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Come, Thou long-expected Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Jesus, naught be all else to me, save that Thou art—
born to set Thy people free; Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
from our fears and sins release us; waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
let us find our rest in Thee.
Be Thou my wisdom, Thou my true Word;
Israel’s strength and consolation, I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
hope of all the earth Thou art; Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
dear desire of every nation, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
joy of every longing heart.
Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for the fight;
Born Thy people to deliver; be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
born a child and yet a King; Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower:
born to reign in us for ever; raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise,
By Thine own eternal Spirit Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
rule in all our hearts alone: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
by Thine all-sufficient merit High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
raise us to Thy glorious throne.
High King of heaven, after victory won,
Charles Wesley (1707-88) May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O ruler of all.

These two hymns were written hundreds of years apart. Wesley’s hymn speaks of the
coming of the Saviour, while the other speaks of our trust in the Lord in future days.

We need say little about Wesley’s hymn, but ‘Be Thou my vision’ has a fascinating
history. It starts with a young British boy of 16 being captured by pirates at the beginning
of the fifth century, and sold in Ireland as a slave. After six years, in which he learns the
language and customs of the Irish - but more importantly he becomes a Christian - he
escapes and returns home to his family in Britain.

But he becomes restless and returns to Ireland as a missionary. Here he takes a stand
against the local Irish king who orders the people to celebrate a Druid festival: he climbs
to the top of the highest local hill, called Slane, and lights a huge bonfire in defiance of
the king. Patrick wanted all to know that Christ alone is worthy of our worship and praise.