Seek Him While He May Be Found

Representative Text

1. My son, know thou the Lord,
Thy father’s God obey;
Seek His protecting care by night,
His guardian hand by day.

2. Call, while He may be found;
Seek Him while He is near;
Serve Him with all thy heart and mind,
And worship Him with fear.

3. If Thou wilt seek his face,
His ear will hear Thy cry;
Then shalt Thou find His mercy sure,
His grace forever nigh.

4. But if thou leave thy God,
Nor choose the path to heaven,
Then shalt thou perish in thy sins,
And never be forgiven.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #4371

Author: Robert Carr Brackenbury

Brackenbury, Robert Carr, of an old Lincolnshire family, was born at Panton House, in that county, in 1752. He entered into residence at St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge, but joining the Wesleys, he left without taking a degree, and became a minister of the Methodist denomination. In that capacity he visited Guernsey, Jersey and Holland. He retired from active work in 1789, and died at his residence, Raithby Hall, near Spilsby, Aug. 11, 1818. His works include:—(1) Sacred Poems, in 3 parts, Lond., 1797; (2) Select Hymns, in 2 parts, Lond., 1795; (3) Sacred Poetry; or Hymns on the Principal Histories of the Old and New Testaments and on all the Parables, Lond., 1800, and some prose publications. He also edited and altered William Cruden's… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: My son, know thou the Lord
Title: Seek Him While He May Be Found
Author: Robert Carr Brackenbury
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

My son, know thou the Lord. [Early Piety Enforced.] Anon, in Rebecca Wilkinson's Short Sermons to Children, &c, circa 1795 (see p. 1038, ii.) at the end of Ser. xvi. In J. Benson's Hymns for Children and Young Persons, &c, 1806, No. 64, it is given with others as by “Brackenbury." As this was four years before R. C. Brackenbury's death (see p. 168, i.), and both he and Watson were Wesleyan ministers, and well known to each other, we hold this to be good proof of Brackenbury's authorship.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Tune

LULU


TYNE (Handel)


DENNIS (Nägeli)

Lowell Mason (PHH 96) arranged DENNIS and first published it in The Psaltery (1845), a hymnal he compiled with George. Webb (PHH 559). Mason attributed the tune to Johann G. Nageli (b. Wetzikon, near Zurich, Switzerland, 1773; d. Wetzikon, 1836) but included no source reference. Nageli presumably pu…

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The Cyber Hymnal #4371

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