Saturday, July 07, 2007

More Love to Thee, O Christ

The next hymn on my list ("Blessed Assurance" was taken out of order) is especially loved by many of us who are Elizabeth Prentiss fans. She wrote these words and they were an expression of her life and heart. It was a well known fact about this writer that love for Christ was at the core of her being and her life, which was not without a good deal of suffering. In fact, these lyrics came to her during a time of sorrow over the loss of two of her children.


I regard Mrs. Prentiss as my favorite female author of all time periods. I doubt if I'll ever find writings that speak to my soul as do Stepping Heavenward and Aunt Jane's Hero, and then to top it off, she wrote the beloved words of this treasured hymn. I urge you to meditate on them and bury them deep in your heart. How much better the world would be if all Christians asked the Lord Jesus for more love for Him! Wouldn't you agree that more love for Him will help us to truly love each other better--and our enemies?

The tune and words are here. I especially love singing it at a slow tempo, with reverence. After all, it is a prayer. All you who are wading through deep waters at this time, take particular note of the third stanza:

Let sorrow do its work, Send grief and pain;
Sweet are thy messengers, Sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me, More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee, More love to thee.

6 comments:

Sara said...

I wasn't aware that Elizabeth Prentiss wrote "More Love To Thee". It is truly a beautiful hymn. Thanks Mrs. R! Just to let you know, I might be starting up my own site on blogger here again. I'm working on it. :-)

Maxine said...

Oh good, Sara! It will be great to have you back at Blogger. Check in when you get it all set up so I can change your URL.

Susan said...

I grew up on the old hymns and love them dearly. I also like a lot of the contemporary Christian music, too. My favorite songs are ones written directly from scripture.
Susan

Beverly said...

This is one of my two favorite hymns, Nanna!

Beka said...

As you know, this is one of my very favorite hymns. I've been reading Elizabeth Prentiss' Life and Letters, and what a blessing it has been to get to know her better!

robert said...

Thanks for your posting about Elizabeth Prentiss. Today is the 131st anniversary of her death. I agree with you about Stepping Heavenward. Though the book is more than a century old, it is still worth reading. Authors such as Joni Eareckson Tada, Elisabeth Elliot and Kay Arthur recommend it.

And you pinpoint the 3rd stanza of Mrs. Prentiss's hymn, stunning in its insight--and similar in spirit to the words of the Apostle Paul (II Cor. 12:7-10). I'm sure many Christians sing them on a Sunday morning without thinking! But the level of spiritual maturity they represent is still beyond me.