Hymn of the Day

Every once in a while, a hymn tune hits my head and sends my spirit praying. It took me a while to fully trust this instinct - to look up the tune and revisit the particular words; the fit of the words frequently surprises me in its appropriateness to the moment - a consolation I've taken to be part of the Spirit's "sighs too deep for words". So it is that I re-learned this hymn this morning, and in light of a lingering sadness after perusing the daily news.

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

Charles Wesley