LSB #708 "Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 John 4:19; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 4:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17

1 John 4:19:  "We love because he first loved us."

1 Peter 1:18-19:  "18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

1 Peter 4:11:  "whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen."

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17:  "14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

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The text is public domain:

1 Lord, Thee I love with all my heart;

I pray Thee, ne'er from me depart,

With tender mercy cheer me.

Earth has no pleasure I would share.

Yea, heav'n itself were void and bare

If Thou, Lord, wert not near me.

And should my heart for sorrow break,

My trust in Thee can nothing shake.

Thou art the portion I have sought;

Thy precious blood my soul has bought.

Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord,

Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word.

2 Yea, Lord, 'twas Thy rich bounty gave

My body, soul, and all I have

In this poor life of labor.

Lord, grant that I in ev'ry place

May glorify Thy lavish grace

And help and serve my neighbor.

Let no false doctrine me beguile;

Let Satan not my soul defile.

Give strength and patience unto me

To bear my cross and follow Thee.

Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord,

In death Thy comfort still afford.

3 Lord, let at last Thine angels come,

To Abr'ham's bosom bear me home,

That I may die unfearing;

And in its narrow chamber keep

My body safe in peaceful sleep

Until Thy reappearing.

And then from death awaken me,

That these mine eyes with joy may see,

O Son of God, Thy glorious face,

My Savior and my fount of grace.

Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend,

And I will praise Thee without end.

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1 John 4:19 seems to be present in the hymn's first line, although there isn't a very strong resemblance between the two.  1 Peter 1:18-19 also appears in the first verse, in the line "Thy precious blood my soul has bought."

1 Peter 4:11 appears in the lines "Lord, grant that I in ev'ry place / May glorify Thy lavish grace" in the second verse, and the passage from 1 Thessalonians 4 is in the last verse.

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A number of passages could be cited for the line "Thou art the portion I have sought" in the first verse.  Similar sentiments appear in Psalm 16:5; 73:26; 119:57, and Lamentations 3:24.

The titles "my God and Lord," which appear at the end of the first two verses may come from Thomas' words in John 20:28, although the order is reversed.

The line "To bear my cross and follow Thee" in the second verse refers to Matthew 10:38 ("'And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.'"), 16:24 ("Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"), and Luke 9:23 ("And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'").

The lines "Lord, let at last Thine angels come, / To Abr'ham's bosom bear me home" at the beginning of the third verse come from part of Luke 16:22:  "'The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.'"

The lines "That these mine eyes with joy may see, / O Son of God, Thy glorious face" in the third verse bear some similarity to Job 19:26-27a:  "26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another."