The Cyber Hymnal ‎#6678

6678. Thou Hidden Love of God

1. Thou hidden Love of God, whose height,
Whose depth unfathomed no one knows,
I see from far 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.

2. 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.

3. ’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?

4. Is there a thing beneath the sun
That strives with Thee my heart to share?
Ah, tear it thence and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there;
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it hath found repose in Thee.

5. 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!

6. O Love, Thy sovereign aid impart
To save me from low thoughted 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.

7. 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!

8. 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.
v

Text Information

• First Line: Thou hidden Love of God, whose height
• Title: Thou Hidden Love of God
• German Title: Verborgne Gottesliebe du
• Author: Gerhard Tersteegen (1729)
• Translator (from German): John Wesley
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Tersteegen wrote this hymn while in charge of the Pilgerhutte, a spiritual retreat at Otterbeck, Germany. John Wes­ley trans­lat­ed the words from Ger­man to En­glish in 1736 in Sa­van­nah, Georg­ia. Alternate tunes: ST. INGRID, Gerhard T. Alexis, 1889-1927; ST. PETERSBURG, attributed to Dmitri S. Bortniansky, 1825

Tune Information

• Name: VATER UNSER
• Harmonizer: Johann S. Bach (1726)
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Incipit: 55345 32155 47534
• Key: c minor
• Source: Geist­liche Lie­der (Leip­zig, Ger­ma­ny: 1539)
• Copyright: Public Domain