A present God is all our strength

A present God is all our strength

Author: Philip Doddridge
Published in 17 hymnals

Representative Text

1 A present God is all our strength,
And all our joy and hope;
When he withdraws, our comforts die,
And every grace must droop.

2 But flattering trifles charm our hearts
To court their false embrace,
Till justly this neglected friend
Averts his angry face.

3 He leaves us and we miss him not;
But go presumptuous on,
Till baffled, wounded, and enslaved,
We learn that God is gone.

4 And what, my soul, can then remain
One ray of light to give?
Severed from him, their better life,
How can his children live?

5 Hence, all ye painted forms of joy,
And leave my heart to mourn:
I would devote these eyes to tears,
Till cheered by his return.

6 Look back, my Lord, and own the place,
Where once thy temple stood;
For lo, its ruins bear the mark
Of rich atoning blood.

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799

Author: Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: A present God is all our strength
Author: Philip Doddridge
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 17 of 17)

A Collection of Hymns from Various Authors. New ed. #d1

Chapel Hymns #d4

Page Scan

Parish Hymns #62

Parish Psalmody #d3

Parish Psalmody #d3

Page Scan

Psalms and Hymns, for Christian Use and Worship #H205

TextPage Scan

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the Most Approved Authors #CIX

TextPage Scan

The Hartford Selection of Hymns #CIX

The Southern Psalmist #d5

The Southern Psalmist. New ed. #d7

Village Hymns #174

Page Scan

Village hymns for social worship, selected and original #174

Page Scan

Village hymns for social worship, selected and original #174

Page Scan

Village Hymns for Social Worship, Selected and Original #174

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us