My Jesus, I Love Thee (Featherston)

My Jesus, I Love Thee is the incipit of a four-stanza hymn written ca. 1862 by a Canadian boy (he apparently was 16 at the time) named William Ralph Featherston (many sources give his last name as Featherstone, but apparently there was no final "e" to it). It was published, anonymously and obscurely, in 1862, more prominently but still anonymously in 1864, and eventually in 1902 Featherston was finally revealed as the lyricist.

Lyrics

As sung to Gordon:

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

When sung to Boundless Salvation, the first half of the last line of each stanza is triplicated, thus:

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, if ever I loved Thee,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, if ever I loved Thee,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, if ever I loved Thee,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, if ever I loved Thee,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

Associated Tunes

• Gordon
• Boundless Salvation

External Links

• Mudcat Café thread dealing with issues of origins and tunes
• Lyrics at CyberHymnal.org