1 Jesus keep in memory ever
Wouldst thou be God's child and friend;
Let thy heart forget Him never,
Still thy gaze on Jesus bend.
In thy rest and in thy labor
Look to Him with every breath,
Look to Jesus' life and death.
2 Look to Jesus, till reviving
Faith and love thy bosom swell;
Strength for all things good deriving
From Him who did all things well;
Work as He did, in thy season,
Works which shall not fade away,
Work while it is called to-day.
3 Look to Jesus, praying, waking,
When thy feet on roses, tread;
Follow, worldly pomp forsaking,
With thy cross, where He Hath led.
Look to Jesus in temptation;
Baffled shall the tempter flee,
And God's angels come to thee.
4 Look to Jesus, when dark lowering
Perils thy horizon dim;
Unlike His disciples cowering,
Calm 'mid tempests look on Him.
Trust in Him who still rebuketh
Wind and billow, fire and flood;
Forward! then, and trust in God.
5 Look to Jesus when distresséd,
See what He, the Sinless, bore
Is thy heart with conflict presséd?
Is thy soul still harassed sore?
See His bloody sweat, His conflict
Watch His agony increase,
Hear His prayer, and taste His peace!
6 Art thou by sore want surrounded?
Do thy pains press forth thy sighs?
Art thou wronged and deeply wounded?
Does a scornful world despise?
Friends forsake thee or deny thee?
See what Jesus must endure,
He who as the light was pure!
7 Look to Jesus still to shield thee
When this dwelling thou must leave
In that last need He will shield thee
Peace the world can never give.
Look to Him, thy head low bending:
He, who finished all for thee,
Takes thee then with Him to be.
Source: Hymnal and Order of Service: for churches and Sunday-schools #296
Franzén, Franz Michael, was born at Uleabôrg, Finland, in 1772, and educated at the University of Abo, where he became Librarian and Professor of Literary History. He was subsequently Minister at Kumla, Orebro, Sweden, and then of Santa Clara, in Stockholm. He was consecrated Bishop of Hernosand, in 1841, and died there in 1847. (See Supplement to Longfellow's Poets and Poetry of Europe.) Of his pieces one is in English common use. It begins "Jesum haf i ständigt minne," translated by Mrs. Charles in her Christian Life in Song, 1858, p. 250, as "Jesus in Thy memory keep" (Looking unto Jesus). Usually it begins with stanza ii., "Look to Jesus, till, reviving."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
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