O Love That Will Not Let Me Go- Hymn Stories

George Matheson was a Scottish theologian and preacher in the 19th century, at a moment when it seems his blessings were at their height, suffered a loss most of us cannot imagine. He graduated first in his class, was headed towards a fruitful and respected career in ministry, and was engaged to be married. A doctor's visit changed all of this: he learned that by the age of 20, he would completely lose his sight. His fiancée broke off the marriage because she could not commit to living with a blind man. Despite these two crushing events, Matheson was resolute on his future in ministry, and in 1866, at the age of 22, he became an assistant pastor. Over the next 16 years, with the steady help of his sister at home, he became a pastor and wrote several well-recieved volumes on Christian history and theology.

In 1882 his sister would leave him to become married and start her own life. On the evening before the marriage, Matheson was deeply depressed: losing his sister triggered the deep sorrow associated with the memory of his own failed engagement. 

It was in the depths of this melancholy and dejection that Matheson uttered a desperate prayer, and the lyrics O Love That Will Not Let Me Go came to him. He later wrote of this process, 

I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high"  (http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/l/t/oltwnlmg.htm).

O Love is a testimony of the encounter with undying love, that we may find, perhaps most clearly, in times of trial. The third stanza, I feel, expresses this truth perfectly: 

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.

I trace the rainbow through the rain. In Genesis we are told of God giving the rainbow as a symbol of his promise, that no matter how wicked the world may again become, it will not be destroyed. The rainbow represents a bow, as one used in hunting or war, turned away from the earth and humanity. It is turned towards heaven, and represents that the sacrifice for sin will not come from us, but that God himself will take that radical step for us, in the person of Jesus Christ. If we add the cross to this symbol, we are given a picture of a bow and arrow, aimed not at sinful humanity, but at the very seat of Mercy and Love. With such a promise, and such a friend as Jesus is to us, our view of reality must be saturated and completely shaped by hope-- that no matter what may befall us, we may know, "That morn shall tearless be."

O Love that wilt 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.

O light that foll’west all my way,

I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

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.

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.

Here is my favorite version:

I'm going to assume that this would be Pastor Rick's favorite version :P:

And, If you are so inclined, here is a more indie-rocker approach (complete with beard)