in his _Collection_. The expression is quoted from Wisd. xi. 26: ‘But
Thou sparest all; for they are Thine, O Lord, Thou Lover of souls’;
and he saw no objection to its general application as in the lines—
Lover of souls, to rescue mine
Reveal the charity divine
That suffered in my stead.
Canon Ellerton hesitated as to the propriety of the inclusion of this
great hymn in a Church hymnal, and spoke of it as standing ‘absolutely
_upon_ the line’ which separates hymns for public worship from those
of private devotion. But the Church in all its borders has decided the
question, and our heart tells us that the decision is right. Nor is
it, indeed, a hymn solely for the sanctuary and the saint; it is a
hymn for the street and for the sinner.[28]
The epithet ‘dear’ is not one to be scattered thoughtlessly through
hymns and prayers. Yet there are lines from which it is almost an
impiety to remove it. There is a language of reverent affection which
has in it nothing of the earth.
Come then, and to my soul reveal
The heights and depths of grace,
The wounds which all my sorrows heal,
That dear disfigured face.