CHRISTIAN HOME >> Marriage
SDAH 656
O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,
lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne,
that theirs may be the love which knows no ending,
whom thou forevermore dost join in one.
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For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
One Sunday evening in 1883 the two Blomfield sisters and some friends were singing hymns together in the Blomfield home at Wyke, Windermere, Cumberland. One of them was shortly to be married to Hugh Redmayne, and naturally the thoughts of the company turned to a hymn for the wedding. The prospective bride had a favorite tune, STRENGTH AND STAY, composed by John Bacchus Dykes (see Biographies), but it was pointed out that the words accompanying this tune were rather inappropriate for a wedding, as one line refers to “the brightness of a holy deathbed”! Whereupon the bride-to-be asked what was the use of having a poet for a sister if she could not write suitable words for her favorite tune. So Dorothy Frances Blomfield repaired to the quiet of the library and returned with the words of this hymn in the short space of 15 minutes. She said that once she had conceived the initial idea of love and life, it was no effort to compose the lines. The company all sung it together, and it was chosen for the wedding.
Dorothy Blomfield was born at Finsbury Circus, London, on October 4, 1858. She married an Anglican minister, Gerald Gurney, in 1897, and both were received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1919. She wrote two volumes of verse. She died at Notting Hill, Kensington, London, on June 15, 1932.
Dykes’ original tune has been displaced by the present O PERFECT LOVE, or SANDRINGHAM, composed by Joseph Barnby (1838-1896; see Biographies). Its first name comes from the opening words of the hymn for which it was written. Its second stems from the fact that the tune is an arrangement from an anthem specially written for the marriage of Princess Louise, sister of King George V, to the duke of Fife on July 27, 1889. Sandringham is one of the royal residences in Norfolk.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,
lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne,
that theirs may be the love which knows no ending,
whom thou forevermore dost join in one.
2
O perfect Life, be thou their full assurance
of tender charity and steadfast faith,
of patient hope and quiet, brave endurance,
with childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death.
3
Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow;
grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife,
and to life’s day the glorious unknown morrow
that dawns upon eternal love and life.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Matt 19:6
Author
Dorothy Blomfield Gurney (1858-1932)
Year Published
1883
Hymn Tune
O PERFECT LOVE
Metrical Number
11.10.11.10.
Composer
Joseph Barnby (1838-1896)
Year Composed
1889
