438: HOW wonderful! that Thou the Son hast come

438: HOW wonderful! that Thou the Son hast come

by A. von der Kammer
(from German)

1 HOW wonderful! that Thou the Son hast come,
And here for us as Son of man hast died;
Our sins were laid on Thee, Thou didst become
Salvation's Rock, when Thou wast crucified;
And faith perceives Thy finished work --- the rest
Where love well known, yet passing human thought,
Has set our feet; as those Thy love has blessed,
We praise and worship by Thy Spirit taught.

2 To Thee, O Lord, we bring our note of praise ---
To Thee who bore for us the cross of shame:
What grief Thou knewest on that day of days,
When curse and death on Thee, the Victim came!
How great Thy grace! no mind of man can grasp
The love told out in suffering on the tree;
Love that has gathered now within its clasp
Those once far off, but now brought home to Thee.

3 How wonderful that love made manifest
In Thee --- its fulness told! so that the heart,
Touched by Thy kindness, finds in Thee its rest,
And lost in Thee, adoring, knows its part;
There to our hearts Thy rich unmeasured grace,
And love's full fountain more and more revealed,
Call forth from every mouth Thine endless praise,
And willing lips their heart-felt homage yield.