The Cyber Hymnal ‎#7341

7341. When the Weary, Seeking Rest

1. When the weary, seeking rest,
To Thy goodness flee;
When the heavy laden cast
All their load on Thee;
When the troubled, seeking peace,
On Thy name shall call;
When the sinner, seeking life,
At Thy feet shall fall:

Refrain
Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry
In Heav’n, Thy dwelling place on high.

2. When the child, with grave fresh lip,
Youth, or maiden fair,
When the agèd, weak and grey,
Seek Thy face in prayer;
When the widow weeps to Thee,
Sad and lone and low;
When the orphan brings to Thee
All his orphan woe: [Refrain

3. When the stranger asks a home,
All his toils to end;
When the hungry craveth food,
And the poor a friend;
When the sailor on the wave
Bows the fervent knee;
When the soldier on the field
Lifts his heart to Thee: [Refrain]

4. When the man of toil and care,
In the city crowd,
When the shepherd on the moor,
Names the name of God;
When the learnèd and the high
Tired of earthly fame,
Upon higher joys intent,
Name the blessèd name: [Refrain]

5. When the worldling, sick at heart,
Lifts his soul above;
When the prodigal looks back
To his Father’s love;
When the proud man, in his pride,
Stoops to seek Thy face;
When the burdened brings his guilt
To Thy throne of grace: [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: When the weary, seeking rest
• Title: When the Weary, Seeking Rest
• Author: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar
• Refrain First Line: Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry
• Meter: 12.12.12.12 refrain
• Language: English
• Source: Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1866
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: His son says, ‘My fa­ther was asked to pro­vide words to the mu­sic, and was spe­cial­ly re­quest­ed to fur­nish a fit­ting re­frain to the two love­ly lines of Men­dels­sohn’s, with which Cal­lcott’s tune “In­ter­cess­ion” ends. In search­ing for a Script­ure theme con­tain­ing some re­it­er­at­ed phrase al­most of the na­ture of a re­frain, he was struck with Sol­o­mon’s pray­er at the ded­i­ca­tion of the tem­ple (2 Chron. vi.), in which ev­ery sep­ar­ate pe­ti­tion con­cludes with sub­stan­tial­ly the same words. This idea was tak­en for the start­ing-point, and Sol­o­mon’s words, “Hear Thou from heav­en Thy dwell­ing-place, and for­give,” be­came the fa­mil­iar coup­let…This found­a­tion once pro­vid­ed, the rest of the hymn was built upon it. This hymn my fa­ther liked, as he oft­en told me, as well as any he had ev­er writ­ten; for though he saw flaws in the po­e­try, the sub­ject and work­ing out and whole tone of it seemed to him far bet­ter than ma­ny other of his piec­es which had at­tained greater pop­u­lar­i­ty’ (Hymns of Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, p. xxii.). It was Bi­shop Fras­er of Man­che­ster’s fa­vou­rite hymn. Telford, pp. 362-3

Tune Information

• Name: INTERCESSION NEW
• Composer: Will­iam H. Call­cott (1867)
• Meter: 12.12.12.12 refrain
• Key: A♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain