Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
- Metre
- 8.7.8.7 D
- Written
- 1747
- Copyright
- Public domain
Lyrics
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesu, thou art all compassion
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more 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!
History
Charles Wesley published 'Love divine, all loves excelling' in 1747 in Hymns for those that seek, and those that have Redemption in the Blood of Christ. It is number 9 in that collection. In its original form it had four stanzas of eight lines each, in the metre 8.7.8.7 D.
Wesley's first stanza appears to be modelled on 'Fairest Isle', a song from John Dryden and Henry Purcell's semi-opera King Arthur (1691), in which the goddess Venus chooses Britain over Cyprus; Wesley turns the idea round so that divine love comes down to the human heart.
The text was altered over the following decades. An abridged version omitting the second stanza appeared in 1778, in a hymnal for Fitz-Roy Chapel, and in the Wesleys' own 1780 Large Hymn Book. Editors, especially Calvinists, also softened lines that seemed to support the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection: the change from 'power of sinning' to 'love of sinning' was probably introduced by Martin Madan in 1767.
The hymn has been sung to many tunes. They include BLAENWERN by William Penfro Rowlands (1860-1937), especially popular in Britain and associated with the Welsh revival of 1904-05; HYFRYDOL by Rowland Hugh Prichard (1811-1887); BEECHER by John Zundel (1815-1882), common in American hymnals; and a tune named LOVE DIVINE by Sir John Stainer, first printed with the hymn in the 1889 Supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern.
Performance
The page's video, titled 'Love Divine All Loves Excelling | Hymn with Lyrics · St. Martin's Voices', runs about 3 minutes 20 seconds; its description names St. Martin's Voices as the performers. A second video on the channel, 'Love Divine All Loves Excelling. Charles Wesley | Hymn with Lyrics', runs about 3 minutes 4 seconds and names no performer in its title.
Sources: hymnary.org · en.wikipedia.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book
About St Martin's Voices
The recording on this page is sung by St Martin's Voices, the professional vocal ensemble based at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the church on Trafalgar Square in London. One of the UK's most versatile professional choirs, they sing for services, concerts and broadcasts — including on BBC radio and Classic FM — and have released a number of acclaimed recordings.
Their hymn recordings are made freely available to Anglican parishes through the Church of England's A Church Near You Resource Hub, produced by Andrew Earis, Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in collaboration with the Royal School of Church Music.