The Visitor

"I will come in to him".     Revelation 3:20

Come in, O come! The door stands open now;

I knew Thy voice; Lord Jesus, it was Thou;

The sun has set long since; the storms begin;

'Tis time for Thee, my Saviour; O come in!

Come, even now. But think not here to find

A lodging, Lord, and converse, to Thy mind:

The lamp burns low; the hearth is chill and pale;

Wet through the broken casement pours the gale.

Alas, ill-order'd shews the dreary room;

The household-stuff lies heap'd amidst the gloom;

The table empty stands, the couch undress'd;

Ah, what a welcome for the Eternal Guest!

Yet welcome, and to-night; this doeful scene

Is e'en itself my cause to hail Thee in;

This dark confusion e'en at once demands

Thine one bright presence, Lord, and ordering hands.

I seek no more to alter things, or mend,

Before the coming of so great a Friend:

All were at best unseemly; and 't were ill

Beyond all else to keep Thee waiting still.

Then, as Thou art, all holiness and bliss,

Come in, and see my chamber as it is;

I bid Thee welcome boldly, in the name

Of Thy great glory and my want and shame.

Come, not to find, but make, this troubled heart

A dwelling worthy of Thee as Thou art;

To chase the gloom, the terror, and the sin,

Come, all Thyself, yea come, Lord Jesus, in!

Handley Carr Glyn Moule (born Fordington, Dorchester, 23 December 1841; died 8 May 1920, Cambridge) was a

theologian, writer, poet, and Bishop of Durham from 1901-1920.