My attention was drawn to this lovely hymn recently. It is especially attractive when sang to KINGSFOLD a traditional English tune arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Hear a midi by following this link and downloading the midi
here
The author is anonymous but the hymn is from Stockwell Gems, which I presume was a hymn book connected with Spurgeon's orphanage (see pic). Perhaps it was written by Spurgeon or the headmaster Vernon Charlesworth. It is 662 in New Christian Hymns.
Show me Thy face - one transient gleam
Of loveliness divine,
And I shall never think or dream
Of other love than Thine;
All lesser lights will darken quite,
All lower glories wane,
The beautiful of earth will scarce
Seem beautiful again.
Show me Thy face - my faith and love
Shall henceforth fixed be,
And nothing here have power to move My soul's serenity.
My life shall seem a trance, a dream,
And all I feel and see, illusive, visionary -
Thou The one reality.
Show me Thy face - I shall forget
The weary days of yore;
The fretting ghosts of vain regret
Shall haunt my soul no more.
All doubts and fears for future years
In quiet trust subside;
And naught but blest content and calm
Within my breast abide.
Show me Thy face - the heaviest cross
Will then seem light to bear;
There will be gain in every loss,
And peace with every care.
With such light feet the years will fleet,
Life will seem brief as blest,
'Till I have laid my burden down
And entered into rest.
5 comments:
Thank you. I too came across these lovely hymn words and was searching for it on the internet to listen to it when I came across your site. But where can I listen to the audio version?
If you click the link the music should play for you.
It has just been read at my Bible study. It is hymn 619 in the older version of the Christian hymns book. It is truly wonderful.
I couldn't get the midi to open on my smart phone, but it would on my laptop. Beautiful! Better than the tune of "Drink to me only with thine eyes" that I saw in a hymn book. I never could make the third to last line fit the music, though. It seems to have too many syllables. Any helpful hints?
I found a 5th stanza in a old google book where the stanzas appear as a poem. You might like it:
Show me Thy face,
And I shall be in heart and mind renewed,
With wisdom, grace, and energy
To work Thy work, endued.
Shine clear, though pale, behind the veil,
Until, the veil removed,
In perfect glory I behold
The face that I have loved!
Thanks for that extra hymns. Old hymns tradtionally often used to end with a reference to death.
I tried the midi link I gave and have now redone it but you can now only download it adn then play it. ALternatively try Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0VmpNq4IDg
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