O Son of God, In Co-Eternal Might

Above:  Icon of the Holy Trinity, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = American Lutheran Hymnal (1930), The American Lutheran Church (1930-1960) and its immediate predecessor bodies

Original German Text by Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe (1808-1872)

English Translation (1894) by Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth (1845-1925)

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O Son of God, in co-eternal might,

O Son of Man, clothed in the living light

Of Godhead manifest, in pow’r and glory;

Lord Jesus Christ, Thou sole Desire

That doth Thy longing worshippers inspire,

For Thee alone my spirit yearns in me;

No, bliss I find until I am with Thee.

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The field is golden, flow’rs the meadow strew,

The mountains rise sublime, the skies are blue;

In these the child of earth may well find pleasure;

I too, rejoice in all of them,

But, not content, I want Jerusalem.

Where Thou art throned, thither sets my sail;

Home is not home, except within the veil.

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Angelic legions, in Thy brightness bright,

Gaze on Thy face; my fathers share the sight;

The God-man’s matchless glory is unshrouded,

And from that vision, to the soul

Unmeasured waves of joy supernal roll,

That rise in full and ever fuller tone,

Like ocean surges, to the Lamb’s white throne.

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Then let me go–what further hinders me?–

To mine own folk, the Son of Man to see.

No glance will I; of that majestic beauty

My eager soul would take her fill.

Joy even now, and trembling, thro’ me thrill.

I must away! Thou hast prepared my place;

My spirit panteth, Lord, to see Thy face.