Thou hidden Love of God, whose
height,
Whose depth unfathomed no one
knows,
I see from afar Thy beauteous
light,
And inly sigh for Thy repose;
My heart is pained, nor can it be
At rest, till it finds rest in
Thee.
Thy secret voice invites
me still
The sweetness of Thy yoke to
prove;
And fain I would; but though my
will
Seems fixed, yet wide my passions
rove;
Yet hindrances strew all the way;
I aim at Thee, yet from Thee
stray.
’Tis mercy all that Thou has
brought
My mind to seek its peace in Thee;
Yet while I seek, but find Thee
not,
No peace my wandering soul shall
see.
O when shall all my wanderings
end,
And all my steps to Theeward tend?
Is there a thing beneath the
sun
That strives with Thee my heart to
share?
Ah, tear it hence and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there;
Then shall my heart from earth be
free,
When it hath found repose in Thee.
O hide this self from me, that
I
No more, but Christ in me, may
live!
My vile affections crucify,
Nor let one darling lust survive
In all things nothing may I see,
Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!
O Love, Thy sovereign aid
impart
To save me from low thought care;
Chase this self will from all my
heart,
From all its hidden mazes there;
Make me Thy duteous child that I
Ceaseless may “Abba, Father” cry.
Ah no! ne’er will I backward
turn:
Thine wholly, Thine alone I am!
Thrice happy he who views with
scorn
Earth’s toys, for Thee his
constant Flame;
O help that I may never move
From the blest footsteps of Thy
love!
Each moment draw from earth
away
My heart that lowly waits Thy
call;
Speak to my inmost soul and say,
“I am thy love, thy God, thy all!”
To feel Thy power, to hear Thy
voice,
To taste Thy love, be all my
choice.