My God, my Father, when I first beheld
Thy holy Lamb uplifted on the tree,
My heart at Thy great grace was
overwhelmed,
That Thou shouldst bruise Thy only Son for
me:
How sinful looked my sin in that pure light
Of righteous grace and sin-condemning
love!
Oh, how Thy grace shone forth in glory
bright,
Abounding, all-abounding, sin above!
But now, while resting on that work of
grace,
And glorying only in His cross, and
name —
His opened side my soul’s abiding-place —
And sure my hope will ne’er be put to
shame;
In my deep peace I oft myself forget,
And gaze upon His face to find out Thee;
And deeper, richer, holier joys I get,
As Thou Thyself art more revealed to me.
His death reveals Thy name, as well as
saves;
Thy very Being, Life — and Light is Love;
When my rapt spirit in this ocean bathes,
Or in this heaven wings her flight above;
And when Thy attributes my mind possess,
Thy wisdom, glory, might, all powers above,
And I am lost in my own nothingness —
Here I can rest that God Himself is Love.
J. G. Deck, 1870