Cork, Ireland. I’ve been there, and nineteenth century hymn writer George Wade Robinson (1838-1876) was born and grew up there. He later went to college in Dublin and became a pastor poet in Ireland and in England (Dublin, Dudley, Brighton, and Southampton). In addition to hymn lyrics, he also wrote sonnets and other poems and published some sermons in a book called The Philosophy of the Atonement and Other Sermons.
I don’t know if his poems were any good, nor have I read his sermons to see if they are helpful or even orthodox. But I have always loved the hymn, Loved With Everlasting Love, aka I Am His, and He Is Mine. I especially like the idea in the second stanza that our union with Christ gives us eyes to see the beauty of His creation in a new way. And Robinson pictures the rest we have in Christ in stanza three in a beautiful and immediate way. (Some might criticize the lyrics as sentimental, “Jesus is my boyfriend” words and thoughts, but I think there is plenty of precedent in Scripture for picturing the Lord, not as a boyfriend, but as the Eternal Lover of our souls.)
Then, the last verse which reminds us of the soaring words of Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a video to embed that presented all four verses of the hymn and that used the lovely tune that was written for this hymn by James Mountain, also a nineteenth century pastor and evangelist. (There’s a more modern tune setting that I thought was . . . forgettable.) This version was well done even though he left out the second stanza, my favorite.
We were singing hymns at a small group meeting last night, and I requested this one. I had no idea that it would be unknown to everyone there other than me and Engineer Husband. We managed to sing it, and I think everyone enjoyed the “new” hymn. I certainly did.
I love that hymn. I don’t think I’ve heard it in church in 25 years. I thought for sure I had a couple of versions with Mountain’s melody in my phone’s music, but the two I had were different. I’m glad you introduced it to some new folks!
I love this hymn also. It was not one I grew up with, but it appeared in a newer version of our hymnal and I liked the words, so I learned the song. (I was church pianist at that time.)
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I believed this put up used to be good. I do not realize who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you happen to are not already. Cheers!|
This hymn came to my mind this a.m. and I have a hymnal which includes it. So I quietly sang it..all 4 verses. I am drawn to the first verse, “Loved with everlasting love” and the refrain “I am His and He is mine.” At 81 I can say He has kept me in His loving care through good times and very difficult times. I am His and He is mine!
The Hymn is sung here.. by Mary McKee & The Genesis.. its the 5th song
https://youtu.be/PLCG9iq563o
Thank you for this post. When brought up with hymns it’s hard to believe how unknown many are – such as this beautiful one. Have been humming this to myself this morning and was suddenly hit with the theology of the first two lines -we are loved from eternity past, but only through His divine drawing are we led by grace to know that love. All praise to our wonderful LORD.
I just discovered this “new” hymn through an Alistair Begg sermon, in which he quoted the second verse. I thought, what a lovely poem! And a quick internet search netted your blog, as well as many videos of the original melody being played or sung. It’s a beautiful hymn, which I have now shared with our music pastor. I hope we’ll be singing this hymn as a congregation someday!
We sang this Hymn this in Morning in Church.Around the Lord’s Table .