Allured into the desert

Gerhard Tersteegen (1697-1769)

Allured into the desert
With God alone, apart,
There spirit meeteth Spirit,
There speaketh heart to heart.
Far, far on that untrodden shore,
God's secret place I find;
Alone I pass the golden door,
The dearest left behind.

There God and I - none other;
Oh far from men to be!
Nay, midst the crowd and tumult,
Still, Lord, alone with Thee.
Still folded close upon Thy breast,
In field, and mart, and street,
Untroubled in that perfect rest,
That isolation sweet.

O God, Thou art far other
Than men have dreamed and taught,
Unspoken in all language,
Unpictured in all thought.
Thou God art God - He only learns
What that great Name must be
Whose raptured heart within him burns,
Because he walks with Thee.