Christ My Song - 442
Not what I am, O Lord, but what thou art! - The Love that Passeth Knowledge (Horatius Bonar/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The Love that Passeth Knowledge.
1. Not what I am, O Lord, but what thou art!
That, that alone can be my soul's true rest;
thy love, not mine, bids fear and doubt depart,
and stills the tempest of my tossing breast. PDF - Midi
2. It is thy perfect love that casts out fear;
I know the voice that speaks the "It is I;"
and in these well-known words of heavenly cheer
I hear the joy that bids each sorrow fly.
3. Thy name is Love! I hear it from yon cross;
thy name is Love! I read it in the tomb;
all manner love is perishable dross,
but this shall light me thro' time's thickest gloom.
4. It blesses now, and shall for ever bless;
it saves me now, and shall for ever save;
it holds me up in days of helplessness;
it bears me safely o'er each swelling wave.
5. Girt with the love of God on every side,
breathing that love as heaven's own healing air,
I work or wait, still following my guide,
braving each foe, escaping every snare.
6. 'Tis what I know of thee, my Lord and God,
that fills my soul with peace, my lips with song;
thou art my health, my joy, my staff, my rod;
leaning on thee, in weakness I am strong.
7. I am all want and hunger; this faint heart
pines for a fullness which it finds not here;
dear ones are leaving, and, as they depart,
make room within for something yet more dear.
8. More of thyself, oh, show me hour by hour,
more of thy glory, O my God and Lord;
more of thyself in all thy grace and power,
more of thy love and truth, incarnate Word!
Horatius Bonar, Hymns of Faith and Hope II, 1872, 41-42.