‘O Lord, When We the Path Retrace,’ by James G. Deck

If we never knew the events of our Lord’s life but only believed in His name for salvation, all the effectiveness of His death and resurrection would still be applied for our justification. But it is a treasure that the New Testament preserves so much detail of the life He lived, a life as a faithful witness to the Father. His conduct, attitude and teachings are a testimony and representation of the true God to the world. Through His life, we know love, truth and faithfulness unrivaled by the rest of humanity. Only the loving God Himself could be this righteous, this meek and this self-sacrificing. As we are to follow in our Lord’s footsteps (1 Peter 2:21), this hymn invites us to retrace them and will cause us to consider what our response should be to such a testimony.

Please sing through the hymn; you can find the tune here.

Verse 1
O LORD, when we the path retrace
Which Thou on earth hast trod,
To man Thy wondrous love and grace,
Thy faithfulness to God;

Verse 2
Thy love, by man so sorely tried,
Proved stronger than the grave;
The very spear that pierced Thy side
Drew forth the blood to save;

Verse 3
Faithful amidst unfaithfulness,
‘Mid darkness only light,
Thou didst Thy Father’s name confess,
And in His will delight;

Verse 4
Unmoved by Satan’s subtle wiles,
Or suffering, shame and loss,
Thy path, uncheered by earthly smiles,
Led only to the cross.

This is the first period in four stanzas and thus ends a brief retracing of the Lord’s example. What love, what faithfulness is seen amidst such unfaithfulness. Even the supreme tempter could not cause this consecrated One to move from His calling. Surely awe and worship well up in our heart as we dwell on these verses. But verse five takes us further, comparing our ways and attitude to His. 

Verse 5
O Lord, with sorrow, and with shame,
We meekly would confess,
How little we, who bear Thy name, 
Thy mind and ways express.

As His saved ones, we do bear his name – Christian. As we tell our friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers that we are Christians, our life and living become a testimony, representing that precious Name to them.  What light do they see in me amidst their darkness? How resilient is my love as it is sorely tried in the world? How quickly do I compromise my path when it is not cheered by smiles? Lord, I have much to confess with sorrow and shame. Let us take time right now to reflect and let the Lord’s light shine on our hearts.

Verse 6
Give us Thy meek, Thy lowly mind,
And fain would like Thee be,
And all our rest and pleasure find
In learning, Lord, of Thee.

This petition is a beginning and this learning is a key. The Lord longs to teach us, constituting us with His very nature (2 Peter 1:4) through our experiences. Some are failures exposing how little we have His mind. That is a learning. Others are triumphs of the law of the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:1), where in a pinch we called on the Lord and found grace to walk in love in the midst of a pressing situation. In this learning, our knowing of God increased (Colossians 1:10) and therefore our spiritual measure increased. We have gained Him and have had a taste of being found in Him. Our part in His Testimony has increased. 

‘Lord we pray, give us this lowly and meek mind again and again. We would ever be found in Thee. As those who bear Thy name, we desire to learn of Thee today. As we are, we are small and have grown little. But turning to Thee, beholding Thee, we make it our rest, aim and pleasure to see and learn from Thee, trusting that Thou are faithful to shape us into Thy likeness, from glory to glory. Amen.’