Every now and then we sing a song in the Japanese hymnal that I don’t recognize. The English title is often on the page and so I google. We sang this hymn last Sunday. The words were such an encouragement to me, especially the first verse. Have you heard this before? Is there a verse that is a special encouragement to you?
O my Redeemer,
What a friend Thou art to me!
Oh, what a refuge I have found in Thee!
When the way was dreary,
And my heart was sore oppressed,
’Twas Thy voice that lulled me
To a calm sweet rest.
Refrain:
Nearer, draw nearer,
Till my soul is lost in Thee;
Nearer, draw nearer,
Blessèd Lord, to me.
When in their beauty
Stars unveil their silver light,
Then, O my Savior,
Give me songs at night—
Songs of yonder mansions,
Where the dear ones, gone before,
Sing Thy praise for ever,
On that peaceful shore.
Jesus, my Savior,
When the last deep shadows fall;
When in the silence
I shall hear Thy call—
In Thine arms reposing,
Let me breathe my life away,
And awake triumphant,
In eternal day.
~Fanny J. Cosby
*photos of Mt. Fuji and Matsumoto Castle
