May I in will and deed and word

Obey Thee as a little child;

And keep me in Thy love, my Lord,

For ever holy, undefiled;

Lord, may my spirit turn and cling to Thee, forsaking all else unto Thee.

Remembering only 'God in me'!

Forgetting all created things, remembering only “God in me. ”

Recently, I feel like I always choose my own wild way to do, to say whatever I want, it indeed is natural and wild, Lord, may I obey to Your tiny gentle voice in me always, that I won’t choose my own wild way.

Oh! The river flows not in vain!

Thank You Lord for breathing, springing, flowing, blossoming, keeping, teaching, striving, praying, streaming and living.

Within You I also obey, wait, drink, turn, forsake, forget and remember.

Lord, breathe on our spirit.

Like this song, new to me but the words came to me like penetrating into my soul. God bless the writers.

This hymn was written in German by Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1769), a German reformed Christian writer and preacher. It was translated by Frances Bevan (1827-1909).

Stanza one tells us that God, the Great I Am Who I Am, as the Spirit, breathes into us to enliven us (“the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has enlivened me” Job 33:4). Hallelujah! Our deadened spirit, once the barren land (desert sand) with no life and no fruit has been regenerated! Now, up springs the Pine tree and the Myrtle tree. (“In place of the thornbush, the fir tree will come up; in place of the brier, the myrtle tree will come up…. Isa. 55:13a. Some translate the fir as the pine, cypress, or juniper). The Pine tree grows by shooting upwards towards the heavens. The Fir tree never grows old, is an evergreen, signifying God in His freshness (“I am like a green fir tree” Hos. 14:8). The Myrtle tree is small, growing in the bottoms, signifying Israel in captivity. We are often so low down, in captivity, but Christ is riding on and standing among us, praying and interceding for us, to bring us out, and into the full enjoyment of Himself (cf. Zech. Ch. 1).

Christ, the smitten rock in Horeb (Exo. 17:6), the crucified One whose pierced side flowed out water for imparting life, overcoming death, and producing the church (John 19:34), is the fountain of life (Psa. 36:9a), the spring of the water of life (Rev. 21:6b). By continually enjoying Christ as the never-ending supply of living water, “the wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the desert will exult and blossom like the rose” (Isa. 35:1), “…for water will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isa. 35:6b).

Tersteegen was one surely constituted with the Word, to be able to quote so much scripture in one little stanza. By singing this wonderful hymn, may we be encouraged to continually exercise our spirit to breathe in the Spirit, so that in the mingled spirit we may not only be in the good land, but also enjoy all the riches of this good land, Christ!