Scripture Verse

Thou knowest that I love Thee. John 21:15

Introduction

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Edward Bickersteth (1825–1906)

Words: Prob­ab­ly by a 17th Cen­tu­ry Ger­man Je­su­it. Ap­peared in Psal­te­ri­olum Can­tio­num Ca­tho­li­ca­rum (Co­logne, Ger­ma­ny: 1772) (O De­us ego amo Te, Nam pri­or Tu am­as­ti me), tit­led The De­sire of St. Ig­na­ti­us. Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward H. Bick­er­steth, Jr., 1889.

Music: Pax Dei (Dykes) John B. Dykes, 1868 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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John B. Dykes (1823–1876)

Lyrics

O God, I love Thee; not that my poor love
May win me en­trance to Thy Hea­ven above,
Nor yet that strang­ers to Thy love must know
The bit­ter­ness of ev­er­last­ing woe.

But, Je­sus, Thou art mine, and I am Thine;
Clasped to Thy bo­som by Thy arms di­vine,
Who on the cru­el cross for me hast borne
The nails, the spear, and man’s un­pi­ty­ing scorn.

No thought can fa­thom and no tongue ex­press
Thy griefs, Thy toils, Thy ang­uish mea­sure­less,
Thy death, O Lamb of God the un­de­filed;
And all for me, Thy way­ward sin­ful child.

How can I choose but love Thee, God’s dear Son,
O Je­sus, love­li­est, and most lov­ing One!
Were there no Hea­ven to gain, no Hell to flee,
For what Thou art alone I must love Thee.

Not for the hope of glo­ry or re­ward,
But even as Thy­self hast loved me, Lord,
I love Thee, and will love Thee and ad­ore,
Who art my king, my God, for ev­er­more.