Self-dedication to the Lord.
O LORD, thy heavenly grace impart,
And fix my frail, inconstant heart;
Henceforth my chief desire shall be
To dedicate myself to thee.
2 Whate’er pursuits my time employ,
One thought shall fill my soul with joy:
That silent, secret thought shall be,
That all my thoughts are fix’d on thee.
3 Thy glorious eye pervadeth space;
Thy presence, Lord, fills every place;
And wheresoe’er my lot may be,
Still shall my spirit rest with thee.
4 Renouncing every worldly thing,
And safe beneath thy spreading wing,
My sweetest thought henceforth shall be.
That all I want I find in thee.
Jean Frederic Oberlin, trans. Lucy Sarah Atkins Wilson
Methodist Episcopal hymnal (1870 edition)
<idle musing>
I was able to track down some info on the author; you can find it here. Especially interesting is his desire to educate the local populace. And that Oberlin, OH is named after him, which means that Oberlin College is heir to his methods. Fascinating stuff one learns in reading about the authors of hymns, isn't it?
</idle musing>
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