The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs

380

O Christ, the Healer

1.  O Christ, the healer, we have come
    To pray for health, to plead for friends.
    How can we fail to be restored,
    When reached by love that never ends?

2.  From every ailment flesh endures
    Our bodies clamor to be freed;
    Yet in our hearts we would confess
    That wholeness is our deepest need.

3.  How strong, O Lord, are our desires,
    How weak our knowledge of ourselves!
    Release in us those healing truths
    Unconscious pride resists or shelves.

4.  In conflicts that destroy our health
    We recognize the world's disease;
    Our common life declares our ills:
    Is there no cure, O Christ, for these?

5.  Grant that we all, made one in faith,
    In Your community may find
    The wholeness that, enriching us,
    Shall reach the whole of humankind.

WORDS: Fred Pratt Green, 1969
MUSIC: Klug's Geistliche Lieder, 1543 Harm. Johann Sebastian Bach, 1725; alt.
Theme: Life in Christ