One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.
Psalm 27:4
Words: Benjamin Waugh (1839–1908). This hymn was originally published in The Sunday Magazine, which Waugh edited. The version below appeared in Garrett Horder’s Congregational Hymns, 1884.
Music: St. Hugh (Hopkins) Edward J. Hopkins, 1862 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Now let us see Thy beauty, Lord,
As we have seen before;
And by Thy beauty quicken us
To love Thee and adore.
’Tis easy when with simple mind
Thy loveliness we see,
To consecrate ourselves afresh
To duty and to Thee.
Our every feverish mood is cooled,
And gone is every load,
When we can lose the love of self,
And find the love of God.
’Tis by Thy loveliness we’re won
To home and Thee again,
And as we are Thy children true
We are more truly men.
Lord, it is coming to ourselves
When thus we come to Thee;
The bondage of Thy loveliness
Is perfect liberty.
So now we come to ask again,
What Thou hast often giv’n,
The vision of that loveliness
Which is the life of Heav’n.