Loving, Because God Loved

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Thy mighty love, O God, constraineth me

Author: E. May Grimes
Tune: RIBER
Published in 3 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Thy mighty love, O God, constraineth me,
As some strong tide it presseth on its way,
Seeking a channel in my self-bound soul,
Yearning to sweep all barriers away.

2 Shall I not yield to that constraining power?
Shall I not say, O tide of Love, flow in?
My God, Thy gentleness hath conquered me,
Life cannot be as it hath hither been.

3 Break through my nature, mighty, heavenly Love,
Clear every avenue of thought and brain,
Flood my affections, purify my will,
Let nothing but Thine own pure life remain.

4 Thus wholly mastered and possessed by God,
Forth from my life, spontaneous and free,
Shall flow a stream of tenderness and grace,
Loving, because God loved, eternally.

Source: Churches of Christ Hymn Book #363

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Author: E. May Grimes

Emily May Grimes Crawford is described in the author index of the Book of Common Praise (Toronto, 1938) as a Canadian Anglican [as author of "The Master comes! He calls for thee], which she altogether was nor was not. The hymn was first published in London by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1890, before Emily May Grimes had ever left her native England. In 1893, she went to South Africa under CMS sponsorship to work among the Pondo tribe; then, in 1904, she married T.W.W. Crawford, M.D., and went to work with him among the Kikuyu of Kenya. Her career thus far is outlined in Julian (1907), p. 1712. The mission station at which the bride arrived had indeed been started by the CMS, but had been turned over to the newly-formed mission… Go to person page >

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