Search Results

Text authorities

Lord, My Weak Though in Vain Would Climb

Author: Ray Palmer Meter: 8.8.8.8 Appears in 59 hymnals Topics: Decrees of God First Line: Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb Lyrics: 1 Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb to search the starry vault profound; in vain would wing her flight sublime to find creation's utmost bound. 2 But weaker yet that thought must prove to search thy great eternal plan, thy sov'reign counsels, born of love long ages ere the world began. 3 When my dim reason would demand why that, or this, thou dost ordain, by some vast deep I seem to stand, whose secrets I must ask in vain. 4 When doubts disturb my troubled breast, and all is dark as night to me, here, as on solid rock, I rest that so it seemeth good to thee. 5 Be this my joy, that evermore thou rulest all things at thy will; thy sov'reign wisdom I adore, and calmly, sweetly, trust thee still. Scripture: Proverbs 3:19-20 Used With Tune: CANONBURY

All That I Am I Owe to Thee

Meter: 8.8.8.8 Appears in 9 hymnals Topics: Decrees of God Scripture: Psalm 139 Used With Tune: FEDERAL STREET

Great God, how infinite art thou!

Author: Isaac Watts Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 323 hymnals Topics: God Decrees of Used With Tune: WINDSOR

View 45 more texts

Tunes

Tune authorities

CANONBURY

Meter: 8.8.8.8 Appears in 669 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Robert Schumann; Dale Grotenhuis Topics: Decrees of God Tune Key: G Major or modal Incipit: 53334 32123 56712 Used With Text: Lord, My Weak Though in Vain Would Climb

ST. THEODULPH

Meter: 7.6.7.6 D Appears in 653 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Melchior Teschner Topics: Decrees of God Tune Key: B Flat Major Incipit: 15567 11321 17151 Used With Text: O Father, You Are Sovereign

MORWELLHAM

Meter: 8.6.8.6.8.6 Appears in 40 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Charles Steggal, 1826-1905 Topics: Decrees of God Tune Key: E Flat Major Incipit: 34565 31436 71234 Used With Text: Father, I Know That All My Life

View 32 more tunes

Instances

Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

Divine Sovereignty; or God's Domion and Decrees

Author: Dr. Watts Hymnal: A Selection of Hymns #IX (1792) Topics: Decrees of God First Line: Keep silence all created things Lyrics: 1 Keep silence all created things, And wait your maker's nod; My soul stands trembling, while she sings The honors of her God. 2 Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown Hang on his firm decree: He sits on no precarious throne, Nor borrows leave to be. 3 Chain'd to his throne, a volume lies, With all the fates of men, With every angel's form and size, Drawn by th' eternal pen. 4 His providence unfolds the book, And makes his counsels shine; Each opening leaf, and every stroke, Fulfils some deep design. 5 Here, he exalts neglected worms To sceptres and a crown; And there, the following page he turns, And treads the monarch down. 6 Not Gabriel asks the reason why, Nor God, the reason gives; Nor dares the favorite angel pry Between the folded leaves. 7 My God, I would not long to see My fate with curious eyes, What gloomy lines are writ for me, Or what bright scenes may raise. 8 In thy fair book of life and grace, O may I find my name, Recorded in some humble place, Beneath my Lord the lamb! Languages: English

Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim

Hymnal: Psalter Hymnal (Red) #298 (1934) Meter: 8.8.8.8 D Topics: Decrees of God Lyrics: 1 Exalt the Lord, His praise proclaim; All ye His servants, praise His Name, Who in the Lord’s house ever stand And humbly serve at His command. The Lord is good, His praise proclaim; Since it is pleasant, praise His Name; His people for His own He takes And His peculiar treasure makes. 2 I know the Lord is high in state, Above all gods our Lord is great; The Lord performs what He decrees, In heaven and earth, in depths and seas. He makes the vapors to ascend In clouds from earth’s remotest end; The lightnings flash at His command, He holds the tempest in His hand. 3 Exalt the Lord, His praise proclaim; All ye His servants, praise His Name, Who in the Lord’s house ever stand And humbly serve at His command. Forever praise and bless His Name, And in the Church His praise proclaim; In Zion is His dwelling-place; Praise ye the Lord, show forth His grace. Scripture: Psalm 135 Languages: English Tune Title: CREATION

O Wherefore Do the Nations Rage

Hymnal: Psalter Hymnal (Red) #3 (1934) Meter: 8.8.8.8 Topics: Decrees of God Lyrics: 1 O wherefore do the nations rage, And kings and rulers strive in vain, Against the Lord of earth and heaven To overthrow Messiah's reign? 2 Their strength is weakness in the sight Of Him who sits enthroned above; He speaks, and judgments fall on them Who tempt His wrath and scorn His love. 3 By God's decree His Son receives The nations for His heritage; The conquering Christ supreme shall reign As King of kings, from age to age. 4 Be wise, ye rulers of the earth, And serve the Lord with godly fear; With reverent joy confess the Son While yet in mercy He is near. 5 Delay not, lest His anger rise, And ye should perish in your way; Lo, all that put their trust in Him Are blest indeed, and blest for aye. Scripture: Psalm 2 Languages: English Tune Title: UXBRIDGE

View 83 more instances

People

Authors, composers, editors, etc.

Samuel Rodigast

1649 - 1708 Topics: Decrees of God Author of "Whate'er my God ordains is right" in Trinity Hymnal Samuel Rodigast, son of Johann Rodigast, pastor at Groben near Jena, was born at Groben Oct. 19, 1649. He entered the University of Jena in 1668 (M.A. 1671), and was in 1676 appointed adjunct of the philosophical faculty. In 1680 he became conrector of the Greyfriars Gymnasium at Berlin. While in this position he refused the offers of a professorship at Jena and the Rectorships of the Schools at Stade and Stralsund. Finally, in 1698, he became rector of the Greyfriars Gymnasium, and held this post till his death. His tombstone in the Koster-Kirche in Berlin says he died "die xxix. Mart. a. MDCCVII . . . aetatis anno lix." ...Two hymns have been ascribed to him, on of which has passed into English, viz.:--"Whatever God ordains is right." --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Anna Letitia Waring

1823 - 1910 Person Name: Anna Laetitia Waring Topics: Decrees of God Author of "Father, I Know That All My Life" in Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church ================ Waring, Anna Laetitia, daughter of Elijah Waring, and niece of Samuel Miller Waring, was born at Neath, Glamorganshire, in 1820. In 1850 she published her Hymns and Meditations, by A. L. W., a small book of 19 hymns. The 4th edition was published in 1854. The 10th edition, 1863, is enlarged to 38 hymns. She also published Additional Hymns, 1858, and contributed some pieces to the Sunday Magazine, 1871. Her most widely known hymns are: "Father, I know that all my life," "Go not far from me, O my Strength," and "My heart is resting, O my God." The rest in common use include:— 1. Dear Saviour of a dying world. Resurrection. (1854.) 2. In heavenly love abiding. Safety in God. (1850.) 3. Jesus, Lord of heaven above. Love to Jesus desired. (1854.) 4. Lord, a happy child of Thine. Evening. (1850.) 5. My Saviour, on the [Thy] words of truth. Hope in the Word of God. (1850.) Sometimes stanza iv., "It is not as Thou wilt with me," is given separately. 6. O this is blessing, this is rest. Rest in the Love of Jesus. (1854.) 7. O Thou Lord of heaven above. The Resurrection. 8. Source of my life's refreshing springs. Rest in God. (1850.) 9. Sunlight of the heavenly day. New Year (1854.) 10. Sweet is the solace of Thy love. Safety and Comfort in God. (1850.) 11. Tender mercies on my way. Praise of Divine Mercies. (1850.) 12. Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. New Year (1854). 13. Though some good things of lower worth. Love of God in Christ, (1860.) These hymns are marked by great simplicity, concentration of thought, and elegance of diction. They are popular, and deserve to be so. [George Arthur Crawford, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =============== Waring, Anna L., p. 1233, ii. Of her hymns we have found the following in Lovell Squire's Selection of Scriptural Poetry, 3rd ed., 1848: 1. Father, I know that all my life, p. 367, ii. 2. Sweet is the solace of Thy love, p. 1233, ii. 10. 3. Though some good things of, &c., p. 1233, ii. 13. The statement in J. Telford's The Methodist Hymn Book Illustrated, 1906, p. 271, that Miss Waring contributed to her uncle's (S. M. Waring's) Sacred Melodies, 182G, cannot be correct, as she was then only six years old. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

William Cowper

1731 - 1800 Topics: Decrees of God Author of "God Moves In a Mysterious Way" in Psalter Hymnal (Red) William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional stability, but the periods of severe depression returned. His depression was deepened by a religious bent, which often stressed the wrath of God, and at times Cowper felt that God had predestined him to damnation. For the last two decades of his life Cowper lived in Olney, where John Newton became his pastor. There he assisted Newton in his pastoral duties, and the two collaborated on the important hymn collection Olney Hymns (1779), to which Cowper contributed sixty-eight hymn texts. Bert Polman ============ Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hastings, Colman, and the future model of his versification. Churchill, among his contemporaries or friends. Destined for the Bar, he was articled to a solicitor, along with Thurlow. During this period he fell in love with his cousin, Theodora Cowper, sister to Lady Hesketh, and wrote love poems to her. The marriage was forbidden by her father, but she never forgot him, and in after years secretly aided his necessities. Fits of melancholy, from which he had suffered in school days, began to increase, as he entered on life, much straitened in means after his father's death. But on the whole, it is the playful, humorous side of him that is most prominent in the nine years after his call to the Bar; spent in the society of Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd, and in writing satires for The Connoisseur and St. James's Chronicle and halfpenny ballads. Then came the awful calamity, which destroyed all hopes of distinction, and made him a sedentary invalid, dependent on his friends. He had been nominated to the Clerkship of the Journals of the House of Lords, but the dread of appearing before them to show his fitness for the appointment overthrew his reason. He attempted his life with "laudanum, knife and cord,"—-in the third attempt nearly succeeding. The dark delusion of his life now first showed itself—a belief in his reprobation by God. But for the present, under the wise and Christian treatment of Dr. Cotton (q. v.) at St. Albans, it passed away; and the eight years that followed, of which the two first were spent at Huntingdon (where he formed his lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin), and the remainder at Olney in active piety among the poor, and enthusiastic devotions under the guidance of John Newton (q. v.), were full of the realisation of God's favour, and the happiest, most lucid period of his life. But the tension of long religious exercises, the nervous excitement of leading at prayer meetings, and the extreme despondence (far more than the Calvinism) of Newton, could scarcely have been a healthy atmosphere for a shy, sensitive spirit, that needed most of all the joyous sunlight of Christianity. A year after his brother's death, madness returned. Under the conviction that it was the command of God, he attempted suicide; and he then settled down into a belief in stark contradiction to his Calvinistic creed, "that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlasting perdition" (Southey). In its darkest form his affliction lasted sixteen months, during which he chiefly resided in J. Newton's house, patiently tended by him and by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Unwin. Gradually he became interested in carpentering, gardening, glazing, and the tendance of some tame hares and other playmates. At the close of 1780, Mrs. Unwin suggested to him some serious poetical work; and the occupation proved so congenial, that his first volume was published in 1782. To a gay episode in 1783 (his fascination by the wit of Lady Austen) his greatest poem, The Task, and also John Gilpin were owing. His other principal work was his Homer, published in 1791. The dark cloud had greatly lifted from his life when Lady Hesketh's care accomplished his removal to Weston (1786): but the loss of his dear friend William Unwin lowered it again for some months. The five years' illness of Mrs. Unwin, during which his nurse of old became his tenderly-watched patient, deepened the darkness more and more. And her death (1796) brought “fixed despair," of which his last poem, The Castaway, is the terrible memorial. Perhaps no more beautiful sentence has been written of him, than the testimony of one, who saw him after death, that with the "composure and calmness" of the face there “mingled, as it were, a holy surprise." Cowper's poetry marks the dawn of the return from the conventionality of Pope to natural expression, and the study of quiet nature. His ambition was higher than this, to be the Bard of Christianity. His great poems show no trace of his monomania, and are full of healthy piety. His fame as a poet is less than as a letter-writer: the charm of his letters is unsurpassed. Though the most considerable poet, who has written hymns, he has contributed little to the development of their structure, adopting the traditional modes of his time and Newton's severe canons. The spiritual ideas of the hymns are identical with Newton's: their highest note is peace and thankful contemplation, rather than joy: more than half of them are full of trustful or reassuring faith: ten of them are either submissive (44), self-reproachful (17, 42, 43), full of sad yearning (1, 34), questioning (9), or dark spiritual conflict (38-40). The specialty of Cowper's handling is a greater plaintiveness, tenderness, and refinement. A study of these hymns as they stood originally under the classified heads of the Olney Hymns, 1779, which in some cases probably indicate the aim of Cowper as well as the ultimate arrangement of the book by Newton, shows that one or two hymns were more the history of his conversion, than transcripts of present feelings; and the study of Newton's hymns in the same volume, full of heavy indictment against the sins of his own regenerate life, brings out the peculiar danger of his friendship to the poet: it tends also to modify considerably the conclusions of Southey as to the signs of incipient madness in Cowper's maddest hymns. Cowper's best hymns are given in The Book of Praise by Lord Selborne. Two may be selected from them; the exquisitely tender "Hark! my soul, it is the Lord" (q. v.), and "Oh, for a closer walk with God" (q. v.). Anyone who knows Mrs. Browning's noble lines on Cowper's grave will find even a deeper beauty in the latter, which is a purely English hymn of perfect structure and streamlike cadence, by connecting its sadness and its aspiration not only with the “discord on the music" and the "darkness on the glory," but the rapture of his heavenly waking beneath the "pathetic eyes” of Christ. Authorities. Lives, by Hayley; Grimshaw; Southey; Professor Goldwin Smith; Mr. Benham (attached to Globe Edition); Life of Newton, by Rev. Josiah Bull; and the Olney Hymns. The numbers of the hymns quoted refer to the Olney Hymns. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Cowper, W. , p. 265, i. Other hymns are:— 1. Holy Lord God, I love Thy truth. Hatred of Sin. 2. I was a grovelling creature once. Hope and Confidence. 3. No strength of nature can suffice. Obedience through love. 4. The Lord receives His highest praise. Faith. 5. The saints should never be dismayed. Providence. All these hymns appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Cowper, W., p. 265, i. Prof. John E. B. Mayor, of Cambridge, contributed some letters by Cowper, hitherto unpublished, together with notes thereon, to Notes and Queries, July 2 to Sept. 24, 1904. These letters are dated from Huntingdon, where he spent two years after leaving St. Alban's (see p. 265, i.), and Olney. The first is dated "Huntingdon, June 24, 1765," and the last "From Olney, July 14, 1772." They together with extracts from other letters by J. Newton (dated respectively Aug. 8, 1772, Nov. 4, 1772), two quotations without date, followed by the last in the N. & Q. series, Aug. 1773, are of intense interest to all students of Cowper, and especially to those who have given attention to the religious side of the poet's life, with its faint lights and deep and awful shadows. From the hymnological standpoint the additional information which we gather is not important, except concerning the hymns "0 for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," "Tis my happiness below," and "Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken." Concerning the last three, their position in the manuscripts, and the date of the last from J. Newton in the above order, "Aug. 1773," is conclusive proof against the common belief that "God moves in a mysterious way" was written as the outpouring of Cowper's soul in gratitude for the frustration of his attempted suicide in October 1773. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

User Links