Jesus, lover of my soul



Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high;
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!



This hymn has been on my mind a lot during the last week. You can find it in most hymn books, including Hymns and Psalms (528), Singing the Faith (355) and Mission Praise (372). It was written in 1740 by Charles Wesley.

The hymn has the lines “Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past”. It was the idea of hiding from something that made me think of the hymn at this time. We are expected to hide away in our homes until the threat of Corona virus is past. The hymn is talking about God hiding us away from the storms of life and leading us into a safe harbour.
God as the lover of our souls is a thought found in “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis (1380 – 1471). He wrote that God is “zealous lover of faithful souls”.  Knowing that God loves us to the core of our being, the person who we really are, is very reassuring. God holds us close to himself when we need him most.

The “nearer” waters suggest troubles that come close to us as individuals; the sea may be calm elsewhere even when my life is in turmoil. At the moment the waters are stormy throughout the world, although the peak of the storm (the virus) comes at different places at different times.
The idea of God hiding us comes from Psalm 17 verse 8 “Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings”.  Whatever our situation today, we are under the shadow of God’s loving wings. We can’t all hide away all the time, we have to emerge from time to time to buy food or to care for someone who needs our help. God doesn’t promise we will remain virus free, but whatever happens we remain under the shadow of his wings. We are protected from anything that would harm our souls.

Later verses of the hymn talk about being helpless, ask that God won’t leave us alone and pray “raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick”. These are our prayers for ourselves and each other at this time.

The prayer of Charles Wesley is that having come safely through the storms of life we will reach the safe haven of heaven. For some of us that will be the outcome of the virus. Hopefully most of us will come safely through the storm of the virus and emerge from our homes to enjoy life in the sunshine again.

The hymn is often sung to the tune “Aberystwyth” by Joseph Parry. Having lived for several years in Aberystwyth I know how stormy that place can be. A few years ago the promenade was devastated by a particularly ferocious storm. However, these storms pass and on a summer’s evening there is nothing quite like walking along the same prom as the sunsets. 

We will come through this stormy time and God will lead us to times of joy again.

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