Ray Palmer
Isaiah 40:28-29
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
My Faith Looks Up to Thee LBW 479
1 My faith looks up to thee, thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
oh, let me from this day be wholly thine!
2 May thy rich grace impart strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire;
as thou hast died for me, oh, may my love to thee pure, warm,
and changeless be, a living fire!
3 Known round me spread, be thou my guide
bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow's tears away,
nor let me ever stray from thee aside.
4 When ends life's transient dream, when death's cold, sullen stream shall o'er me roll;
blest Savior, then, in love fear and distrust remove;
oh, bear me safe above, a ransomed soul!
Text: Ray Palmer, 1808-1887
At age 22 Ray Palmer was depressed and lonely, forced to teach in a private school in New York City, he was lonely, bored and felt there was little purpose in his life. That was when he discovered an old German poem about a sinner kneeling before the cross, and struck by the imagery, translated it into English and wrote four verses to a hymn.
Several years later he encountered Lowell Mason, a noted musician of that time. Ray and Lowell were old friends, and Lowell asked Ray if he might have anything to contribute to a new hymnal he was assembling. Ray gave him this poem. After reading it, Mason said, “Ray, I doubt you will write anything as beautiful as this the rest of your life. If you are remembered for only one thing in your life, it will likely be that you authored “My Faith Looks Up To Thee!”
Prayer: Dearest Lord, sometimes in the midst of loneliness and depression we cannot see the good you have given us to do. Help us in dark times, to be illumined by the light of your love, a light that guides and directs us to better days. Amen.