Lord of my life, O may thy praise

Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was born at Broughton, Hampshire, in 1717. Her father was a timber merchant, and at the same time officiated as the lay pastor of the Baptist Society at Broughton. Her mother died when she was 3. At the age of 19 she became an invalid after injuring her hip. At the age of 21 she was engaged to be married but her fiance drowned the day of the wedding. On the occasion of his death she wrote the hymn "When I survey life's varied scenes." After the death of her fiance she assisted her father with his ministry and remained single. Despite her sufferings she maintained a cheerful attitude. She published a book of poetry "Poems on subjects chiefly devotional" in 1760 under the pseudonym "Theodosia." The remaining works were published… Go to person page >

Lord of my life, O may Thy praise. Anne Steele. [Morning.] Appeared in her Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, 1760, vol. i. p. 20, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, headed, "A Morning Hymn"; and again in D. Sedgwick's reprint of her Hymns, 1863. In addition to its use in its original, and in an abbreviated form, it is also given in a few American collections, including the Presbyterian Psalms and Hymns for the Worship of God, Richmond, 1867, as, "God of my life, my morning song.”

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)