Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.

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

Words by German Jesuit Order, 17th Century
Music by Silesian Folk Song

 

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Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
Isaiah 33:17

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15 – 17

“This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself.
Isaiah 44:24

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live
1 Corinthians 8:6

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
1 John 4:15

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Psalm 33:12

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
Revelation 4:11

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I was raised on a small Iowa farm. Although I have spent most of the last 26 years living in the suburbs of Chicago, deep down, I still long to be home in Iowa. One of the most beautiful scenes in the world to me a farm with wide open spaces and fields green with crops.

Now this is my definition of a beautiful scene, but each of us have different things we would list. For some it is a mountain range. For some a long sea-shore. And for some, it is the hustle and bustle of a city street. The list could go on.

Whatever the scene, for each of us, it can mean the world to cast our eyes upon it. But as beautiful as these scenes can be, they are nothing compared to casting our eyes upon our Savior. This is the theme of the hymn, “Fairest Lord Jesus.” This hymn, originally written by German Jesuit monks, has one thought that it presents. That the fairest thing of all, is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All other things, when compared with him fade to nothing.

The hymn reads, “Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands” yet in response declares, “Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer.” It goes on to say, “Fair is the sunshine, Fairer still the moonlight, And all the twinkling starry host.” Yet again, the response is that “Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels heaven can boast.”

No matter how much we may love the things of this earth. No matter how much we may love the beauty of all of God’s creation. They are nothing when compared with Christ himself.

Our hearts desire to see the beauty of our savior is not something new to us, nor something that was new to the authors of the hymn. No, we are not alone in seeking to see the beauty of God. David writes in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

When we seek to look upon the beauty of our Lord and Savior, everything else will begin to seem less important. It is Jesus who our hearts desire to look upon. When we look upon Jesus, we see God revealed. (Colossians 1:15)

Jesus is the very Son of God (1 John 4:15)and the very Son of Man (Luke 19:10) It is Him that we seek to follow. It is Him we hope to see. When we come to see Him truly in this light, we can join with others in the words, “Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor, Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.”

 

 

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