no thought can teach, no tongue declare;
O knit my thankful heart to Thee
and reign without a rival there.
Thine wholly, thine alone, I am;
be thou alone my constant flame.
O grant that nothing in my soul
may dwell, but thy pure love alone!
O may thy love possess me whole,
my joy, my treasure, and my crown.
Strange flames far from my soul remove,
my every act, word, thought, be love.
O love, how cheering is thy ray!
All pain before thy presence flies!
Care, anguish, sorrow, melt away
where’er thy healing beams arise.
O Jesu, nothing may I see,
nothing hear, feel, or think, but Thee!
In suffering be thy love my peace,
in weakness be thy love my power,
and when the storms of life shall cease,
Jesu, in that important hour,
in death as life be thou my guide,
and save me, who for me hast died.
This is an extract from one of John Wesley’s translations from Paul Gerhardt, prepared in Savannah, Georgia, and published in 1739 in Hymns and Sacred Poems, under the title “Living by Christ.” He later quoted stanza 2 at the end of his sermon “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection” as “the cry of my heart” upon leaving Georgia, rejected and disillusioned.
The United Methodist Hymnal
Book of United Methodist Worship
Copyright © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House
Eighth Printing 1993
All Rights Reserved
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