Scripture Verse

I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. Genesis 18:19

Introduction

portrait
Philip Doddridge
(1702–1751)

Words: Phi­lip Dodd­ridge (1702–1751). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Found­ed on Va­ri­ous Texts in the Ho­ly Scrip­tures, by Job Or­ton (Shrop­shire, Eng­land: Jo­shua Ed­dowes & John Cot­ton, 1755), num­ber 2: God’s gra­cious ap­pro­ba­tion of a re­li­gious care of our fa­mi­lies.

Music: Ma­ry­ton H. Per­cy Smith, in Church Hymns with Tunes (Lon­don: 1874) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Smith (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Father of men, Thy care we bless,
Which crowns our fa­mi­lies with peace:
From Thee they spring, and by Thy hand
Their root, and branch­es are sus­tained.

To God, most wor­thy to be praised,
Be our do­mes­tic al­tars raised;
Who, Lord of Heav­en, scorns not to dwell
With saints, in their ob­scur­est cell.

To Thee may each unit­ed house
Morning, and night, pre­sent its vows;
Our serv­ants there, and ris­ing race
Be taught Thy pre­cepts, and Thy grace.

O may each fu­ture age pro­claim
The hon­ors of Thy glo­ri­ous name,
While pleased, and thank­ful, we re­move
To join the fa­mi­ly above.