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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! |
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I love Thee so I know not how My transports to control; Thy love is like a burning fire Within my very soul. |
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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. |
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Burn, burn, O love, within my heart, Burn fiercely night and day, Till all the dross of earthly loves Is burned, and burned away. |
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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? |
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What limit is there to this love? Thy flight, where wilt Thou stay? On, on! our Lord is sweeter far Today than yesterday. |
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
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Tucson, Arizona, United States
In some of the early days, when we who were there became 'crazy' lovers of Jesus, we made a change in some of the lines of this hymn. We would sing, "O Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord, I love, I love to say, for very love Thy sacred Name a thousand times a day" and "Thy very self is our first love, we love, we love Thee, Lord."
Detroit, MI, United States
@Carla Bestetti 3/30/2012. If I was going to say my dear wife's name 1,000 times in 1 day for very love, I would ask her to forgive me for saying her name so often, which might annoy her, since calling someone's name demands his attention.
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Stanza 5, line 2 originally says, "O heav’n begun on earth;".
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Born in England, Faber was raised as a strict Calvinist by his father. After graduating from Oxford, he became a minister in the Anglican Church. Influenced by the Oxford Movement, he joined the Catholic Church and became known as Father Wilfred. He noticed a lack of congregational hymns in the Catholic Church and set about to remedy the situation. His hymns promoted the history and teachings of Catholicism. Although he died at the age of 49, he managed to write 150 hymns. - Songs of the Spirit by Faber
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Carla Bestetti,
I think the author means if he still says the Lord's Name one thousand times it will still be not enough!!! If I call upon His name a thousand times a day it will be still a few for what He is for us and the fellowship He wants to give us!! Oh Lord Jesus! Oh Lord Jesus!! A thousand million times! Oh Lord Jesus!!
Lord Jesus' love has no limits!
Coal City, Enugu, Nigeria
I love the song. It's like heaven is near when its received.
Canada
I grew up singing this beautiful hymn. I am saddened that it seems to have disappeared, but very thankful to have found it here. Thank you for allowing me to worship my Lord through this website.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
To Carla Bestetti in Brazil -
I don't think we need to apologize for saying His name in worship. I think the language of the first verse is more an expression of the author's intense love for the Lord and his need to worship - he's saying that he couldn't help himself if he wanted to.
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
A friend shared this beautiful song with me during a time when I was having a very difficult day. I love Jesus and I am very grateful for the freedom we have to worship HIM.
Benin, Edo, Nigeria
This song brings me back to earth whenever I sing it.
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
O Lord! Your gracious smile is my reward. I just love You Lord.