Oh, how I love Thee dearest Lord

1
Oh, how I love Thee dearest Lord;
On Thee alone I lean.
Though rapturous with ecstasy
Or tears unceasing stream;
When all my world comes crashing down
And nothing falls in place,
Uphold me with Thy love and strength
To cling to Thine embrace.
2
Thy person, Lord, alone can bring
My jaded heart to cheer;
Thy smile gladdens my heart strings
Whene’er Thou dost appear.
Thus gloom becomes triumphant song
And darkness turns to light,
My valley’s shades to inundate
With beams of sweet delight.
3
Thy presence meaneth everything;
Thou art my secret, Lord.
I welcome Thee into my boat;
True rest Thou dost afford.
Though bitterness surround my soul,
Thy sweetness I can taste,
For in life’s storms in Thee I find
The eye wherein I’m graced.
4
Thy visitation, gracious, sweet
In trials comforts me.
In tribulation’s form to bring
Thine all-sufficiency;
While journeying along life’s stream,
Should I, by boulders, be fazed?
For thornless grace I would not seek,
But water’s level raised.
5
When in the index of Thine eyes,
My heart’s joy is maintained;
With Thee alone I’m occupied,
And by Thy love constrained.
There’s naught on earth that can frustrate
The man enjoying Thee;
Now all else from my vision fades;
Thou Lord, alone, I see.