Do not I love thee, O my Lord? Behold my heart and see
And turn each cursed idol out that dares to rival thee.
Do not I love thee from my soul? Then let me nothing love
Dead be my heart to every joy when Jesus can not move.
Within the darkness of this heart other gods would vie for my affection
But thou art exalted, but thou art exalted, thou are exalted far above all gods!
Let nothing keep me from thy love.
Thou know'st I love Thee, dearest Lord, but O, I long to soar
Far from the sphere of mortal joys and learn to love Thee more!
—Philip Doddridge (1702–1751)
And turn each cursed idol out that dares to rival thee.
Do not I love thee from my soul? Then let me nothing love
Dead be my heart to every joy when Jesus can not move.
Within the darkness of this heart other gods would vie for my affection
But thou art exalted, but thou art exalted, thou are exalted far above all gods!
Let nothing keep me from thy love.
Thou know'st I love Thee, dearest Lord, but O, I long to soar
Far from the sphere of mortal joys and learn to love Thee more!
—Philip Doddridge (1702–1751)
Comments
Of course, there's always "Grace 'Tis a Charming Sound" that Doddridge wrote, but Sankey mangled with his universalist chorus! :)
Scott, you made me smile with your "great expression of religious affection" remark. I can just picture people in your church coming up to you after a choir number or solo and saying, "That was a real blessing" or "That song really spoke to me" or something like that. I can just see you wincing and cringing and consoling yourself, "What they mean is that it was a 'great expression of religious affection.'" Or maybe you have already eradicated those kinds of remarks.
At any rate, I can sympathize because I avoid many imprecise "idioms" that we permit in fundamentalism. Don't get me started.
Blasted Sankey, messing up a good hymn! A vile pox on those guys! :-)