The Cyber Hymnal ‎#5064

5064. O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art

1. O love divine, how sweet thou art!
When shall I find my willing heart
All taken up by thee?
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
The greatness of redeeming love,
The love of Christ to me.

2. Stronger His love than death or hell;
Its reaches are unsearchable;
The first born sons of light
Desire in vain its depths to see;
They cannot reach the mystery
The length, and breadth, and height.

3. God only knows the love of God;
O that it now were shed abroad
In this poor stony heart!
For love I sigh, for love I pine;
This only portion, Lord, be mine,
Be mine this better part.

4. O that I could forever sit
With Mary at the Master’s feet;
Be this my happy choice;
My only care, delight, and bliss,
My joy, my heaven on earth, be this
To hear the Bridegroom’s voice.

5. O that, with humbled Peter, I
Could weep, believe, and thrice reply,
My faithfulness to prove.
Thou know’st, for all to Thee is known,
Thou know’st, O Lord, and Thou alone,
Thou know’st that Thee I love.

6. O that I could, with favored John,
Recline my weary head upon
The dear Redeemer’s breast!
From care, and sin, and sorrow free,
Give me, O Lord, to find in Thee
My everlasting rest.

7. Thy only love do I require,
Nothing on earth beneath desire,
Nothing in Heaven above;
Let earth, and Heaven, and all things go,
Give me Thy only love to know,
Give me only Thy love.

Text Information

• First Line: O love divine, how sweet thou art
• Title: O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art
• Author: Charles Wesley (1749)
• Meter: 88.68.86
• Language: English
• Source: Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749, volume I
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tune: CORNWALL, Samuel S. Wesley, in The European Psalmist, 1872

Tune Information

• Name: PURLEIGH
• Composer: Arthur Henry Brown (1861)
• Meter: 88.68.86
• Incipit: 11561 17133 12517
• Key: A Major
• Source: Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1861
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Brown wrote the tune some years ear­li­er on scrap pa­per one Sun­day morn­ing be­fore ser­vice in Rom­ford Church.