This morning in my time with the Lord, I found a hymn I had never seen before. The words -- written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) -- jumped off the page to me like a lover's frenzied shout: "How could You possibly have loved me this much?"
I searched online for the accompanying tune and found two or three, including the one listed in the hymnal, but none of them grabbed me on the same emotional level as the words themselves had.
Then I found this page, from a company in Texas called Old Fashioned Christian Radio Store, where "O Love divine" (presumably the same one) is part of an instrumental collection by Mathew Burtner called "Hear My Prayer"; the page includes a short preview of each tune on the CD.
I've searched unsuccessfully to identify the composer of the music, but I'll try to track this down so that I can share it with you. In the meantime... this tune is a perfect match for the exquisite love song Charles Wesley wrote to his Saviour over two hundred years ago.
Here is a clip of the tune, as performed by Mathew Burtner:
"O Love divine"
(The full tune ends at about 1 minute 3 seconds, in case you want to repeat it to listen along with each stanza.)
Here are Charles Wesley's lyrics, as they appear in my little Methodist hymnal.* (The last two lines of each stanza are repeated.)
O Love Divine! what hast Thou done?
The incarnate God hath died for me!
The Father's co-eternal Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree:
The incarnate God for me hath died;
My Lord, my Love, is crucified.
Behold Him, all ye that pass by,
The bleeding Prince of Life and Peace!
Come, sinners, see your Saviour die,
And say, was ever grief like His!
Come, feel with me His blood applied;
My Lord, my Love, is crucified.
Is crucified for me and you,
To bring us rebels back to God;
Believe, believe the record true:
Ye all are bought with Jesus' blood;
Pardon for all flows from His side;
My Lord, my Love, is crucified.
Then let us sit beneath His cross,
And gladly catch the healing stream;
All things for Him account but loss,
And give up all our hearts to Him;
Of nothing think or speak beside --
"My Lord, my Love, is crucified."
_____________
* William Briggs, Methodist Hymn Book (Toronto: Methodist Book and Publishing House, 1917).