Christ My Song - 361
An absent Lord I serve and love
(Thomas Kelly/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
An absent Lord I serve and love.
"But ye see me." (John 14,19)
1. An absent Lord I serve and love;
his image I with joy survey;
he reigns a King; he reigns above;
the hosts of heaven confess his sway. PDF - Midi
2. How blessed are they who see his face,
and gaze upon his glory near!
Their nature pure, and heaven their place;
they feel no want, they know no fear.
3. A day, I hope, will come, when I,
ev'n I, though now so base and vile,
shall see the Saviour's glory nigh,
and prove that heaven is in his smile:
4. till then I would his image trace,
and copy what I deem so fair;
in heaven I hope to see his face;
his people will be like him there.
5. But still a doubt will oft arise,
an anxious doubt, if one like me
shall ever gain so rich a prize,
or ever with the Saviour be.
6. O thou, whose favour I prefer
to life itself, thy Spirit send:
be mine the promised Comforter,
be mine his presence to the end.
7. An earnest to my soul be given
of joys unspeakable above;
an earnest of the joys of heaven
the joys of everlasting love.
Thomas Kelly, Hymns on various passages of Scripture, ca. 1853, Hymn 297.