Longing to be Established in Love

Representative Text

1 My God! I know, I feel thee mine,
And will not quit my claim,
Till all I have is lost in thee,
And all renew'd I am.

2 I hold thee with a trembling hand,
But will not let thee go,
Till stedfastly by faith I stand,
And all thy goodness know.

3 Jesu, thine all-victorious love
Shed in my heart abroad!
Then shall my feet no longer rove,
Rooted and fix'd in God.

4 O that in me the sacred fire
Might now begin to glow!
Burn up the dross of base desire,
And make the mountains flow!

5 O that it now from heav'n might fall,
And all my sins consume:
Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call,
Spirit of burning, come.

6 Refining fire, go through my heart,
Illuminate my soul;
Scatter thy life through ev'ry part,
And sanctify the whole.

7 Sorrow and sin shall then expire,
While enter'd into rest,
I only live my God t' admire,
My God for ever blest.

8 My stedfast soul, from falling free,
Shall then no longer move;
But Christ be all the world to me,
And all my heart be love.

Source: A Pocket Hymn Book: designed as a constant companion for the pious, collected from various authors (9th ed.) #CIV

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Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

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First Line:	My God, I know, I feel Thee mine
Title:	Longing to be Established in Love
Author:	Charles Wesley
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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My God, I know, I feel Thee mine. C. Wesley. [Peace and Holiness desired.] Published in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1740, p. 156, in 12 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Against Hope, Believing in Hope" (Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol.i. p. 328). In the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 351, stanza x. is omitted, and slight changes in the text are introduced. This form is repeated in the revised edition, 1875, and has passed into several collections. In addition there are also the following arrangements of the hymn in common use:—
1. Father, Thy all-victorious love. This opens with st. iv. altered, and is in use in American Unitarian hymnbooks.
2. Jesus, Thine all-victorious love. This also begins with st. iv. altered, and is in American common use.
3. My God, I humbly call Thee mine. This is in Mercer’s Church Psalter & Hymn Book, Oxford ed., 1864, in 9 stanzas.
4. 0 that in me the sacred fire. In the Primitive Methodist Hymnal, 1887, and a few American collections. This opens with st. vii.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

My God, I know, I feel Thee mine. C. Wesley. [Peace and Holiness desired.] Published in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1740, p. 156, in 12 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Against Hope, Believing in Hope" (Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol.i. p. 328). In the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 351, stanza x. is omitted, and slight changes in the text are introduced. This form is repeated in the revised edition, 1875, and has passed into several collections. In addition there are also the following arrangements of the hymn in common use:—
1. Father, Thy all-victorious love. This opens with st. iv. altered, and is in use in American Unitarian hymnbooks.
2. Jesus, Thine all-victorious love. This also begins with st. iv. altered, and is in American common use.
3. My God, I humbly call Thee mine. This is in Mercer’s Church Psalter & Hymn Book, Oxford ed., 1864, in 9 stanzas.
4. 0 that in me the sacred fire. In the Primitive Methodist Hymnal, 1887, and a few American collections. This opens with st. vii.