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You bring the Hymnal,  I'll bring the History
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On June 6, 1882, George Matheson, wrote, “I was at that time alone, it was the day of my sister’s marriage . . . Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering.”  The hymn he referred to is, “ O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.”  What was the suffering he was experiencing? We do not know for sure, maybe it was thoughts of his own engagement that had been broken off when his fiancee learned that he would be completely blind by the age of 18.  Or maybe he was grieving the loss of his own sister’s closeness, who had studied Greek and Hebrew so she could assist him in his sermon preparation.  Nonetheless, we see that he started to think about the love of God and the cross of Christ and his thoughts were turned to blazing daylight.

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O Love that will 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.

O Light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

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.

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.

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