All Scripture Precious

Representative Text

1 How precious is the Book Divine,
By inspiration giv'n!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine
To guide our souls to heav'n,
To guide our souls to heav'n.

2 Its light, descending from above
Our gloomy world to cheer,
Displays a Savior's boundless love
And brings His glories near,
And brings His glories near.

3 It shows to us our wand'ring ways
And where his feet have trod,
And brings to view the matchless grace
Of a forgiving God,
Of a forgiving God.

4 O'er all the straight and narrow way
Its radiant beams are cast;
A light whose never weary ray
Grows brightest at the last,
Grows brightest at the last.

5 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts
In this dark vale of tears,
Life, light, and joy it still imparts
And quells our rising fears,
And quells our rising fears.

6 This lamp through all the tedious night
Of life shall guide our way
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day,
Of an eternal day.



Source: Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #232

Author: John Fawcett

An orphan at the age of twelve, John Fawcett (b. Lidget Green, Yorkshire, England, 1740; d. Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, 1817) became apprenticed to a tailor and was largely self-educated. He was converted by the preaching of George Whitefield at the age of sixteen and began preaching soon thereafter. In 1765 Fawcett was called to a small, poor, Baptist country church in Wainsgate, Yorkshire. Seven years later he received a call from the large and influential Carter's Lane Church in London, England. Fawcett accepted the call and preached his farewell sermon. The day of departure came, and his family's belongings were loaded on carts, but the distraught congregation begged him to stay. In Singers and Songs of the Church (1869), Josiah Miller te… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: How precious is the book divine
Title: All Scripture Precious
Author: John Fawcett (1782)
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

How precious is the book divine. J. Fawcett. [Holy Scriptures.] Published in his Hymns, &c, 1782, No. 41, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and based upon the words, "Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Its use is extensive, especially in America, but usually in an abbreviated form. In the New Congregational Hymn Book, 1859, No. 466, stanza iii. is by another hand. Original text in Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 226.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

BELMONT (Gardiner)

This tune has been mis-attributed to various other composers, but is clearly the work of the above-named composer.

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KNOX (51232)


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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #2599
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Instances

Instances (1 - 12 of 12)

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Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #232

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Text

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The Cyber Hymnal #2599

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #143

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