O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord

1
O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord!
  Forgive me if I say,
For very love, Thy sacred name
  A thousand times a day.
  O Jesus, Lord, with me abide;
I rest in Thee, whate’er betide;
Thy gracious smile is my reward;
    I love, I love Thee, Lord!
2
I love Thee so I know not how
  My transports to control;
Thy love is like a burning fire
  Within my very soul.
3
For Thou to me art all in all;
  My honor and my wealth;
My heart’s desire, my body’s strength,
  My soul’s eternal health.
4
Burn, burn, O love, within my heart,
  Burn fiercely night and day,
Till all the dross of earthly loves
  Is burned, and burned away.
5
O light in darkness, joy in grief,
  O heaven’s life on earth;
Jesus, my love, my treasure, who
  Can tell what Thou art worth?
6
What limit is there to this love?
  Thy flight, where wilt Thou stay?
On, on! our Lord is sweeter far
  Today than yesterday.
68
Sister

United States

Lord Jesus graciously smile on us. Amen. Lord Jesus, abide with us. Amen. May we rest in You no matter what, Lord Jesus. Amen.


Ana Lara

Storrs, Connecticut, United States

The author of this text, Frederick William Faber, born June 28, 1814, in Carverley, Yorkshire, England, was raised as a strict Calvinist by his Father who was an English clergyman. After Frederick graduated from Oxford University in 1843, he became a minister of the Anglican Church at a small parish in Elten England.

In his younger years Faber strongly opposed the teachings and practices of the Roman Church. However, this was the time when a movement known as the Tractarian or Oxford Movement was strongly influencing the Anglican Church. Whereas the Wesleys and their evangelical followers preached a message of being saved by faith in Christ, a message easily understood by the common masses, leaders of the more sophisticated Tractarian Movement believed that a meaningful religious experience could only be gained through church ceremony and liturgy.

From 1833-1850 the Oxford Movement directed religious England, and at that time Anglicans either joined the Catholic Church or developed a high church party known as the Anglo-Catholics.

Early in his ministry Faber became influenced by the Oxford Movement. After serving just three years as an Anglican minister, he left the Anglican Church and joined the Catholic Church. He became known as Father Wilfrid. Shortly after his secession to the Roman Church Faber noticed the lack of congregational hymnody in this group.

He believed congregational singing was important and influential as he was used to having in the Anglican Church. He made it his life’s mission to write hymns that promoted the history and teachings of the Catholic Church. In all Frederick Faber wrote 150 such hymns before his early death at the age of forty-nine. He was honored by the Pope with a Doctorate of Divinity Degree.

“Faith of Our Fathers” was written by Faber to remind Catholics of their leaders who were martyred during the reign of Henry VIII when England transitioned from Catholic to Anglican. The text first appeared in 1849 in Fabers collection, “Jesus and Mary” or “Catholic Hymns for Singing and Reading. ” He hoped one day England would return to Catholicism.

The tune for this hymn, a melody known as “St. Catherine’s Tune, ” was composed by a Roman Catholic, Henry Hemy, born at New Castle-Upon-Tyne, England, in November 12, 1818. He was an organist and composer at the Church of Tynemouth and in 1854 compiled a Catholic hymnal “ Crown of Jesus. ” It was originally written in honor of Catherine of Alexander, a fourth century martyr. The final eight measures or refrain-“Faith of our fathers, holy faith, we will be true to Thee till death” were added by James G. Walton, when he made a new arrangement and used it for his collection, “Plain Song Music for the Holy Communion Office” published in 1874.


Sharon Wimer

Sacramento, California, United States

I love Thee so I know not how

My transport to control

Thy love is like a burning fire

Within my very soul


Steve Miller

Detroit, Michigan, United States

We sang this hymn at church yesterday. There were 2 testimonies that I would like to share with everyone:

stanza 5 "O light in darkness, joy in grief,

O heaven's life on earth."

This gives an excellent description of what heaven's life on earth is: it is light in darkness and joy in grief.

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Stanza 6 gives another side of the chorus.

In the chorus we rest in Jesus whatever happens.

In the last stanza, we do not stay where we are at.

We keep going on in His love so that or Lord is sweeter today than yesterday.


Ken Stanislav

Rochester, MN, United States

O lighr in darkness, joy in grief

O heavens life on earth

JESUS OUR LOVE OUR TEASURE

Who can tell what thou art worth!

I was once darkness but now light in the Lord.

Who can tell what He is worth?!


AC Haway

Lucena City, Quezon, Philippines

Chorus:

Thy gracious smile is my reward;

I love, I love Thee, Lord!

"Numbers 6:26 - Jehovah lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

To lift up your countenance upon a person means that you confirm, assure, promise, and give everything to that person. Jesus came as the face of God, and the Holy Spirit comes as the countenance of God. Ephesians 4:30 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." If we grieve Him, His countenance will drop. If we obey Him, He will be happy with us, and He will lift up His countenance to confirm us, assure us, guarantee us, promise us, and give us everything."

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Lord Jesus, your countenance, your smile, your presence is everything to us! What a blessing it is to have your smile! We love you Lord Jesus!


Oh Chiew Boon

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Praise the Lord


Ogo Daniel

Onitsha, Anambra, Nigeria

On on, Your love is sweeter far

Today than yesterday!

So true, so touching!

My hymn since my secondary school days.


Joshua

Amen


Samuel Appiah Ofori

Tournai, Hinaut, Belgium

Burn, burn, O love, within my heart,

Burn fiercely night and day,

Till all the dross of earthly loves

Is burned, and burned away.

Keep burning within my heart oh Lord!

I hope that the sense that Jesus is good is growing within you every day. You do not need to determine to give up mah-jongg or the Chinese opera. All that you need to do is to daily say, "Jesus is good; Jesus is really good! Although I am here playing mah-jongg, Jesus is better than mah-jongg. Jesus is truly good!" If you say this more and more every day, by the time that you have said this hundreds of times, you will no longer play mah-jongg or go to the opera. You will give up these things, because Jesus is good, and Jesus is so lovable.

Dear brothers and sisters, please do not think that it is superstitious to say this. I began hearing sermons in Christianity when I was very young, and although I have heard many of them, no one ever clearly told me that we should confess, "Jesus is good! Jesus is so good! O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! Lord, You are so good!" Then one day when I was compiling the hymnal, I found a hymn that says, "O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day" (Hymns, #208). These lines deeply touched me. I said to the Lord, "O Lord, I am truly sorry. I have been saved for so many years, but I have never said Your name a thousand times in one day."

Some say that calling "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus!" is almost the same as the Buddhists' chanting "Amitabha." However, the real situation is that the more the Buddhist priests and nuns chant "Amitabha," the more their faces become downcast, the more their foreheads grow wrinkled, and the more their countenances become sorrowful. Even the rooms that the Buddhist priests and nuns live in are dark and gloomy. When they walk into them, they cannot see anything. Calling upon the name of the Lord is completely different from the chanting of the Buddhists. When you say "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so good!" from morning to night, your sad face turns into a smiling face, your downcast face becomes an uplifted face, your furrowed brow loosens up, your wrinkles diminish, and even your bedroom is filled with warmth. How amazing this is! Why is there such a contrast between calling on the Lord and chanting? It is because when the Buddhists call "Amitabha," demons come. The more they say "Amitabha," the more demons there are, and demons are gloomy. However, when we say, "O Lord Jesus! O Lord Jesus! You are so lovable!" the Lord Jesus comes, and the more we say this, the more He comes. The Lord Jesus is the reality of every positive thing in this universe. Thus, when He comes, we have everything.

The fact that we are able to spontaneously call "O Lord Jesus" is a strong proof that we have been saved, that we have been delivered out of the power of Satan, and that we are now in spirit. The more Christians call "O Lord Jesus," the better. Stanza 1 of Hymns, #208 says, "O Jesus,…I say…Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day." The writer of this hymn said that he says the Lord's name a thousand times a day. Actually a thousand times is still not enough. This is just like our breathing—it is hard to count the number of times we breathe daily. We breathe continuously; we breathe without ceasing. Paul told the Corinthians that whenever they meet, instead of worshipping the dumb idols, they should speak in the Holy Spirit. "No one speaking in the Spirit of God says, Jesus is accursed; and no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).

Calling on the name of the Lord is not something that is done in vain, for Jesus is real and present. If a person is real, living, and near to us, whenever we call that person's name, that person will come to us. Jesus is real and living; He is present and available. Therefore, when we call His name, He will come to us and will enter into us. Hymns, #208 says, "O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord! / Forgive me if I say, / For very love, Thy sacred name / A thousand times a day." The words of this hymn should not be an exaggeration to us. A sister may be bored while washing the dishes at home. The best way for her to make her task a pleasant experience is for her to call on the name of the Lord while she is working. Whenever we call on the Lord's name, we taste Him, for He is living, real, present, and available.

Piano Hymns