O how the thought of God attracts

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O how the thought of God attracts

Author: Frederick W. Faber
Published in 37 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1. O how the thought of God attracts
And draws the heart from earth
And sickens it of passing shows
And dissipating mirth!

2. ’Tis not enough to save our souls,
To shun th’eternal fires;
The thought of God will rouse the heart
To more sublime desires.

3. God only is the creature’s home,
Though rough and strait the road;
Yet nothing less can satisfy
The love that longs for God.

4. O utter but the name of God,
Down in your heart of hearts,
And see from the world at once
All tempting light depart!

5. A trusting heart, a yearning eye,
Can win their way above,
If mountains can be moved by faith,
Is there less power in love?

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #4995

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Author: Frederick W. Faber

Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	O how the thought of God attracts
Author:	Frederick W. Faber
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Tune

SAWLEY (Walch)

This tune was composed by James Walch in 1857 for a children's anniversary, and was published in 1860 with other tunes for private circulation. It was wrongly assigned, in the early editions of [The Free Church Hymnal, 1888] to the Rev. F. Pigou. Scottish church music: its sources and composers, 189…

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WOODSTOCK (Dutton)

NAOMI (Nägeli)

NAOMI was a melody that Lowell Mason (PHH 96) brought to the United States from Europe and arranged as a hymn tune; the arrangement was first published in the periodical Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1836). Some scholars have attributed the original melody to Johann G. Nageli (PHH 315), but there…

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