1
How I love Thee, precious Jesus,
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast drawn and wooed and kissed me
That a lover I may be!
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast drawn and wooed and kissed me
That a lover I may be!
Our Beloved, how we love Him,
So attractive, our delight.
We are captivated wholly
And are comely in His sight.
So attractive, our delight.
We are captivated wholly
And are comely in His sight.
2
As a company of horses,
Thou, O Lord, has likened me,
Strong and swift, with Pharaoh's chariots,
Full of natural energy.
Thou, O Lord, has likened me,
Strong and swift, with Pharaoh's chariots,
Full of natural energy.
3
Just a lover with the dove's eyes
Fixed on Him and Him alone;
Changed are all my natural concepts,
Oh, the Lord in me has grown!
Fixed on Him and Him alone;
Changed are all my natural concepts,
Oh, the Lord in me has grown!
4
Now a lily of the valley,
Standing out among the thorns,
In the Lord alone I'm trusting,
Of my self-strength I've been shorn.
Standing out among the thorns,
In the Lord alone I'm trusting,
Of my self-strength I've been shorn.
5
Make us doves that hide in Thee, Lord;
Bring us to the secret place.
There You find our voices sweet, Lord,
And desire to see our face.
Bring us to the secret place.
There You find our voices sweet, Lord,
And desire to see our face.
6
Make us then, Lord, smoking pillars,
Coming from the wilderness.
By Thy death and resurrection
All our natural will suppress.
Coming from the wilderness.
By Thy death and resurrection
All our natural will suppress.
7
You desire a couch to rest on—
We become a rest to Thee;
Thou the Person in our being,
Gone our personality.
We become a rest to Thee;
Thou the Person in our being,
Gone our personality.
8
Now a palanquin You're making—
Nothing natural You'll allow.
For Your move and Your expression
Start this work within us now!
Nothing natural You'll allow.
For Your move and Your expression
Start this work within us now!
9
You supply the wood and pillars
For the structure and support,
Bottom gold and seat of purple
For our King of royal court.
For the structure and support,
Bottom gold and seat of purple
For our King of royal court.
10
Only this, O Lord, we offer
For Thy palanquin so fine:
Just our love, so pure and fitted,
The interior design.
For Thy palanquin so fine:
Just our love, so pure and fitted,
The interior design.
11
What a sight when our Beloved
Wears a crown upon His brow;
Christ, the Church, are now united—
Boast and glory to Him now!
Wears a crown upon His brow;
Christ, the Church, are now united—
Boast and glory to Him now!