Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 631)
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 ev’ry trembling heart.
2 Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit;
Let us find thy promised rest.
Take away the 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,
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.
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!
Text: Chares Wesley; Music: Rowland H. Prichard; Public Domain
Devotion
At the Festival of Homiletics fifteen years ago, Dr. Walter Brueggemann, in his inimitable style, spoke of Charles Wesley, author of this hymn, as a preacher here putting forth a profound creed. Wesley gives us an entire framework for our lives in Christ, beginning with “Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heav’n to earth come down,” and concluding with “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Between creation, incarnation and wonder, the preacher calls us out of the errors of self-sufficiency, and commends us to live in God’s grace and life. Brueggeman saw in this hymn a call similar to that proclaimed by Martin Luther King, Jr., that our faith might give rise to lives of justice and love. Since hearing these remarks many years ago, however imprecise my recollection is, I have grown to treasure this closing line as a beautiful confession: “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Prayer
O God, may we so look to your gift of your Son that we find ourselves lost in wonder, love, and praise. Amen.