Invitation to the Gospel Feast

The King of heaven His table spreads

Author: Philip Doddridge
Published in 230 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 The King of heav'n His table spreads,
And blessings crown the board;
Not paradise, with all its joys,
Could such delight afford.

2 Pardon and peace to dying men,
And endless life are giv'n,
Through the rich blood that Jesus shed
To raise our souls to heaven.

3 Millions of souls, in glory now,
Were fed and feasted here;
And millions more, still on the way,
Around the board appear.

4 All things are ready, come away,
Nor weak excuses frame;
Come to your places at the feast,
And bless the Founder’s Name.

Source: African American Heritage Hymnal #523

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: The King of heaven His table spreads
Title: Invitation to the Gospel Feast
Author: Philip Doddridge
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

DUNDEE (Ravenscroft)

DUNDEE first appeared in the 1615 edition of the Scottish Psalter published in Edinburgh by Andro Hart. Called a "French" tune (thus it also goes by the name of FRENCH), DUNDEE was one of that hymnal's twelve "common tunes"; that is, it was not associated with a specific psalm. In the Psalter Hymnal…

Go to tune page >


ELIZABETHTOWN (Kingsley)


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #3528
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)
TextPage Scan

African American Heritage Hymnal #523

TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #326

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #3528

Include 227 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us