Scripture Verse

They shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23

Introduction

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Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf
(1700–1760)

Words: Ni­ko­laus L. von Zin­zen­dorf, 1726 (Du ewig­er Ab­grund der sel­ig­en Liebe). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by John Wes­ley in Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems, 1739. Zin­zen­dorf wrote this hymn for the birth­day of his friend, Count Hen­kel of Od­er­berg, Sep­tem­ber 21, 1726.

Music: Oc­ta­vi­us Jo­seph E. Sweet­ser, 1865 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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John Wesley (1703–1791)

Lyrics

Eternal depth of love di­vine,
In Je­sus, God with us, dis­played;
How bright Thy beam­ing glo­ries shine!
How wide Thy heal­ing streams are spread!

With whom dost Thou de­light to dwell?
Sinners, a vile and thank­less race:
O God, what tongue aright can tell
How vast Thy love, how great Thy grace!

The dictates of Thy so­ver­eign will
With joy our grate­ful hearts re­ceive:
All Thy de­light in us ful­fill;
Lo! all we are to Thee we give.

To Thy sure love, Thy ten­der care,
Our flesh, soul, spir­it, we re­sign:
O fix Thy sac­red pre­sence there,
And seal the abode for ev­er Thine.

O King of glo­ry, Thy rich grace
Our fee­ble thought sur­pass­es far;
Yea, even our crimes, though num­ber­less,
Less nu­mer­ous than Thy mer­cies are.

Still, Lord, Thy sav­ing health dis­play,
And arm our souls with heav’n­ly zeal;
So fear­less shall we urge our way
Through all the pow­ers of earth and hell.