Father, Whatever of Earthly Bliss

Representative Text

1 Father, whate’er of earthly bliss
Thy sov'reign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne of grace,
Let this petition rise.

2 Give me a calm, a thankful heart,
From every murmur free;
The blessing of Thy grace impart,
And let me live to Thee.

3 Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
My life and death attend;
Thy presence thro' my journey shine,
And crown my journey’s end.

Amen.


Source: Hymns for the Living Church #419

Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

Notes

This hymn is an excerpt (the final three stanzas) of Anne Steele's longer hymn, "When I survey life's varied scene," first published in Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional (1760), vol. 1, pp. 134-136.

Tune

NAOMI (Nägeli)

NAOMI was a melody that Lowell Mason (PHH 96) brought to the United States from Europe and arranged as a hymn tune; the arrangement was first published in the periodical Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1836). Some scholars have attributed the original melody to Johann G. Nageli (PHH 315), but there…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #425

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #591

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #148

The Baptist Hymnal #374

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #1463

Include 858 pre-1979 instances
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