Now have I seen Thee and found Thee,
For Thou hast found Thy sheep,
I fled, but Thy love would follow,
I strayed, but Thy love would keep.
Thou'st granted my heart's desire,
Most blest of the blessed is he
Who findeth no rest and no sweetness,
Till he resteth, O Lord, in Thee.
To Thee, Lord, my heart unfoldeth,
As the rose to the golden sun;
To Thee, Lord, mine arms are clinging,
The eternal joy's begun;
Forever, through endless ages,
Thy cross and Thy sorrow shall be
The glory, the song and the sweetness,
That makes heaven, heaven to me.
Let one in his innocence glory,
Another in works he has done;
Thy blood is my claim and title,
Besides it, O Lord, I've none.
The scorned, the despised, the rejected,
Thou'st come to this heart of mine,
In Thy robes of eternal glory,
Thou welcomest me to Thine.
The hart panteth after the waters,
The dying, for life that departs;
The Lord in His glory for sinners,
For the love of rebellious hearts.
Call back all the days of the ages,
All raindrops come down from above,
All flowers of summers departed,
But think not to measure His love.
Behold Him, O soul, where He told it,
Pale, bleeding and bearing thy sin;
He knocking, said, "Open, belovèd,"
I pray thee to let Me come in.
Behold, I have borne all the judgment,
Thy sins, O belovèd, are gone;
Forgotten, forgotten forever,
If sought for, God findeth not one.
"Behold, with what labor I won thee,
Behold in My hands and My feet,
The tale of My measureless sorrow—
Of love that made sorrow so sweet.
A flax-thread in oceans of fire
How soon swallowed up would it be;
Yet sooner in oceans of mercy,
The sinner that cometh to Me."