Why are we encouraged to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to ourselves and with others? In this column, Cultivating Songs of Faith, we explore that question by looking at one particular hymn each season, offering the story of its creation from the life of its author or composer. What you see here is a reflection rather than a formal academic history. I hope to help you to taste, see, and rediscover what is good in great hymns, and also occasionally enter into the conversation they have with ancient psalms and modern spiritual songs.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
—1 John 4.7-8 (ESV)
These are the words painted on a little wooden plaque that hangs on my wall at home. It was a gift my husband and I received from a friend when we became engaged.
At that point in my life (and, actually, every day since) my heart needed courage to take on a commitment that I hoped would last a lifetime. I felt very sure that I was not up to the challenge of offering another person charity on a daily basis. But the reminder that the God whose very nature is Love was there to help us became a source of hope and encouragement.
Without charity, I don’t think anyone can thrive or even survive. The word charity has come to mean something very watered down from its original. When someone uses the word charity today, we often assume it is a word implying benevolence towards the poor, or mercy to the undeserving. But the Latin word caritas means so much more. It is the same word that is translated into Greek as agape. It exemplifies unselfish, self-sacrificial love, love that can only come from God. The last three words on my plaque, if written in Latin, would read Deus caritas est. God is Love.
When the word caritas appears in Scripture, it is sometimes rendered in English as “charity” but more often simply as “love.” Charity, as philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas taught, is “the most excellent of the virtues.” It is listed by Paul as the greatest of the three fine virtues of faith, hope, and love.
In a world that seems to be increasingly characterized by cruelty and unkindness, all of us long for charity. Maybe that’s why we are commanded “Let all your things be done with charity.” (1 Corinthians 16.14 KJV) I wish I could say that I have offered charity to others in the same measure as I have wished for it myself.
I think this is why I love the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling. It reminds me of the source of love—divine love. It tells the story of this true love coming down from heaven to earth to live in our hearts and transform us in the process. We sang this hymn at our wedding and I still can’t make it through all the verses without a few tears.
The lyrics for Love Divine were written by Charles Wesley and appeared in print for the first time in 1747. Wesley was a prolific hymn writer, composing more than 6,500 hymns in his lifetime. Young Charles grew up in a family of seventeen siblings, and he must have had ample opportunity to learn firsthand the need for charity!
I was surprised to learn that the text of Love Divine seems to have been modeled after a song written by John Dryden about sixteen years before Wesley was born. It appeared in the opera King Arthur, with music written by the famed English composer Henry Purcell. The song is sung by the goddess of love, extolling the beauties and pleasures of the Isle of Briton over her native land of Cyprus:
Fairest Isle, all Isles Excelling,
Seat of Pleasures, and of Loves;
Venus here, will chuse [choose] her Dwelling,
And forsake her Cyprian Groves.
These words are a proclamation of love for the beautiful island of England, and I must say that after visiting there myself I agree that it is a place worthy of more than one song of praise. But, Wesley, taking this text as a starting point, calls us to fix our attention on something even more beautiful. Instead of being smitten with love for an earthly place, his verse tells us how Love Himself has come down to make His home here with us, in our very hearts.
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.
This first stanza, focusing on the love of Christ, describes Him as “all compassion” and “unbounded love.” In a beautiful act of pure love, He has come from heaven to be with us on earth. The second and third stanzas go on to focus on the Holy Spirit and the Father, giving us the words of a heartfelt prayer to each member of the Trinity.
I have heard it described that the Trinity is the embodiment of perfect Love; pure, intertwining, and eternal. In the three Persons of the Trinity we find the origin of Love. What a wonder it is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are inviting each one of us to be the recipients of that Love, welcoming us into a relationship with Him! We, His children, no matter how much our trembling hearts feel ineligible, are invited into His perfect, eternal charity.
Come, Almighty to deliver;
Let us all thy grace receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy host above,
Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.
Hymn writers have been inspired by these words and the result is a plethora of tunes that have been composed for the text. It’s fun to see the journey Love Divine has taken through centuries and across continents. The first tune published with the words may have been the one used in Purcell’s opera King Arthur, the same song that inspired Wesley’s lyrics. However, if you live in the United Kingdom, you probably have sung this hymn to the tune BLAENWERN from the Welsh revival of 1904.[1] In America, the wonderful tune written by John Zundel in 1870 known as BEECHER appears in many hymnals, but I remember it best sung to the lyrics of There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy.
My favorite tune is the lilting and glorious Welsh tune HYFRYDOL.[2] Its rolling meter and beautiful melody soar perfectly with the text. It carries my heart along, embodying the last phrase, “Lost in wonder, love, and praise!”
The more I spend time with God, who is the source of Love, the more I come home to a place where I can experience His love for myself. Only then can I learn from Him to mirror that love to others. C. S. Lewis explained this idea so beautifully in the final chapter, “Charity,” of his book The Four Loves:
Only those into which Love Himself has entered will ascend to Love Himself. . . . In my love for wife or friend the only eternal element is the transforming presence of Love Himself.[3]
My husband and I just passed our fortieth anniversary. I can’t even count the number of times that we needed forgiveness for each other, grace and charity that we didn’t have on our own. As each year has passed, I’ve become more aware than I was on the day I received that little plaque that God alone is the source of love. Only by living in His divine love is our charity renewed.
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Text by Charles Wesley, 1747
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.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
Into ev’ry troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find thy promised rest;
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver;
Let us all thy grace receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy host above,
Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy perfect love.
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!
Endnotes:
[1] Listen to the stately British tune sung by the choir of Wells Cathedral: BLAENWERN
[2] Here is a recording of the hymn sung to my favorite tune, made especially beautiful by the voices of the Atlanta Master Chorale: HYFRYDOL
[3] This statement is found in C.S. Lewis’s great book, The Four Loves. He chose to title the final chapter devoted to divine, agapé love as “Charity.” This quote is found near the end of that chapter.
The featured image, “Sunlit Hymn,” is courtesy of Julie Jablonski and is used with her kind permission for Cultivating.
Terri Moon is a musician and a lover of Jesus. She delights in playing the music of Bach, growing English roses, baking up a good batch of scones, and all good, true, and beautiful things that point to Him. She has found that the most fulfilling adventures come through collaborating with others, and to that end she and her husband Steve (also a member of The Maker’s Project) serve gladly in their church and also on the leadership team of the Anselm Society. Together they raised four children and are now proud grandparents. Hosting friends in their Colorado home is one of their favorite joint adventures.
Terri holds a master’s degree in violin performance, and has collaborated in many concerts and taught students of all ages for 40 years. Her lifelong passion is the intersection of music, worship, and spiritual formation, and she longs to bring to life the beauty of the Church’s heritage in the arts. Terri currently serves as the Music Director of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Colorado Springs.
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