Lo! I Come with Joy

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Lo! I come with joy to do

Author: Charles Wesley (1747)
Tune: LLANGEITHO
Published in 41 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1. Lo! I come with joy to do
The Master's blessed will;
Him in outward works pursue,
And serve his pleasure still.
Faithful to my Lord's commands,
I still would choose the better part,
Serve with careful Martha's hands
And Mary's loving heart.

2. Careful without care I am,
Nor feel my happy toil;
Kept in peace by Jesus' name,
Supported by his smile;
Joyful this my faith to show,
I find his service my reward;
Ev'ry work I do below,
I do it to the Lord.

3. Now, O Lord, in tender love
You all my burdens bear,
Lift my heart to things above,
And fix it ever there.
Calm on tumult's wheel I sit,
'Mid busy multitudes alone,
Sweetly waiting at your feet,
Till all your will be done.

4. Oh, that all might know the art
Of living thus to you!
Find their Heav'n begun below,
And here your glory view!
Walk in all the works prepared
By you to exercise their grace,
Till they gain their full reward
And see your glorious face!

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #239

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Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Lo! I come with joy to do
Title:	Lo! I Come with Joy
Author:	Charles Wesley (1747)
Meter:	7.6.7.6.7.8.7.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Lo! I come with joy to do. C. Wesley. [For Men in Business.] Published in Hymns for those that Seek, and those that Have Redemption, 1747, in 6 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed "For a Believer, in Worldly Business" (PoeticalWorks, 1868-72, voi. iv. p. 214). It is in common use in the following forms:—
1. Lo! I come with joy to do. This was given in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 316, and has been repeated in several collections in Great Britain and America. From this stanza iv. is usually omitted.
2. Behold I come with joy to do. In the American Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849, and other American collections. This is stanzas i., ii., and vi., slightly altered.
3. Since I've known a Saviour's Name. This altered form of stanzas ii., iv., and vi. was given in the American Prayer Book Collection, 1826, and is repeated in the Hymnal of the Protestamt Episcopal Church, 1871. In the first line of stanza iii. an unfortunate change was made in 1826, and is retained in 1871. The original reads:—