Persevering Grace

Representative Text

1 To God the only wise,
our Savior and our King,
let all the saints below the skies
their humble praises bring.

2 ’Tis His almighty love,
His counsel and His care,
preserves us safe from sin and death,
and ev'ry hurtful snare.

3 He will present our souls
unblemished and complete,
before the glory of His face,
with joys divinely great.

4 Then all the chosen seed
shall meet around the throne,
shall bless the conduct of His grace,
And make His wonders known.

5 To our Redeemer God
wisdom and pow'r belongs,
immortal crowns of majesty,
and everlasting songs.

Source: Hymns to the Living God #59

Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: To God the only wise, Our Savior and our King
Title: Persevering Grace
Author: Isaac Watts
Meter: 6.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

To God the only wise, Our Saviour and our King. I. Watts. [Preserving Grace.] First published in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707 (2nd ed. 1709, Bk. i., No. 51), in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. It is found in most of the early hymnbooks, especially those of a Calvinistic type, as the collections of G. Whitefield, M. Madan, and others, but to modern hymnals, except in America, it is not so well known, although still found in several books.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

ST. MICHAEL (Genevan)


ST. THOMAS (Williams)

ST. THOMAS is actually lines 5 through 8 of the sixteen-line tune HOLBORN, composed by Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) and published in his Collection (1763, 1765) as a setting for Charles Wesley's text "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (570). The harmonization is by Lowell Maso…

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Timeline

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The Cyber Hymnal #6854
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The Cyber Hymnal #6854

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The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #721

Primitive Baptist Hymn and Tune Book #44

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Hymns to the Living God #59

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