We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought

It seems like a long time since I posted a hymn from my original Thursday Thirteen listing that got me started on this weekly Saturday venture. There are only four more hymns left from that list, and this is one of them. It may not be familiar to you, as it wasn't for me until the last fifteen years or so. It's a hymn of repentance, and it has become one which I dearly love. The lyrics are so powerful, and unfortunately, so true. Read them carefully and tell me if these aren't words that each of us could utter in prayer to our Lord. Apparently, there are several melodies, but I particularly like the one we use at our church, which is the one found in the Trinity Hymnal of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Even though we are Baptists, our church uses this hymnal and I'm glad for that because I've learned so many hymns I didn't know before which are so rich in doctrine and meaning.

Meditate on the heartfelt words from this hymnwriter, as they could surely be expressed by each one of us:

We have not known thee as we ought,
Nor learned thy wisdom, grace and pow'r;
The things of earth have filled our thought,
And trifles of the passing hour.
Lord, give us light thy truth to see,
And make us wise in knowing thee.

We have not feared thee as we ought,
Nor bowed beneath thine awful eye,
Nor guarded deed, and word, and thought,
Remembering that God was nigh.
Lord, give us faith to know thee near,
And grant the grace of holy fear.

We have not loved thee as we ought,
Nor cared that we are loved by thee;
Thy presence we have coldly sought,
And feebly longed thy face to see.
Lord, give a pure and loving heart
To feel and own the love thou art.

We have not served thee as we ought;
Alas! the duties left undone,
The work with little fervor wrought,
The battles lost, or scarcely won!
Lord, give the zeal, and give the might,
For thee to toil, for thee to fight.

When shall we know thee as we ought,
And fear, and love, and serve aright!
When shall we, out of trial brought,
Be perfect in the land of light!
Lord, may we day by day prepare
To see thy face, and serve thee there.