Above:  George Matheson

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1895), the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1882) by the Reverend George Matheson (1842-1906), a blind Scottish Presbyterian minister grieving over a rejected proposal of marriage

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1.  O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean’s depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

2.  O Light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to Thee;

My heart the rainbow through the rain,

That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

3.  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.

4.  O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from Thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.