“His Angels His Countenance Always Behold” by Watchman Nee
Songs and Hymns of Life, #306
Post 1 of 2
Please sing through the hymn before reading through the first devotional post on the song.
And a link to the tune: https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/179361
Verse 1
His angels His countenance always behold,
But never experience His grace;
His saints, while they know His unlimited love,
Have never yet looked on His face.
Yet soon they will rise and His visage behold,
The sight of His glory will gain;
But Mary, beholding His tears as He wept,
Could see His heart’s anguish and pain,
Could see His heart’s anguish and pain.
This is a hymn that is unlike any other. Adapted by Watchman Nee, this is a poem that is so full of perspective and insight that, not only should we be inspired after singing it, our whole life and perspective of our following the Lord should be radically different! I encourage us all to take some time, consider the thoughts that are contained in this hymn, and reflect on our own lives and struggles to see how precious these experiences of the Lord are.
The main take-away from the song is that, instead of shying away from suffering and hardship, rather we should embrace them, as these will bring us special personal experiences of Christ and work to make us more one with Him.
Verse 1 starts out with an interesting comparison: God’s angels in heaven always see His face (Matt. 18:10), but we have not seen Him physically. Nevertheless we love Him and believe in Him, though we do not see Him now (1 Peter 1:8). However, one day soon, our Lord will return and we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2), and we’ll see His face (Revelation 22:4)! What a joy and what a hope we have! Now we know in part, but then we will know fully, even face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12)!
Yet there is a ‘but’ in this verse which brings us to the main thought of the hymn: but Mary had a special experience of the Lord while He was on earth as she saw Him weeping. The story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is fully detailed in John 11. One interesting point is that the chapter may contain the favorite memory verse of every child due to its length: John 11:35, ‘Jesus wept.’ But have we ever stopped to consider this verse? Jesus was so full of love, so full of tender feeling that He would weep when He saw Mary and all the others with her that were there to console her for the recent loss of her brother Lazarus. It can be one thing to hear about how Jesus loves us, or just to merely know this in theory; think of how special of an experience it must have been for Mary to witness His love and care for her firsthand and to see Him weeping with her. Not only did she know the Lord’s love as an outward, objective fact; this was a special experience where she could be with the Lord and know His love and tender care so personally and intimately. We can have similar experiences. We can know the Lord more than just a mere distant fact and words on a page. It is these special experiences that we have as we follow Him and go through sufferings and trials where we can experience the wonderful attributes of our Lord in reality and experience.
Verse 2
We soon will see Jesus, our Lord, face to face,
We’ll know Him as never before;
But then we’ll no longer need His tender hand
To heal a heart broken and sore.
In heaven we’ll offer Him praise without end—
No praying or tears needed there,
Nor ever a burden to roll on our Friend,
Or place for our burdensome prayers,
Or place for our burdensome prayers.
Verse 2 continues this thought about how we will definitely see the Lord face to face at some point in the future. He will dwell with us, He will wipe every tear from our eyes, there will be no more death, crying, pain, or mourning (Revelation 21:3-4). It will definitely be better in so many immeasurable ways, yet it will be different: then we will not have broken hearts that are weary and sore which desperately need the Lord’s tender hand and touch now.
Can you think of times when you were so hurt, so wounded, so seemingly beyond reach, but the Lord so perfectly and effectively reached you and touched you? Wasn’t that such a sweet experience of the Lord? Wasn’t that life-changing? We will definitely praise and worship Him and reign with Him then forever and ever (Revelation 22:5), but we will not have opportunities to have those special times when we are so burdened and weighed down with those desperate prayers just between us and our heavenly, divine Friend.
Verse 3
In heavenly glory, that day we’ll be crowned
And nevermore carry a cross.
’Tis only on earth where our Lord was disowned
We share His rejection and loss.
When entering rest in that morning so fair,
Our anguish and trials will end;
His sorrow and shame we’ll no more with Him share,
Or sacrifice pleasures for Him,
Or sacrifice pleasures for Him.
Verse 3 begins to get a little more specific about the opportunities that we have to experience the Lord here and now. Picking out the thoughts from this verse: we ought to be those who take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9:23), share in His reproach, rejection, shame (Hebrews 13:13), counting and suffering the loss of all things that we can gain Christ, be found in Him, know the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and be conformed to His death (Philippians 3:7-10). What is special about this hymn is that, beyond our obligation to follow the Lord, there is an earnest desire for the special experiences of the Lord that we acquire through sufferings. Furthermore, in that Day, we will no longer have the opportunity to share these experiences.
Verse 4
Alas, we are left with few chances to share,
To learn, and to taste of His grief.
Yet still for His sake His reproach we may bear—
Such times we can never retrieve.
Reviling and scorn shall we still here bemoan
When soon they no longer will be?
I treasure these temporal blessings I’ve known,
For thus, Lord, I’m made one with Thee,
For thus, Lord, I’m made one with Thee.Verse 5
I long, Lord, to gaze on Thy wonderful face—
‘Tis better by far Thee to meet.
But now I would choose Thy dear suffering grace
And not miss such fellowship sweet.
Have mercy on me; fill me, Lord, with Thy love
To live for Thee here at all cost,
Lest earnestly seeking a heaven above
I then regret chances were lost,
I then regret chances were lost.
May the Lord be so merciful to all of us. May He open our eyes to see that all of the trials and sufferings that we encounter are opportunities for us to see Christ and experience Him more. We can trust that He will be faithful to be near to us when we call on Him (Psalms 145:18) and to heal our broken hearts and bind up all our wounds (Psalms 147:3).
Please join us next week as we continue to walk through this inspiring hymn.
