Fairest Lord Jesus

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.  Isaiah 33:17

St. Mark Presbyterian Church

Amy Shelton's favorite hymn from her childhood is "Fairest Lord Jesus".  She says it was her mother's favorite and the first song she learned the harmony for while growing up in Ohio.

According to Robert J. Morgan in his book Then Sings My Soul, this German hymn is a mystery:  "It first appeared in 1677 in a Jesuit hymnbook titled Muenster Gesangbuch, but the text of the hymn was in existence at least fifteen years earlier, for it has been found in a manuscript dating back to 1662."



Even the English translator is a mystery.  We only know that the fourth verse was translated by Joseph A. Seiss, but the other verses remain a mystery.

Beautiful Savior!  Lord of the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.

So it is listed as "Anonymous German Hymn and Schleissisch Volkslieder (Folk song from Silesia---currently in Poland)".  As Morgan goes on to comment, "How appropriate that no human author draws attention from the great theme of this song.  There's no source to distract from the subject, no story to detract from the Savior."