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
When we sing during Advent, “Love divine, all loves excelling / Joy of heav’n, to earth come down!” we proclaim a powerful truth. Love can and is embodied in us as people. At the birth of Jesus, divine love is embodied in human form. Yet, this doesn’t end at the Advent story and certainly does not end after Jesus’ earthly ministry is complete. We too are given divine love as a gift of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit to carry within us and to share with others. The hymn continues, “Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving Spirit / into ev’ry troubled breast; / let us all in thee inherit.” As we journey together though Advent and consider Scripture and the hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” let’s listen for how that divine love speaks to our hearts and how we are called to live out that love.
Prayer
Divine Love, call to us, teach us, remind us, and breathe your love into our troubled hearts. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.