Words
1.
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav’n 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.
2.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast.
Let us all in Thee inherit,
Let us find the promised rest.
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be!
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
3.
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.
4.
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 heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Compared to Hymnals
| |
No. |
Words |
Music |
| Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs |
283 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below) |
Identical |
| Songs for Worship and Praise |
118 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1 |
Identical |
| Songs of Faith and Praise |
140 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Lacks vs 3;
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1 |
Identical |
| Praise for the Lord |
405 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1 |
Identical |
| Hymns for Worship (Revised) |
393 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes every occurrence of “let us” to “may we” |
Identical |
| Songs of the Church |
331 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1 |
Identical |
| Sacred Selections |
260 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1
Changes every occurrence of “let us” to “may we” |
Identical |
| Christian Hymns No. 2 |
n/a |
|
|
| Great Songs of the Church No. 2 |
440 |
Alters vss 2 & 4 (see below);
Changes “all loves” to “all love” in vs 1 |
Identical |
Verse 2
| Our Version |
Common in Hymnals Above |
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast.
Let us all in Thee inherit,
Let us find the promised rest.
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be!
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
|
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast.
Let us all in Thee inherit,
Let us find the promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning;
Take our load of guilt away.
End the work of Thy beginning;
Bring us to eternal day.
|
Our wording is closer to the original text of Charles Wesley. Here is an excerpt
from a 1761 reprinting of Wesley’s original
text:
It is unclear when the altered form was originally written, but its essence can
be seen in The Hartford selection of hymns
(1799):
On its own, this is an excellent stanza. Unfortunately, when compared with the
original, Wesley’s rich allusion to Jesus as the Alpha and Omega in Revelation
(Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13) is lost, as is the idea of him being the beginning and
end, the author and perfecter, of our faith (Heb 12:2). We’ve chosen to stay
close to Wesley’s original text.
Verse 4
| Our Version |
Common in Hymnals Above |
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 heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!
|
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure, unspotted may we be.
Let us see our whole salvation
Perfectly secured by Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!
|
The altered wording common in the hymnals above is based on Toplady’s version
of 1776:
Wesley’s original text, however, focused on salvation as being Jesus’ great work
of restoring and recreating us in Him. Here again is an excerpt from a 1761
reprinting of Wesley’s original
text:
As with verse 2, we’ve chosen to stay closer to Wesley’s original text.
Sources
References