Lord Jesus, Think on Me

I was a reader before I started working to be a writer, and I was a listener before I started working to be a musician.

I want to be a hymn-writer. I guess you could say I already am one, but, much like I'm still working on becoming a musician, I'm still working on this writing thing.

I want to be a hymn-writer because, as a hymn-lover, I find within hymns a clear confession of faith and a great source of comfort. So, while I'm working on the writing part with failing thoughts, I'll take comfort in reading of the One whose thoughts do not fail.

~~~~~~~~~

               Lord Jesus, think on me
               And purge away my sin;
               From worldly passions set me free
               And make me pure within.

"Pastor! There's a sick call to be made. You must go to Sjöstugan. [. . .] It is Frans, a heart attack, they think. You'll have to hurry, Pastor."

               Lord Jesus, think on me,
               By anxious thoughts oppressed;
               Let me your loving servant be
               And taste Your promised rest.

Fridfeldt saw at once that there was little he could do here. The old man was obviously already paralyzed and entirely unconscious. Now and then he spoke a few incoherent words.
[. . .]
Fridfeldt sat down on the edge of the bed. He tried to talk with the sick man, but there was no sign of recognition. He bent over and shouted in the man's ear, but received no recognizable answer. Occasionally they could make out what the old man said, but he spoke of far-away, distant things, about rock blasting and oxen.

               Lord Jesus, think on me
               Amid the battle's strife;
               In all my pain and misery,
               O be my health and life.

"Father was always such a good man," said the weeping daughter. "I know, of course, that he will have it better now, but it is so hard to part with him."

"When I got here," she continued after a moment, "I said, 'You are are thinking about Jesus, are you not, Father?' And he answered me, 'I am not able to, Lena. I can't think any longer. But I know that Jesus is thinking of me.'"

               Lord Jesus, think on me
               Nor let me go astray
               Through darkness and perplexity
               Point out Your chosen way.

The pastor sat in silence. The truth that Jesus is thinking of the sick one seemed to him a comforting pillow on which to rest one's head when death is near.

               Lord Jesus, think on me
               That when this life is past,
               I may the eternal brightness see
               And share Your joy at last.

~~~~~~~~~~

Quote sources:

The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz, (pp. 163-65)

"Lord Jesus, Think on Me." Lutheran Service Book 610