Hymn · Surrender

Thou Hidden Love of God

Words by Gerhard Tersteegen, tr. John Wesley, 17294 verses

Thou hidden love of God, whose hight,Whose depth, unfathomed, no man knows,I see from far thy beauteous light:Inly I sigh for thy repose;My heart is pained; nor can it beAt rest till it find rest in thee.

Thy secret voice invites me stillThe sweetness of thy yoke to prove;And fain I would; but though my willSeems fixed, yet wide my passions rove;Yet hindrances strew all the way;I aim at thee, yet from thee stray.

’Tis mercy all, that thou hast broughtMy mind to seek her peace in thee;Yet, while I seek, but find thee not,No peace my wandering soul shall see.O, when shall all my wanderings end,And all my steps to thee-ward tend?

Is there a thing beneath the sunThat strives with thee my heart to share?Ah, tear it thence, and reign alone,The Lord of every motion there:Then shall my heart from earth be free,When it hath found repose in thee.

Words: Gerhard Tersteegen, tr. John Wesley (1729). Public domain.