Charles Wesley: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Love Divine, All Love Excelling

Charles Wesley

“Love Divine, All Love Excelling” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Charles Wesley: Collected Lyrics Text 4 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Love Divine, all love excelling,

Joy of heaven, to earth come down;

Fix in us thy humble dwelling,

All thy faithful mercies crown:

Jesus, thou art all compassion,

Pure, unbounded love thou art;

Visit us with thy salvation,

Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit

Into every troubled breast;

Let us all in thee inherit,

Let us find the promised rest;

Take away the love of sinning;

Alpha and Omega be;

End of faith, as its beginning,

Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,

Let us all thy life receive;

Suddenly return, and never,

Never more thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,

Serve thee as thy hosts above,

Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,

Glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;

Pure and spotless let us be:

Let us see thy great salvation

Perfectly restored in thee;

Changed from glory into glory

Till in heaven we take our place,

Till we cast our crown before thee,

Lost in wonder, love and praise.

Amen

Credits

Written by Charles Wesley

Words by Charles Wesley. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “Love Divine, All Love Excelling”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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