Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
A prayer that Jesus, pure love from heaven, would live in us and make us new.
The words are public domain. We print a hymn only after checking it word for word against a dated old printing, and this one hasn’t been checked yet. Hymnary has it now.
“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at HymnaryAbout this hymn
This hymn is a prayer to Jesus, whom it calls pure, unbounded love come down from heaven. It asks him to live in our hearts, to set us free from sin, and to finish his new creation in us until we are changed "from glory into glory."
It draws on 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 5:17, where those in Christ are a new creation, being changed into his likeness.
It is sung at any time, often at weddings. Charles Wesley, the English hymn writer and brother of John Wesley, published it in 1747.
For musicians and planners
| Words | Charles Wesley, 1747 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Tune | HYFRYDOL · Rowland H. Prichard, 1844 | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against hymnary.org text, tune and person pages (attribution and rights only). The words are not transcribed here yet.
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.