I LONG TO MEET MY SAVIOR
I long to meet my Savior, to see Him face to face,
To live with Him forever within His heav’nly Place;
To touch His snow-white garment, to hold His nail-pierced hand.
I long to meet my Savior within my true homeland.
I long to meet my Savior, to walk the path He treads,
To follow Him wherever His wondrous presence leads;
To know His loving-kindness, His peace, His strength, His might,
To see Him in His splendor, arrayed in glorious light.
I long to meet my Savior, the King of pow’r and care.
Who in His resurrection has granted me to share.
With reunited loved ones I'll gladly take my place,
And bow before the throne of His never-ending grace.
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REFLECTION
This is a simple meditation on the hope of Heaven, written after the death of a loved one. As the first line makes clear, the inspiration is the language of 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” What may seem impersonal now will by no means be impersonal then. Jesus is truly with us today by His Holy Spirit indwelling us. But it is the Spirit that tugs upon our hearts and gives us the longing to actually see Christ—for all barriers to be broken down, all mediation done away with, for there to be unfettered access to our Savior. That moment when we see Him face to face is called the beatific vision, and it is the true and proper hope of every Christian. But for now it is only a hope, only a longing, not yet a reality. The sublime musical setting, by Jared M. Salyards, captures this well. The melody of the first line—“I long to meet me Savior”—is repeated in the last line, where that text is repeated as well. However, though the melody stays the same, the harmony changes. What was major in the first line is minor in the last, reminding the singer that this truly is a longing—a yearning that this world cannot fulfill.
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