Scripture Verse

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:5

Introduction

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Isaac Smith (1734–1805)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: George B. Bu­bi­er, 1857.

Music: Dub­lin (Smith) Is­aac Smith (1734–1805) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Bu­bi­er or (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

My God, I love Thee for Thy­self,
All crea­ture things above;
Thy glo­ri­ous works, Thy bless­èd gifts
I praise—but Thee I love.

My God, I seek Thee for Thy­self,
Besides, I ask not aught;
If Thee, Thy­self, I do not find,
All that I find is naught.

If Thou de­ni­est me Thy­self,
Whate’er Thou giv­est me,
Empty and void, I lang­uish still,
And grieve un­ceas­ing­ly.

Give me to find, O gra­cious God,
Thee, as my fi­nal end;
To Thee in con­stan­cy of love
Eternally to tend.