Jesus, Thy boundless love to me
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
O bind my thankful heart to Thee,
And reign without a rival there:
Thine wholly, Thine alone, I am;
Be Thou alone my constant flame.

O grant that nothing in my soul
May dwell but Thy pure love alone;
O may Thy love possess me whole,
My joy, my treasure, and my crown:
All coldness from my heart remove;
May ev’ry act, word, thought, be love.

O Love, how gracious is Thy way!
All fear before Thy presence flies;
Care, anguish, sorrow melt away,
Where’er Thy healing beams arise:
O Jesus, nothing may I see,
Nothing desire, or seek, but Thee.

In suff’ring, be Thy love my peace;
In weakness, be Thy love my pow’r;
And when the storms of life shall cease,
O Jesus, in that solemn hour,
In death as life be Thou my guide,
And save me, who for me hast died.

Paul Gerhardt ( 1607-1676) A famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas’ Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Gerhardt experienced much suffering in his life;­ he and his parishioners lived in the era of the Thirty Years’ War, and his family experi­enced incredible tragedy: four of his five children died young, and his wife died after a prolonged illness. John Wesley and Catherine Winkworth both made famous English translations of Gerhardt’s texts.