This hymn by Charles Wesley (1707-1788; see Biographies), was first published in his Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740, under the title “In Temptation.” Most probably it was prompted by the deep spiritual change that Wesley had undergone a year or two earlier. His brother, John, objected to the word “lover” as being too familiar for a human to apply to divinity. As a result, it was excluded from Methodist hymnbooks (but not Anglican!) even in their supposedly final edition in 1779, but after the death of the two Wesley brothers it found a place in 1800 and onward. John’s objections also applied to the very emotional and tender expressions in the hymn, though a verse in the Apocrypha says: “Lord, thou lover of souls” (Wisdom 11:26), and the Lord said through Jeremiah, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3). The hymn is noted for its simplicity and the abundant use of monosyllables, there being no less than 159 out of the 189 words of the hymn, and of the remaining 30 words 27 are of two syllables only.

The tune MARTYN was composed in 1834 by Simeon Butler Marsh (1798-1875) of Sherburne, New York, while riding on horseback on his circuit of singing schools. However, it was composed especially for his own hymn, “Mary at the Savior’s Tomb.” It is a very simple tune, for scores 1 and 2 are repeated in score 4. Of the 56 chords used, 37 are based on the tonic. Twelve of the remaining 19 are, as might be expected, based on the dominant. The committee cut the last two bars originally in each score, and combined the three chords involved into one bar only.

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.