1 'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I his, or am I not?
2 Could my heart so hard remain,
Prayer a task and burden prove,
Every trifle give me pain,
If I knew a Saviour's love?
3 Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin a grief and thrall;
Should I grieve for what I feel,
If I did not love at all?
4 Could I joy with saints to meet,
Choose the ways I once abhorred,
Find at times the promise sweet,
If I did not love the Lord?
5 Lord, decide the doubtful case,
Thou who art thy people's Sun;
Shine upon thy work of grace,
If it be indeed begun.
Source: The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book: for use in divine worship #589
First Line: | 'Tis a point I long to know |
Title: | Lovest Thou Me? |
Author: | John Newton |
Meter: | 7.7.7.7 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
'Tis a point I long to know. J. Newton. [In Doubt and Fear.] Appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 119, in 9 st of 4 lines. It is in common use in an abbreviated form, and opening with the first line as above. In some collections it begins, "Lord, my God, I long to know"; and in others, "Could my heart so hard remain" (stanza iii.). These altered forms of the text are in use principally in America.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)