17/03/2007

Hymn Prayer 408

This is a hymn about prayer. Much of it is quite conventional though there are some good lines - 'Though slow I speak, he swiftly hears' (in James 1:19 it is we who are told to be swift to hear)and 'Such wondrous grace demands a song'. 'The holy and the just' is a phrase found in the Book of Enoch and pretty much in Acts 3:14. Anne Steele has a hymn that begins 'And did the holy and the just'. 'His lofty throne' is from Isaiah 6. 'Rouse then my soul, awake my tongue' is the opening 'Awake, my soul, awake, my tongue' in Keach's nativity hymn. Mary is said to be 'Worthy of my love' in the Mediaeval Stabat Mater. Perhaps Beddome consciously adds 'Supremely' here.

408 God hearing prayer LM

IN God the holy and the just Would I repose my only trust; To him in all my troubles fly, And on his powerful arm rely.
2 With thankfulness for mercies past, I still on him my burdens cast; With inward grief my sins confess And humbly seek forgiving grace.
3 Now, I approach his lofty throne And find acceptance through his Son; There will I pour my sighs and tears, Though slow I speak, he swiftly hears.
4 God is my refuge, and will prove Supremely worthy of my love; Rouse then my soul, awake my tongue, Such wondrous grace demands a song.

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