1 I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The Church our blest Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.

2 I love Thy Church, O God:
Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye,
And graven on Thy hand.

3 For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend;
To her my cares and toils be given,
Till toils and cares shall end.

4 Beyond my highest joy
I prize her heavenly ways,
Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
Her hymns of love and praise.

5 Jesus, Thou Friend Divine,
Our Saviour and our King,
Thy hand from every snare and foe
Shall great deliverance bring.

6 Sure as Thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
The brightest glories earth can yield,
And brighter bliss of heaven.

Amen.

The Hymnal: Published by the authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Ps. 17:8, Deut. 32:10, Isa. 49: 16
st. 2 = Ps. 137:5-6

Timothy Dwight (b. Northampton, MA, 1752; d. Philadelphia, PA, 1817) was a grandson of Jonathan Edwards who became a Congregationalist pastor, a Revolutionary War army chaplain, a tutor and professor at Yale College, and president of Yale from 1795 to 1817. As president he continued to teach and serve as chaplain and was instrumental in improving both the academic and the spiritual life of the college.

Because the British emphasis of Isaac Watts' psalms and hymns became politically incorrect in the United States following the American Revolution, the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of Connecticut asked Dwight to revise Watts' collection. The title of Dwight's volume explains its contents: The Psalms of David … by I. Watts. A New Edition in which the Psalms omitted by Dr. Watts are versified, local passages are altered, and a number of Psalms are versified anew in proper metres. By Timothy Dwight … To the Psalms is added a Selection of Hymns (1801). This edition, known as “Dwight’s Watts,” became a popular collection in the United States, although Dwight’s own versifications of psalms were often very free even by late eighteenth-century standards.

Inspired by Psalm 137:5-6, Dwight's text was published in eight stanzas; the first line was originally "I love your kingdom, Lord" (Dwight equated the kingdom of God with the church of God). ThePsalter Hymnal includes his stanzas 1-2 and 6.

Dwight's text is the oldest hymn text by an American author in common use today. In three compact stanzas "I Love Your Church" proclaims a profound love for the church of God, for its members (st. 1) who are saved by Christ (st. 3), and who express their communion in whole-life worship (st. 2).

Liturgical Use:
Regular worship services; special occasions in the life and worship of the church.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook