Hymn of the Month
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April 2025
My Jesus, I Love Thee
William R. Featherston, 1862
Verse 1
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;
for thee all the follies of sin I resign;
my gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
Verse 2
I love thee because thou hast first loved me
and purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;
if ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
Verse 3
I’ll love thee in life, I will love thee in death,
and praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath,
and say when the deathdew lies cold on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
Verse 4
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow:
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
About this hymn
A powerful yet simple hymn of praise and adoration that can be sung in any circumstance. With only four verses that vary little between hymn books, this could be a very profitable hymn to commit to memory. And such a blessing it will bring to the life and fellowship of every believer and worshiping family. Authorship is somewhat debated, but it could have quite possibly been written by Featherston in 1862 at the age of 16, the year of his conversion. It speaks to the power of the simple gospel that, once revealed to us supernaturally by the Spirit, ever nourishes us with its eternal, unsearchable, and inexhaustible truths. Notice just four of those truths here as you sing:
In verse 1, we see that Jesus is ours. Like a man who finds treasure hidden in a field, he now belongs to us. Like a bride who has found the one her soul longed for, she will have and hold him forever. This great gift, Christ, was awarded to us because of the resignation of sin. Repentance and faith are all that is needed to lay hold of this great redeemer and savior. Do you love Him?
Verse 2 reminds us that our love is a response to His love. 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” We could never have loved this holy One if He had not purchased our redemption through His gruesome sufferings and tragic death. The view of which turned the thief’s heart (Luke 23) to trust in Him for eternal life. What faith to believe in a King who lay dying on a cross. The thief would be vindicated very shortly. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Do you love Him?
Verse 3 is a commitment to love him forever, but it cannot be genuine without the understanding that it is through His gracious preservation of the saints that we will continue to praise Him. But let us boldly proclaim our devotion to Him, knowing it is to His praise and glory that we will sing these songs forevermore. Do you love Him?
In heaven, we will sing the loudest because all of our hope has been fulfilled in Christ, our Savior, Redeemer, and conquering King. The truth of verse 4 is powerful and can be amplified by a key change starting at “now” in the 3rd verse. My favorite example of this is done by Norton Hall Band. Do you love Him?