September 23, 2005

Have faith in God –
Whose law reveals our sins;
Have faith in God –
His Son the victory wins;
Have faith in God –
Where our new life begins.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Sun of My Soul

John Keble, 1792-1866

    As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:28-32.

    Jesus taught that we can learn much from the lilies of the field. How do they grow? By struggling and seeking to display their beauty? No, they simply open themselves to the existing sun, and in their sun-centeredness, they grow and become objects of beauty for all to enjoy. Indeed the sun is one of the most important factors in nature's growth.
    We too need sun for our souls--the warmth of God's love and presence in our lives. We were created for this in order to be complete persons. It was Saint Augustine who realized this truth centuries ago: "Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."
    John Keble, a professor of poetry at Oxford University for ten years and later an Anglican minister of the humble parish church in the village of Hursley, wrote this poem in 1820. Seven years later he published a collection of poems titled The Christian Year with all of the poems following the church calendar year. "Sun of My Soul" was one of the poems from that collection. The book was extremely successful, going through 109 editions before John Keble's death in 1866.
    The poem was originally named "Evening" and was based on the account in Luke 24:29, where Christ went in to dine with the two Emmaus disciples following His resurrection.
    This prayer for the constant and unobscured sense of Christ's unwavering presence and blessing, whether in life or death, and finally the full enjoyment of God's love in "heav'n above", is still a worthy goal for each believer.

Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear,
It is not night if Thou be near;
O may no earthborn cloud arise
To hide Thee from Thy servant’s eyes.

When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
Forever on my Savior’s breast.

Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without Thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without Thee I dare not die.

If some poor wandering child of Thine
Has spurned today the voice Divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.

Watch by the sick, enrich the poor
With blessings from Thy boundless store;
Be every mourner’s sleep tonight,
Like infants’ slumbers, pure and right.

Come near and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take,
Till in the ocean of Thy love
We lose ourselves in heaven above.

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission