"I Bless the Christ of God"

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) published, “I Bless the Christ of God” in Hymns of Faith & Hope, second series in 1861. Touted by many as “the prince of Scottish hymn writers,” Bonar became a pastor in Kelso, Scotland. Later, he edited the church’s “Border Watch.” After almost 30 years in Kelso, he moved to Edinburgh to pastor Chalmers Memorial. There, he edited and wrote over 600 hymns.

Bonar used Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) composition entitled “Praise Song” for the melody of his hymn “I Bless the Christ of God.” Bonar used words from other hymns he wrote. In this case he used a longer hymn called “Not What These Hands Have Done.”

“I Bless the Christ of God”

I bless the Christ of God, I rest on love divine,
And with unfaltering lip and heart, I call the Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
Each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of peace, I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my Joy, my Light.
In Him is only good, in me is only ill;
My ill but draws His goodness forth,
And me He loveth still.

’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me; I live because He lives;
My life with Him is hid, my death has passed away,
My clouds have melted into light,
My midnight into day.

Upon Bonar’s death, Rev. E. H. Lundie told how Bonar wrote hymns such as “I Bless the Christ of God.” He would listen to the rhythm of various natural occurrences, such as the waves of the ocean, a babbling brook, or even the sounds of a railway train, and set words to those.

“I Bless the Christ of God”

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