O, I Want to See Him

As I journey through the land, singing as I go,
Pointing souls to Calvary—to the crimson flow,
Many arrows pierce my soul from without, within;
But my Lord leads me on, through Him I must win.

Chorus
Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face,
There to sing forever of His saving grace;
On the streets of glory let me lift my voice,
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice.

When in service for my Lord dark may be the night,
But I’ll cling more close to Him, He will give me light;
Satan’s snares may vex my soul, turn my thoughts aside;
But my Lord goes ahead, leads whate’er betide.

When in valleys low I look toward the mountain height,
And behold my Savior there, leading in the fight,
With a tender hand outstretched toward the valley low,
Guiding me, I can see, as I onward go.

When before me billows rise from the mighty deep,
Then my Lord directs my bark; He doth safely keep,
And He leads me gently on through this world below;
He’s a real Friend to me, oh, I love Him so.

Written in the early 1900’s by R. H. Cornelius, this particular hymn is one of the classic upbeat, Red-back hymnal tunes.  It has the kind of tempo that just makes you smile when you sing.  Unlike many of the songs from the early 1900’s that were about Heaven, this song is about seeing the most important person in Heaven.  It is about seeing Jesus.  We all probably have mental pictures of what Jesus looks likes.  Whether influenced by ancient paintings or more recently by movies like the Passion of the Christ, I am sure all of us have a picture of what Jesus looks like in our minds.  This song reminds us that we will one day get to see Him.  Face to face.  We will get to see His eyes of compassion.  His face of forgiveness.  Like Thomas, we will get to see His nail-pierced hands and feet.  I hope that you share the anticipation of this great old hymn.  That you truly want to see Him.  To look upon His face.  To worship at His feet.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Many arrows pierce my soul, from without, within” – As a kid, I really wasn’t sure what this meant when I used to sing this song at Southern Hills. How can an arrow pierce your soul from within?  Shooting an arrow from inside seemed awfully hard to do.  As I have matured, however, I have learned that some of the most piercing arrows due come from within.  Yes, there are trials and tribulations that come from the outside.  Circumstances, natural disasters, people that are out to ruin your name, those that betray you.  Those are arrows that come from without, and are a real part of the Christian life.  But those arrows that come from within can be more piercing.  Temptations to do wrong. Conviction that comes when my heart and my words don’t line up.  Conviction that comes when the truth of the Bible is in my heart, but the action of putting those truths into action isn’t there.  Yes.  I have learned that there are arrows that pierce from within.  Sharp arrows.  Penetrating arrows.  Arrows that remind me that I need the shield of faith to fight off the darts of the evil one.

• “Turn my thoughts aside” – I find it interesting that Satan rarely tempts us to forsake the Lord completely.  What he does do is tempt us to be distracted.  To focus on short-term needs and silly desires to get us distracted from the long term goal.  Jesus commanded His followers to repent.  To make an about face.  To turn around and head in another direction completely.  A 180 degree turn around.  Satan just wants to turn our thoughts “aside.”  To slightlyalter our focus from the Lord.  To make a subtle change in direction that eventually takes us completely off the path.  Lord, help me to focus like a laser-beam on You and where you would have me go.

• “Then my Lord directs my bark” – This line may have struck you funny.  Some reworded versions of this line read “Then my Lord directs my path.”  The term “bark” here can be confusing.  It is not talking about the use of tongue or our mouths.  A bark is a small boat.  I get the mental picture of a small fishing boat with a small motor on the back.  The bark reacts immediately to the movement of the driver of the boat.  The speed and the direction of where the bark is going is all dependent on who is driving the boat.  If the Lord is directing our bark, we will go where He wants us to go.  We will react immediately.  We can have confidence that He will safely keep us.

I would encourage you today to find a picture of Jesus.  Maybe it is one in your home.  Maybe you find one online.  I encourage you to look upon His face.  To see how the artist has captured His kindness, compassion, and grace, and thank Him for those qualities today.  The second thing I want to encourage you to do is look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Can I see Jesus in this face?”  Do you have a face filled with joy, peace, compassion, and kindness?  Do others see in you a little bit of the Lord Jesus Christ?  That kind of introspection, I think, is healthy in our journey to one day see Him face to face.  O, I want to see Him!!!