Scripture Verse

I will extol Thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever. Psalm 145:1

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 19: Eb­en­ez­er, or God’s help­ing hand re­viewed and ac­know­ledged.

Music: Lou­van Vir­gil C. Tay­lor, Chor­al An­thems (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: 1850) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

My help­er, God! I bless His name,
The same His pow­er, His grace the same,
The to­kens of His friend­ly care
Open, and crown, and close the year.

I ’midst ten thou­sand dan­gers stand,
Supported by His guard­ian hand;
And see, when I sur­vey my ways,
Ten thou­sand mo­nu­ments of praise.

Thus far His arm has led me on;
Thus far I make His mer­cy known;
And, while I tread this des­ert land,
New mer­cies shall new songs de­mand.

My grate­ful soul, on Jor­dan’s shore,
Shall raise one sac­red pil­lar more,
Then bear, in His bright courts above,
Inscriptions of im­mor­tal love.