Hymn 263. Desiring to Know and Love him More

Thou lovely source of true delight,

Whom I unseen adore,

Unveil thy beauties to my sight,

That I may love thee more.

Thy glory o’er creation shines;

But in thy sacred Word

I read, in fairer, brighter lines,

My bleeding, dying Lord.

’Tis here, when’er my comforts droop,

And sins and sorrows rise,

Thy love, with cheerful beams of hope,

My fainting heart supplies.

But ah, too soon, the pleasing scene

Is clouded o’er with pain;

My gloomy fears rise dark between,

And I again complain.

Jesus, my Lord, my life, my light,

O come with blissful ray,

Break radiant through the shades of night,

And chase my fears away.

Then shall my soul with rapture trace

The wonders of thy love;

But the full glories of thy face

Are only known above.

Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 263 (all six stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 164-5; MS, Steele Collection, Angus Library, Regents Park College, STE 3/1/1 no. 92; also Nonconformist Women Writers, vol. 1, p. 144.