George Matheson was almost completely blind by the time he was 17 years old. But this did not stop him from being an excellent student and earning several degrees. He was ordained as a minister and it was while he was there that he was suffering from extreme mental stress and wrote this hymn. He says "The hymn was the fruit of pain." The hymn was written very quickly in a few minutes, as if dictated by an inward voice. The words are not easy to understand on first reading, but are made more meaningful as one ponders and meditates upon them. He represents God as first Love, then Light, Joy and finally the Cross.
May we hold onto this Love, Light, Joy and the Cross as we move into 2021.
O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go
Verse 1
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.
Verse 2
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.
Verse 3
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.
Verse 4
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.