Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven, to earth come down;
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling;
All Thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving spirit
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee:
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE Charles Wesley was a traveling preacher—traveling on horseback. In his pocket he carried little cards on which he scribbled hymns in shorthand as he rode.
When a horse threw him, he wrote in his journal: “My companion thought I had broken my neck; but my leg only was bruised, my hand sprained, and my head stunned, which spoiled my making hymns till the next day.”
Although Charles Wesley had been a classical scholar at Oxford, few of his hymns reveal allusions to the classics. However, this one follows the meter of John Dryden’s “King Arthur,” referring to Camelot: “Fairest Isle, all Isles excelling, Seats of pleasure and of love.” King Arthur may have dreamed of Camelot, but as Charles Wesley rode horseback from village to village, his thoughts were on Jesus, the divine love, the joy of heaven.
We are eagerly waiting for [the Lord Jesus Christ] to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Philippians 3:20-21
From the book
