This hymn is rewritten by Matthew Smith, and based on a text written by Joachin Neander. Neander was born in Germany in 1650. Grandson of a mu­si­cian and son of a teach­er, Ne­an­der stu­died the­ol­o­gy at Bre­men Un­i­ver­si­ty (1666-70), moved his stu­dies to Hei­del­berg in 1671, and in 1673 he moved to Frank­furt, where he met Pi­e­tis­tic schol­ars Phil­ipp Ja­kob Spen­er (1635-1705) and Jo­hann Schütz (1640-90). From 1674-79, Ne­an­der was prin­ci­pal of the Re­formed La­tein­schule (gram­mar school) in Düs­sel­dorf. Dur­ing these years, he used to wan­der the se­clud­ed Düs­sel Riv­er val­ley, which was, un­til the 19th Cen­tu­ry, a deep ra­vine be­tween rock fac­es and for­ests, with num­er­ous caves, grot­tos and wa­ter­falls. Prob­ab­ly, Ne­an­der wrote and sang ma­ny of his po­ems there, but al­so held ga­ther­ings and ser­vices. In the ear­ly 19th Cen­tu­ry, a large cave was named Ne­an­der­höhle af­ter him. In 1679, Ne­an­der moved to Bre­men and worked as as­sist­ant preach­er at St. Mar­ti­ni church. The next year he be­came ser­i­ous­ly ill and died, pre­sum­a­bly of the plague¹. He also wrote the words the popular hymn “Praise To The Lord, The Almighty”.

Behold me here, in grief draw near,
Pleading at Thy throne oh King.
To Thee each tear, each trembling fear,
Jesus Son of Man I bring.
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee.
Let me find Thee,
Lord of mercy King of grace.

Look down in love, and from above,
With Thy Spirit satisfy.
Thou hast sought me, Thou hast bought me,
And thy purchase Lord am I.
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee.
Let me find Thee,
Here on earth and then on high.

Hear the broken, scarcely spoken,
Longings of my heart to thee
All the crying, all the sighing,
Of Thy child accepted be.
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee.
Let me find Thee,
Wounded healer, suffering Lord.

¹hymnbook.igracemusic.com/people/joachim-neander