O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go
Finding hope in the midst of suffering.
In a week filled with horrific images of violence and suffering from Russia’s senseless attack on Ukraine, I can’t think of anything I want to talk about more than the power of hymns. As I write this, Russia is shelling the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and each night we wonder what terrible news we will wake to tomorrow. It feels like we are entering a time of great uncertainty for all of the world as our leaders do their best to maneuver us through this crisis.
As always happens during uncertain times, I find myself with the words of hymns floating around in my head. Good, old, theologically meaty hymns. This week, the hymn that has attached itself to me is “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” by George Matheson (1842-1906). He wrote this hymn on the night of his sister’s wedding as he was wrestling with a deep personal pain. His words describe the writing of it best:
My hymn was composed in the manse of Innellan on the evening of the 6th of June, 1882. . . . 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 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 came like a dayspring from on high. I have never been able to gain once more the same fervor in verse.
The hymn was published in Scotland in 1882.
Matheson was a Scottish minister, hymn writer, and author of many books. He struggled with poor eyesight during his childhood losing most of his vision by the time he was seventeen. With the help of his eldest sister, he completed his studies at Glasgow University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1861 and a Masters in philosophy in 1862. She also helped him with his parish duties early in his ministerial career. He was a famous preacher in his time, and people would come from miles away to hear him preach. He was invited by Queen Victoria herself to preach to her, which he, of course, accepted and delivered a sermon titled “The Patience of Job.” Seems like a timely topic for a queen. Any queen.
Today, we know him best for writing the words to this deeply moving hymn that finds hope in the midst of suffering.
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 depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
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.
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.
It’s the third stanza that always hits me right in the feels. “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.”
I’m holding on to that promise right now, and you can too.
My favorite recorded version of this hymn:
Because I am a child of the Cold War, lyrics from Cold War-era pop songs are rattling around in my head this week too. This one especially:
Interesting Stuff From the Interwebs
The most important article I’ve read in quite a while:
“Every* Pop-Tarts Flavor, Taste-Tested and Ranked”
Well, another week has gone by friends, and we’ve been getting a little taste of spring weather here in Georgia that looks like it’s going to hold through the weekend. Get outside and enjoy it!
Until next time,
Karla
How appropriate Sting's song is now!! Thank you for sharing