O, that when Christians meet and part,
These words were graved on every heart,
They’re dear to God!
However willful and unwise,
We’ll look on them with loving eyes,
They’re dear to God!
O, wonder! To the Eternal One,
Dear as His own Beloved Son;
Dearer to Jesus than His blood,
Dear as the Spirit’s fixed abode,
They’re dear to God!
When tempted to give pain for pain.
How would this then our words restrain,
They’re dear to God!
When truth compels us to contend,
What love with all our strife should blend!
They’re dear to God.
When they would shun the pilgrim’s lot
For this vain world, forget them not;
But win them back with love and prayer,
They never can be happy there,
If dear to God.
Shall we be there so near, so dear,
And be estranged and cold whilst here—
All dear to God?
By the same cares and toils oppressed,
We lean upon one faithful breast,
We hasten to the same repose;
How bear, or do, enough for those
So dear to God!