O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

At age 20 George Matheson (1842-1906) was a student at college, was engaged to be married but began going blind. When he broke the news to his fiancée, she decided she could not go through life with a blind husband. She broke off the engagement.

George had three sisters who were very close to him and helped him through his studies.

The day came, however, in 1882, when one of his sisters fell in love and prepared for marriage herself. After the wedding George went to his home feeling despondent and lonely as his sister’s wedding brought back memories of his own broken relationship 20 years earlier. How was he going to face the future alone, having now lost the one who had encouraged and supported him.

It was in that moment of realization that he penned the words of that lovely hymn, “O love that would not let me go. Matteson later wrote that  “The hymn was the fruit of that suffering.”

The hymn celebrates the constancy of God's love––"love that wilt not let me go"––"light that follow'st all my way"––"joy that seekest me through pain."  It concludes by celebrating "Life that shall endless be."

Richard Donavan writes, “When I read the various accounts of Matheson's writing this hymn, one sentence struck me as especially important.  It was this––Matheson said, "The hymn was the fruit of that suffering."  There is an important lesson in that.  All of us suffer some sort of heartbreak or disappointment or disability at some point in our lives.  What makes all the difference is our response ––whether we let the hardship stop us or inspire us to greater effort. 

Matheson suffered two severe blows that could have stopped him in his ministry––the loss of his eyesight and the loss of his beloved.  In both cases, he made the best of a bad situation––and we are all the richer for it.  As this hymn reveals, it was his faith in God that kept him going through the adversities that he suffered.  He believed that God's love would not let him go––and that God's light would follow him all his way––and that God's joy would seek him through his pain––and that faith made all the difference.”