A hymn for Sunday

WHAT was it, O our God,
led You to give Your Son,
to yield Your well-beloved
for us by sin undone?
Unbounded love led You to give
Your well-loved Son that we might live.

What led the Son of God
to leave His throne on high,
to shed His precious blood,
to suffer and to die?
Unbounded love for sinners lost
led Him to suffer at such cost.

What moved You to impart
Your Spirit from above,
that He might fill our heart
with heavenly peace and love?
Unbounded love moved You to send
the Spirit as our guide and friend.

What love to You we owe,
our God, for all Your grace!
Our hearts may well o’erflow
in everlasting praise:
then let us raise our songs on high
such boundless love to magnify.

Ann Gilbert, 1782-1866

Incidentally, this hymn has been rescued, revived, revitalised by the editors of CHII. Previously the final two lines of all but the last verse were

'Twas love, unbounded love to us
led thee to ............................. thus.

The last verse did it in reverse. ".... thus ..... us". To rhyme us with thus once is weak. To do it repeatedly seems like gross negligence. Bravo, editors !

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