“How Good, Lord, to Be Here!” ELW 315
1 How good, Lord, to be here!
Your glory fills the night;
Your face and garments, like the sun,
Shine with unborrowed light.
2 How good, Lord, to be here,
Your beauty to behold
Where Moses and Elijah stand,
Your messengers of old.
3 Fulfiller of the past
And hope of things to be!
We hail your body glorified
And our redemption see.
4 Before we taste of death,
We see your kingdom come;
We long to hold the vision bright
And make this hill our home.
5 How good, Lord, to be here!
Yet we may not remain;
But since you bid us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain.
Devotion
How good, Lord, to be here!
Your glory fills the night;
your face and garments, like the sun,
shine with unborrowed light.
Joseph Robinson (1858-1933) was an Anglican priest whose several parish appointments included serving as dean of Westminster Abbey and the beautiful Wells Cathedral. He wrote this hymn for the feast of the Transfiguration when he was 30 years old.
Robinson makes explicit here what is implied in Luke’s account of the Transfiguration—that this vision occurred at night. Luke writes, “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory…”
When you read the account of the Transfiguration, do you imagine it occurring at night? How much more striking and focused the image of the transfigured Jesus is in contrast to the surrounding darkness!
Robinson describes Jesus as shining with “unborrowed” light. What does that term say to you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, source of light, illumine my path this day that I may see clearly the path you would have me travel. Amen.