Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face To Face.

Written in October, 1855, by Dr. Horatius Bonar. James Bonar, brother of the poet-preacher, just after the communion for that month, asked him to furnish a hymn for the communion record. It was the church custom to print a memorandum of each service at the Lord's table, with an appropriate hymn attached, and an original one would be thrice welcome. Horatius in a day or two sent this hymn:

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face, Here would I touch and handle things unseen Here grasp with firmer hand th' eternal grace And all my weariness upon Thee lean.

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Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear; The feast, though not the love, is past and gone; The bread and wine remove, but Thou art here Nearer than ever--still my Shield and Sun.