mgpcpastor's blog

Those familiar with George Matheson’s hymn ‘O Love That Will Not Let Me Go’ may also be familiar with the heart-aching story of Matheson’s life which is the context of its composition.
Familiar too is the tune St. Margaret which invokes a somewhat somber and even mournful expression of the song.
I’ve come to like the musical setting for these words which is provided by Christopher Miner and Indelible Grace. (You can also read and account of Matheson and the hymn at this page.)
There hasn’t been a time to use this musical setting in congregational singing at mgpc yet, but the optimistic sense that the melody and tempo create help reinforce the lyrics’ affirmation that God’s presence and love is not what we have when everything else has failed, but rather that God’s faithfulness is triumphantly contrasted with the limits and failings of all else in life.
The lyrics:
1.
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
2.
O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
3.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
4.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

A YouTube of Indelible Grace’s recording of Miner’s tune.

Here’s the more traditional tune receiving the full treatment from the Gaither Vocal Band.