Poetry Tuesday: We Have Not Known Thee as We Ought

Thomas B. Pollock, 1836-1896 source:https://hymnary.org/person/Pollock_TB

Thomas B. Pollock (1836–1896)

After last week’s long walk through Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene VI, it is fitting to pause with a shorter poem — one that does not expand the imagination so much as search the heart.

Thomas Pollock’s hymn, “We Have Not Known Thee as We Ought,” stands among the most honest devotional texts in the English Christian tradition. In five carefully ordered stanzas, Pollock leads us through the interior life of faith — knowing, fearing, loving, serving, and hoping — each marked not by self-confidence, but by humble confession and prayer.

The Hymn (Full Text)

1 We have not known thee as we ought,

nor learned thy wisdom, grace and pow’r;

the things of earth have filled our thought,

and trifles of the passing hour.

Lord, give us light thy truth to see,

and make us wise in knowing thee.

2 We have not feared thee as we ought,

nor bowed beneath thine awful eye,

nor guarded deed, and word, and thought,

remembering that God was nigh.

Lord, give us faith to know thee near,

and grant the grace of holy fear.

3 We have not loved thee as we ought,

nor cared that we are loved by thee;

thy presence we have coldly sought,

and feebly longed thy face to see.

Lord, give a pure and loving heart

to feel and own the love thou art.

4 We have not served thee as we ought;

alas! the duties left undone,

the work with little fervor wrought,

the battles lost, or scarcely won!

Lord, give the zeal, and give the might,

for thee to toil, for thee to fight.

5 When shall we know thee as we ought,

and fear, and love, and serve aright!

When shall we, out of trial brought,

be perfect in the land of light!

Lord, may we day by day prepare

to see thy face, and serve thee there.

A Spiritual Progression

Pollock’s strength lies not only in what he confesses, but in the order of confession.

He begins with knowing God, because ignorance — not rebellion — often lies at the root of spiritual failure. He moves next to holy fear, reminding us that reverence guards both conduct and thought. From there, he turns to love, naming the chilling truth that we often fail not only to love God, but even to care that we are loved by Him.

The hymn then presses on to service, acknowledging neglected duties and half-hearted obedience. Finally, Pollock lifts our eyes toward hope — the “land of light,” where what is now broken and incomplete will at last be made whole.

Grace at the Center

Though searching, this hymn is never despairing. Each stanza ends in prayer, not self-reliance. Pollock understands that growth in the Christian life comes not from resolve alone, but from grace requested and received — light to know God, faith to fear Him rightly, love to love Him truly, strength to serve Him faithfully.

In an age crowded with noise and assertion, this quiet hymn invites us into honesty before God. It reminds us that the deepest work of faith often happens not in public achievement, but in private repentance and daily preparation for the life to come.

Closing Prayer

Lord God,

We confess that we have not known You as we ought.

The things of earth have filled our thoughts,

and the passing hour has claimed our attention.

Give us light to see Your truth,

faith to remember that You are near,

hearts made warm by Your love,

and strength to serve You with zeal and perseverance.

Prepare us, day by day, for the land of light,

where we shall see Your face and serve You there.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.