Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, put first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Oh, God, be my everything, be my delight
Be, Jesus, my glory My soul's satisfied
Oh, God, be my everything, be my delight
Be, Jesus, my glory My soul's satisfied
My Jesus, you satisfy
My Jesus, you satisfy
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven's joys, bright Heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Oh, God, be my everything, be my delight
Be, Jesus, my glory My soul's satisfied
Be thou my vision. What am I asking God to do if I sing this to Him? It halted me for a while, and I wondered what it really meant. I think, however, that I'm starting to understand. How we see the world can change our lives dramatically. In asking God to be my vision I'm asking to see the world through Him. I want to see people as He does, in love. I want to not see the world as my home, yet I want to be able to see God's beauty and purpose in everything.
When I actually stop to think about what I'm singing when I say this song I realize how beautiful it is, and how big it is. It sings of making God all that I need; my treasure, my wisdom, my light....it is a strong plea, full of truth.
Matthew 5:6- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Isaiah 58:11- And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Psalm 107:9- For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
The Bible tells us over and over again that God is all we need to satisfy. He is abundent with peace and joy and mercy and grace and love. We as humans long for these things, and attempt to fill them with sin or the world, but it never works out quite right. I very much appreciate that the song addresses what we do NOT need in two lines. "I heed not riches, or man's empty praise." I think this generalizes most of what we try to fill the gap with. Riches could be money, but to me they are also anything within the world, even the riches of knowledge or popularity or success. And trying to please others and impress the world leads to "man's empty praise." This may be simply focusing on pleasing others, forgetting about the one we should care about pleasing, which can happen in thousands of different ways. However the song is right in describing it as empty, because it means nothing in the end, as if we are trying to please everyone, we will always fail somehow. We cannot please everyone. We do not need riches or man's praise to be content.
We will not be content until we accept Christ and take a place as His child. Even then we may find ourselves feeling empty or unsatisfied, broken down by the world. It is then that I'm learning we have to run to God.
Sometimes I like to take a different route that I think leads to God. I think that if I run to my Christian friends, or a Bible study, or even a service, I will be fine. While these things are good and useful, they are not God. They may help me understand Him better, but they are NOT God. The fact is, that even if I was totally without these things, God would still have the power to satisfy my every need and want.
I like this version because of the added lines.
God, be my everything, be my delight.
This line has been in my head for a couple weeks now. Seven words that have so much power. What would life be like if I made this my daily prayer and attempted to deliberatly live it out? God, be my EVERYTHING. Be my joy, strength, love, peace, best friend, comfort place, purpose, father, treasure, light, vision.....just to name a few. But they sum all that up again, with the word delight.
The dictionary tells me that delight is "something that makes you very happy : something that gives you great pleasure or satisfaction." I'd say that's perfect. God ought to be the one thing that can give us immeasurable joy, unending happiness, and daily satisfaction.
I'm learning daily that nothing on this earth will satisfy me. Not work or classes or friends or even future plans. Every time I listen to this song my heart cries more. Oh, God let me find satisfaction in only You. Let me find joy only in You. Let me find peace and strength and love only in you.
Let me find everything.
Be my everything.
Be my delight.
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