Hymn Studies

2 Thee we expect, our faithful Lord,
Who in thy name are joined;
We wait, according to thy word,
Thee in the midst to find.

3 With us thou art assembled here,
But O thyself reveal;
Son of the living God, appear!
Let us thy presence feel.

4 Breathe on us, Lord, in this our day,
And these dry bones shall live;
Speak peace into our hearts, and say,
"The Holy Ghost receive."

CHARLES WESLEY.

Title: Jesus the Desire of all Nations.
The original contains twelve stanzas.

These are verses one, five, eight, and nine. The author wrote "lovely" instead of "glorious" in verse one, line two, and "vows" instead of "songs" in verse two, line three.

From the author's hymn book, containing one hundred and sixty-six pieces, entitled, Hymus Adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion, 1782.

The Rev. John Fawcett was awakened by the preaching of George Whitefield; joined the Baptist Church at Bradford in 1758; after much prayer deeided to follow the advice of his friends and became a preacher; was ordained minister of a Baptist Church at Wainsgate, Eng., in 1765, and continued in the work of the ministry for more than fifty years.

From Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749. Un- He died in Christian triumph, in 1817, at the age of

altered.

Title: At Meeting of Friends,
There are four additional stanzas:

5 "Whom now we seek, O may we meet!
Jesus the Crucified.

Show us thy bleeding hands and feet,
Thou who for us hast died.

6 "Cause us the record to receive;
Speak, and the tokens show:
O be not faithless, but believe
In me who died for you.

7 "Lord, I believe for me, even me,
Thy wounds were opened wide;
• I see the prints, I more than see
Thy feet, thy hands, thy side.

8 "I cannot fear, I cannot doubt,
I feel the sprinkled blood;
Let every soul with me ery out,
Thou art my Lord, my God.""

seventy-eight years.

The hardness of our hearts remove, Thou who for all hast died; Show us the tokens of thy love, Thy feet, thy hands, thy side.

5 Ready thou art the blood to apply, And prove the record true; And all thy wounds to sinners cry, "I suffered this for you."

CHARLES WESLEY.

From Hymns and Sacred Poсть, 1749.

The author's title is: Before Preaching to the Colliers in Leicestershire.

This is composed of verses one, two, six, and nine, of a hymn of eighteen stanzas. No. 367 is a part of the same hymn.

The author wrote "stony" instead of "hardness" in verse four.

Among the omitted stanzas are the following, which contain great beauties and great defects:

"Thy feet were nailed to yonder tree

To trample down their sin;

Thy hands they all stretched out may see, To take the murderers in.

"Thy side an open fountain is,

Where all may freely go,

And drink the living streams of bliss,

And wash them white as snow."

33 God, the only object of worship.

С. М.

GOD, our strength, to thee our song
With grateful hearts we raise;

To thee, and thee alone, belong
All worship, love, and praise.

2 In trouble's dark and stormy hour
Thine ear hath heard our prayer;
And graciously thine arm of power
Hath saved us from despair.

3 And thou, O ever gracious Lord,
Wilt keep thy promise still,
If, meekly hearkening to thy word,
We seek to do thy will.

4 Led by the light thy grace imparts,
Ne'er may we bow the knee

To idols, which our wayward hearts
Set up instead of thee.

5 So shall thy choicest gifts, O Lord,
Thy faithful people bless;

For them shall earth its stores afford,
And heaven its happiness.

HARRIET AUBER.

ATHER of heaven, whose love profound
A ransom for our souls hath found,

Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy pardoning love extend.

2 Almighty Son, incarnate Word,
Our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy saving grace extend.

3 Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
The soul is raised from sin and death,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy quickening power extend.

4 Jehovah! Father, Spirit, Son,
Mysterious Godhead! Three in One!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
Grace, pardon, life to us extend.

EDWARD COOPER.

This hymn is unaltered and entire, as found in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, Adapted to the Scrvices of the Church of England. By the Rev. T. Cotterill, A.M., Eighth Edition, considerably enlarged. Sheffield, 1819. It first appeared in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, Uttoxeter, 1805. It was so well written that it has escaped the attention of the hymn menders and appears here in its original form.

Rev. Edward Cooper was a Church of England clergyman born in 1770. He died in 1833.

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Author's title: Universal Worship. From Airs of Palestine and Other Poems. Boston, 1841.

It was written for the opening of the Independent Congregational Church in Salem, Mass., 1824.

Verses two and three contain an elegant reference to the words of Christ to the woman of Samaria, John iv, 21-23. Two unimportant stanzas are omitted. In the second line of the last stanza Pierpont wrote:

"The lyre of prophet bards was strung."

John Pierpont was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1785; was graduated at Yale College in 1804; spent several years as teacher, lawyer, and merchant; and in 1818 began to study for the ministry. Soon after that he was installed pastor of the Hollis Street Unitarian Church, in Boston, where he remained for twenty-five years. At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, although seventy-five years old, he could not be contented to remain at home, and Governor Andrew appointed him chaplain of a regiment. His failing strength was not equal to the duties of his position, and he resigned. Ile was then appointed to a clerkship in Washington, and remained in the service of the government until the time of his death, in 1866. Pierpont was a scholar, orator, and poet, a radical temperance advocate, and bold antislavery leader.

Two of his hymns, both valuable, are found in this collection.

THOU, whom all thy saints adore,
We now with all thy saints agree,

And bow our inmost souls before
Thy glorious, awful Majesty.

2 We come, great God, to seek thy face, And for thy loving-kindness wait; And O how dreadful is this place!

'Tis God's own house, 'tis heaven's gate.

3 Tremble our hearts to find thee nigh;
To thee our trembling hearts aspire;
And lo! we see descend from high
The pillar and the flame of fire.

4 Still let it on the assembly stay,
And all the house with glory fill;
To Canaan's bounds point out the way,
And lead us to thy holy hill.

5 There let us all with Jesus stand, And join the general Church above, And take our seats at thy right hand, And sing thine everlasting love.

CHARLES WESLEY.

Title: Entering into the Congregation. Two 39 stanzas, the second and seventh, are omitted:

"Thee, King of nations, we proclaim:
Who would not our great Sovereign fear?
We long to experience all Thy name,
And now we come to meet Thee here.

"Come, Lord, our souls are on the wing,
Now on Thy great white throne appear,
And let my eyes behold my King,
And let me see my Saviour there."

HY presence, gracious God, afford;
Prepare us to receive thy word:
Now let thy voice engage our ear,
And faith be mixed with what we hear.

2 Distracting thoughts and cares remove,
And fix our hearts and hopes above:
With food divine may we be fed,
And satisfied with living bread.

Taken unaltered from Hymns and Sacred Poems. 3 To us the sacred word apply
By John and Charles Wesley, 1742.

2 Thee while the first archangel sings,
He hides his face behind his wings,
And ranks of shining thrones around
Fall worshiping, and spread the ground.

3 Lord, what shall earth and ashes do?
We would adore our Maker too;
From sin and dust to thee we cry,
The Great, the Holy, and the High.

4 Earth, from afar, hath heard thy fame,
And worms have learned to lisp thy name:
But O! the glories of thy mind
Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.

5 God is in heaven, and men below:
Be short our tunes; our words be few:
A solemn reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues.

ISAAC WATTS.

From Hore Lyrica, 1709. Author's title: The Conclusion-God Exalted above all Praise.

The second stanza is omitted:

"The lowest step beneath thy feet,
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet;
In vain the tall archangel tries
To reach thine height with wondering eyes."

This stanza is extravagant, but it is poetic, and
characteristic of its author.
The first line of the next stanza has been altered.
Watts wrote:

"Thy dazzling beauties whilst he sings."

With sovereign power and energy;
And may we, in thy faith and fear,
Reduce to practice what we hear.

HYMN STUDIES.

5 Send forth the seraphim, O Lord,
To touch thy servants' lips with fire;
Saviour, give them thy faithful word;
Come, Holy Ghost, their hearts inspire.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

Title: For the Opening of a Place of Worship. In the second line of the third stanza the authorized text is:

"Is Christ beneath this roof revealed."

From Sacred Poems and Hymns for Public and Private Devotion, 1853. This book the author calls "the most serious work" of his long life. It was edited the year previous to his death. See No. 5.

Glory begun below.

COME, ve that love the Lord,

And let your joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
While ye surround his throne.

2 Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God,
But servants of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad.

3 The God that rules on high,
That all the earth surveys,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas;

4 This awful God is ours,

Our Father and our Love;

S. M.

He will send down his heavenly powers,
To carry us above.

5 There we shall see his face,

And never, never sin;

There, from the rivers of his grace,
Drink endless pleasures in:

6 Yea, and before we rise
To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss
Should constant joys create.

7 The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruit on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow:

8 Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's

ground,

To fairer worlds on high.

ISAAC WATTS, ALT. BY J. WESLEY.

From Hymns and Spiritual Songs, book ii, 1707.
Title: Heavenly Joy on Earth.
Stanzas two and nine are omitted:

2 "The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place!
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.

9 "The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets."

The first stanza has been altered, yet some still
prefer it as Watts wrote it:

"Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known,
Join in a song with sweet accord,

And thus surround the

In the second verse of the hymn we have "servants." Watts wrote "fav'rites." Better than either of these would be children.

The third verse has been greatly improved by the changes made. Watts wrote:

"The God that rules on high,
And thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas."

It is no wonder that the author put this stanza in brackets.

In whom we are, and move,
The glory, power, and praise receive
Of thy creating love.

2 Let all the angel throng

Give thanks to God on high,
While earth repeats the joyful song,
And echoes to the sky.

3 Incarnate Deity,

Let all the ransomed race
Render in thanks their lives to thee,
For thy redeeming grace.

4 The grace to sinners showed,
Ye heavenly choirs proclaim,
And cry, "Salvation to our God,
Salvation to the Lamb!"

Title: To the Trinity.

CHARLES WESLEY.

From Hymns for Those that Seek, and Those that Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ. London, 1747. Long titles were fashionable in those days. The book was usually called Redemption Hymns, and was very popular. This is the first half of the original poem, unaltered.

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Hymn Studies: An Illustrated and Annotated Edition of the Hymnal of the ...