 1883. The tune was composed one year later by a well-known Scottish organist of his day, Albert L. Peace, who was asked by the Scottish Hymnal Committee to write a tune, especially for Matheson’s text. Peace’s own account of the writing of this tune is as follows, “After reading it over carefully, I wrote the music straight off, and may say that the ink of the first note was hardly dry when I had finished the tune. ”
Morgan, Robert J. Then Sings My Soul 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories. P. 206
Enjoy the stirring violin solo by Susan Larson!
