I Love to Tell the Story

Psalm 66:16 Come [and] hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat
What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

Words by Arabella Katherine Hankey 1866

Music by William G. Fischer 1869

Arabella Hankey, from England, was know as Kate to her friends. She was the daughter of a banker and belonged to an evangelical group known as the Clapham Sect. This group was noted for its mission and abolitionist positions. She taught Sunday school for girls and traveled to South Africa to work as a nurse. In her 30's she developed a long severe illness. During her slow recovery she wrote a long poem about Jesus in two parts. The first 50 stanzas involved asking about Him, and the second portion of the poem was answering her questions in the first. The lyrics to the hymns, I Love to Tell the Story and Tell Me the Old, Old Story are both taken from this poem.

William Gustavus Fischer was Professor of Music at Girard College. Before leaving that position, he started a piano business which became quite prosperous. I Love to Tell the Story was first published by the Methodist Episcopal Book Room in 1869.