Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow

1
Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow,
  That a time could ever be,
When I let the Savior’s pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered,
  All of self, and none of Thee,
  All of self and none of Thee.
2
Yet He found me; I beheld Him
  Bleeding on the cursed tree;
Heard Him pray, Forgive them, Father,
And my wistful heart said faintly,
  Some of self, and some of Thee,
  Some of self, and some of Thee.
3
Day by day His tender mercy,
  Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
Brought me lower while I whispered,
  Less of self, and more of Thee,
  Less of self, and more of Thee.
4
Higher than the highest heavens,
  Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered;
Grant me now my heart’s petition,
  None of self, and all of Thee,
  None of self, and all of Thee.
23
Boye Ola

Lagos, Nigeria

I LOVE THIS HYMN, STANZA 4 IS WHERE I WANT TO DWELL.


Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Please see Denis' comment on 9/8/2013 and store it in your memory.

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Theodore Monod was a French Protestant Pastor who initially studied law but then trained for the ministry at Western Theological Seminary in Alleghany, PA. From 1860 - 1863 he labored among the French Canadians in Illinois. He returned to Paris and his father’s pastorate in 1875. He was a popular speaker at the Keswick Camp meetings. Among the books he wrote are "Looking To Jesus", "The Christian's Cross", "Life More Abundant" and "The Gift of God". Some of his sermons are on the internet. - path2prayer

Mo­nod wrote the words of this song, in Eng­lish, dur­ing a ser­ies of con­se­cra­tion meet­ings in Broad­lands, Hamp­shire, Eng­land, in July 1874. At the close of the meet­ings, he gave them to Lord Mount-Tem­ple, who had them print­ed on a prog­ram card for a ser­ies of sim­i­lar meet­ings at Ox­ford in Oc­to­ber 1874. - cyberhymnal

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The following is his sharing on Hebrews 8:10-12

We all need two conversions. First of all, we need to be converted from the natural man to the spiritual man, and in the second place, we need to be converted from the spiritual man to the natural man, until the spiritual man becomes a natural life, and the burden is opportunity and the bondage is delight.


Heidi

Seattle, WA, United States

Beautiful & touching hymn. I want to comment that I am a young person & using old terms like "thee" does not take away any meaning for me. Please share with young people :)


Pamela McLay-Hendeson

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Dear Katie, (Warragul Vic) et al.

I am an experienced teacher and I could not agree more with you!


Anonymous

To follow up on what Katie has mentioned, linguistically speaking, "Thee" is actually the informal way of saying "You." Overtime, the English language has kept the formal and dropped the informal. But this just shows how close we are to the Lord, and what a friend He is to us!


Katie Peken

Warragul, Vic, Australia

There is not much in this that young people can't understand. I suggest a quick explanation, that this song was written a long time ago by someone who loved Jesus as much as we do today, and back then a person talking to one other person called them 'thee' instead of 'you'. We mutilate a lot of beautiful hymns in the name of making them accessible, often the result changes the very theology not to mention disrespecting the hymn writer's intentions. I think younger people are more able to accommodate than we give them credit for being. And after all, you and I can understand 'thee', but it hasn't been in use in our lifetime either!


Dowsa

Naracoorte, South Australia, Australia

It's a terrific song, but we have made a commitment to avoid using words that don't make sense to younger people. We would never use the word 'Thee'... Does anybody know of an updated version of this song, rewritten for people of this era?

Blessings


Tim Owens

Toledo, Ohio, United States

How we long to live in stanza 4 yet we sometimes lose sight of that divine purpose, that divine calling. Lord thank You for Your mercy and Your grace.


Denis Ladbrook

Wembley Downs, Western Australia, Australia

The movement from verse 1 to verse 4 of this hymn is, among other things, the most profound suicide-prevention policy in the world. Please make it yours.


David Smith

Helsinki, Finland

Tremendously moving hymn. Oh, to be living in the 4th verse as opposed to 2 or 3...

Piano Hymns