That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.
Ephesians 3:17–19
Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems (Bristol, England: Felix Farley, 1742), pages 24–25.
Music: Brownwell Franz J. Haydn (1732–1809) (🔊 pdf nwc).
What shall I do my God to love,
My Savior, and the world’s to praise?
Whose bowels of compassion move
To me, and all the fallen race;
Whose mercy is divinely free
For all the fallen race, and me.
I long to know, and to make known
The height and depth of love divine,
The kindness Thou to me hast shown,
Whose every sin was counted Thine:
My God for me resigned His breath,
He died, to save my soul from death.
All souls are Thine: and Thou for all
The ransom of Thy life hast given,
To raise the sinner from His fall,
And bring him back to God and Heaven;
Thou all the world hast died to save,
And all may Thy salvation have.
How shall I thank Thee for the grace,
On me, and all mankind bestowed!
O that my every breath were praise,
O that my heart were filled with God!
My heart would then with love o’erflow,
And all my life Thy glory show.
See me, O Lord, athirst and faint,
Me weary of forbearing see,
And let me feel Thy love’s constraint,
And freely give up all for Thee.
True in the fiery trial prove,
And pay Thee back Thy dying love.