Jesus, Fountain of my days, Well-spring of my heart’s delight, Brightness of my morning rays, Solace of my hours of night; When I see Thee, I arise To the hope of cloudless skies.
D
Jesus,
A
Fountain of my
Bm
days,
D
Well-spring of my
G
heart's
D
de
A
light,
D
Brightness
A
of my morning
Bm
rays,
D
Solace of my
G
hours
D
of
A
night;
When I see Thee,
Bm
I a
G
rise
To the hope of
Em
cloud
A7
less
D
skies.
2
Oh, how weary were the years Ere Thy form to me was known; Oh, how gloomy were the fears When I seemed to be alone; I despaired the storm to brave Till Thy footprints touched the wave.
Oh, how weary were the years
Ere Thy form to me was known;
Oh, how gloomy were the fears
When I seemed to be alone;
I despaired the storm to brave
Till Thy footprints touched the wave.
D
Oh, how
A
weary were the
Bm
years
D
Ere Thy form to
G
me
D
was
A
known;
D
Oh, how
A
gloomy were the
Bm
fears
D
When I seemed to
G
be
D A
alone;
I despaired the
Bm
storm to
G
brave
Till Thy footprints
Em
touched
A7
the
D
wave.
3
But Thy presence on the deep Calmed the pulses of the sea, And the waters sank to sleep In the rest of seeing Thee; And my once rebellious will Heard the mandate, Peace, be still!
But Thy presence on the deep
Calmed the pulses of the sea,
And the waters sank to sleep
In the rest of seeing Thee;
And my once rebellious will
Heard the mandate, Peace, be still!
D
But Thy
A
presence on the
Bm
deep
D
Calmed the pulses of
G
the
D
sea,
D
And the
A
waters sank to
Bm
sleep
D
In the rest of
G D
seeing
A
Thee;
And my once
Bm G
rebellious will
Heard the mandate,
Em
Peace,
A7
be
D
still!
4
Now Thy will and mine are one, Heart in heart, and hand in hand; All the clouds have touched the sun, And the ships have reached the land; For Thy love has said to me, No more night! and No more sea!
The writer of this hymn is George Matheson. In one of his biographies it says he was engaged to be married at age 20. When he found out he was going blind, he told his fiancé. She decided she could not live with a blind man and called off the wedding. Blind and alone what a broken heart. This hymn may have came out from such suffering and his finding the Lord in such a dark place. We know God’s ways are not our way. Certainly God gained much in this man and passed it on to us in such a beautiful intimate love song.
I was enjoying this hymn this morning with the new tune and turning the tenses from past to present as a heartfelt prayer. Brings the story of the hymn from John 6:18-22 into focus. As we sing we breathe these words into us praying them back to Him with feeling, consideration and worship. Here we sing both with our mind and with our spirit as in 1 Cor 14:15.
George Matheson was born on March 1842, in Glasgow, the most populous city of Scotland. His Father was George Matheson, a merchant and his mother Jane Matheson- they were second cousins.
George was the eldest of eight children. He was blind from his youth. George was educated in Glasgow Academy and the University of Glasgow where he graduated from logic and philosophy. At age 20, he became completely blind but was determined to enter the ministry and studied theology and history.
In 1879, he earned the degree of Doctor of Divinity and became a fellow at Royal Society of Edinburgh.
He died suddenly of a stroke on August 28, 1906 in Edinburgh and is buried with his father and mother in the Glasgow Necropolis. The grave lies near the summit.