Scripture Verse

Thou art the King of Israel. John 1:49

Introduction

portrait
Edward Caswall
(1814–1878)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: Ber­nard of Clair­vaux, 12th Cen­tu­ry (Je­su, Rex ad­mi­ra­bi­lis). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ed­ward Cas­wall, 1849.

Music: Ho­ly Cross James C. Wade, 1865 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

portrait
Bernard of Clairvaux
(1090–1153)

Lyrics

O Je­sus, King most won­der­ful,
Thou Con­quer­or re­nowned,
Thou sweet­ness most in­ef­fa­ble,
In whom all joys are found!

When once Thou vi­sit­est the heart,
Then truth be­gins to shine,
Then earth­ly va­ni­ties de­part,
Then kin­dles love di­vine.

O Je­sus, light of all be­low,
Thou fount of life and fire,
Surpassing all the joys we know,
And all we can de­sire!

Thy won­drous mer­cies are un­told,
Through each re­turn­ing day;
Thy love ex­ceeds a thou­sand fold,
Whatever we can say.

May ev­ery heart con­fess Thy name;
And ev­er Thee ad­ore;
And seek­ing Thee, it­self in­flame,
To seek Thee more and more.

Thee may our tongues for­ev­er bless;
Thee may we love alone;
And ev­er in our lives ex­press
The im­age of Thine own.