The Cyber Hymnal ‎#4504

4504. No Distant Lord Have I

1. No distant Lord have I,
Loving afar to be;
Made flesh for me, He cannot rest
Until He rests in me.

2. Brother in joy and pain,
Bone of my bone was He;
More intimate and closer still—
He dwells Himself in me.

3. I need not journey far
This dearest Friend to see;
Companionship is always mine;
He makes His home with me.

Text Information

• First Line: No distant Lord have I
• Title: No Distant Lord Have I
• Author: Malt­bie D. Bab­cock, 1858-1901
• Meter: SM
• Language: English
• Notes: “No Dis­tant Lord Have I” was writ­ten as a ve­ry per­son­al an in­tim­ate ex­press­ion of Dr. Bab­cock’s de­vo­tion to Je­sus Christ, his un­fail­ing Friend and Sav­iour. That the po­em, or parts of it, would ev­er be used as a hymn prob­ab­ly ne­ver en­tered his mind. How­ev­er, three stan­zas of the po­em were first set to mu­sic in 1927 and in­cor­po­rat­ed in “The Church School Hym­nal for Youth” in 1928, in the sect­ion deal­ing with the spir­it­u­al pre­sence of Christ. Laufer, p. 56. Al­ter­nate tunes: DONCASTER, Sam­u­el Wes­ley, 1837; GARDEN CITY, Ho­ra­tio W. Park­er, 1890; LAKE ENON, Isaac B. Wood­bu­ry, 1856

Tune Information

• Name: ADVENT (Goss)
• Composer: John Goss (1872)
• Meter: SM
• Key: G Major
• Copyright: Public Domain