1 My gracious Lord, I own Thy right
To every service I can pay,
And call it my supreme delight
To hear Thy dictates, and obey.
2 What is my being but for Thee,
Its sure support, its noblest end?
Thy ever smiling ace to see,
And serve the cause of such a Friend.
3 I would not breathe for worldly joy,
Or to increase my worldly good;
Nor future days nor powers employ
To spread a sounding name abroad.
4 ’Tis to my Saviour I would live,
To Him who for my ransom died;
Nor could untainted Eden give
Such bliss as blossoms at His side.
5 His work my hoary age shall bless,
When youthful vigour is no more;
And my last hour of life confess
His love hath animating power.
Amen.
Source: Worship and Service Hymnal: For Church, School, and Home #313
First Line: | My gracious Lord, I own Thy right |
Title: | Living to Serve the Cause of Christ |
Author: | Philip Doddridge |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
My gracious Lord, I own Thy right. P. Doddridge. [The Service of Christ a delight.] Published by Job Orton in his posthumous edition of Doddridge's Hymns, 1755, No. 294, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Christ's Service the fruit of our Labours on earth:" also given in J. D. Humphreys’s edition of the same, 1839, No. 320. Its use, especially in America, is extensive. Sometimes it is given as “All-gracious Lord, I own Thy right," as in the Unitarian Hymns of The Spirit, Boston, U.S.A., 1864.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)