Thee Will I Love, My Strength

Above:  Diocesan Confirmation, the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, December 14, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Lutheran Book of Worship (1978)

Original German Words (1657) by Johann Scheffler (1624-1677)

English Translation (1739) by John Wesley (1703-1791)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1.  Thee will I love, my strength, my tow’r;

Thee will I love, my joy, my crown!

Thee will I love with all my pow’r,

In all thy works, and thee alone;

Thee will I love, till the pure fire

Fills all my soul with chaste desire.

2.  I thank thee, uncreated sun,

That thy bright beams on me have shined;

I thank thee, who has overthrown

My foes and healed my wounded mind;

I thank thee, whose enliv’ning voice

Bids my freed heart in thee rejoice.

3.  Uphold me in the doubted race,

Nor suffer me again to stray;

Strengthen my feet with steady pace

Still to press forward in thy way,

That all my pow’rs, with all their might,

In thy sole glory may unite.

4.  Thee will I love, my joy, my crown;

Thee will I love, my Lord, my God!

Thee will I love, beneath thy frown

Or smile, thy scepter or thy rod.

What though my flesh and heart decay?

Thee shall I love in endless day!