Desiring Assurance of God's Favor

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Eternal Source of joys divine

Author: Anne Steele
Tune: ST. NICHOLAS (Havergal)
Published in 70 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Eternal source of joys divine,
To thee my soul aspires:
O could I say, "The Lord is mine,"
’Tis all my soul desires.

2 Thy smile can give me real joy,
Unmingled and refin'd;
Substantial bliss without alloy,
And lasting as the mind.

3 Thy smiles can gild the shades of woe,
Bid stormy trouble cease,
Spread the fair dawn of heav'n below,
And sweeten pain to peace.

4 My hope, my trust, my life, my Lord,
Assure me of thy love;
O speak the kind transporting word,
And bid my fears remove.

5 Then shall my thankful pow'rs rejoice,
And triumph in my God,
'Till heav’nly transport tunes my voice
To spread thy praise abroad.

Source: A Selection of Psalms and Hymns: done under the appointment of the Philadelphian Association #LXXIV

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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