Scripture Verse

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. 2 Chronicles 15:12–14

Introduction

portrait
Edward F. Rimbault
1816–1876

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 23: Re­joic­ing in our co­ve­nant en­gage­ments to God. The re­frain is from Wes­ley­an Sac­red Harp, 1854. Prince Al­bert of Bri­tain re­quest­ed this hymn be sung at his child­ren’s con­fir­ma­tion.

Music: An­on­y­mous; re­frain at­trib­uted to Ed­ward F. Rim­bault, 1854 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Ayrton, in Car­mi­na Sac­ra, by Lo­well Ma­son (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1844), page 56 (🔊 pdf nwc)
portrait
Philip Doddridge
1702–1751

Anecdote

The his­tor­ic scene at Shang­hai, Chi­na, when the head of the Chi­nese Re­pub­lic, Gen­er­al Chiang Kai Shek, re­ceived the rite of Chris­tian bap­tism, has been pre­served for us by the Rev. J. C. Hawk, a mis­sion­ary of the Me­tho­dist Church (at that time the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church, South). This was the re­port gi­ven in some Am­er­i­can pe­ri­od­i­cals at the time:

“On Oc­to­ber 23, 1930, at 3 o’clock, P. M., mem­bers of the im­me­di­ate fa­mi­ly and a few spe­ci­al­ly in­vit­ed friends, Chi­nese and for­eign, joined in this ser­vice at the home of Mrs. Chiang’s mother, Mrs. K. T. Soong…Dr. Z. T. Kaung, pas­tor of the All­en Me­mor­ial Church, Shan­ghai, was in charge of the cer­e­mo­ny.

The ser­vic­es were held in the large re­cep­tion room…All sang to­ge­ther ‘Hap­py Day.’ Then the ri­tu­al cer­e­mo­ny of the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church, South, for bap­tism and re­ception in­to the church was read by Dr. Kaung. Mr. [sic] Chiang stood by the side of Gen­er­al Chiang, and he…followed the ser­vice and an­swered quiet­ly, but ve­ry clear­ly, each ques­tion as it was asked by the min­is­ter. The sac­ra­ment of the Lord’s sup­per was then ad­min­is­tered.

Singularly strange and deep­ly im­press­ive must it have been when that lit­tle com­pa­ny in Chi­na, on such a mem­or­a­ble oc­ca­sion, unit­ed in sing­ing

Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away.

Hart, pp. 27–28

Lyrics

O happy day, that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.

Refrain

Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray,
And live rejoicing every day
Happy day, happy day,
When Jesus washed my sins away.

O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.

Refrain

’Tis done: the great transaction’s done:
I am the Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on;
Charmed to confess the voice divine.

Refrain

Now rest my long divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest;
With ashes who would grudge to part
When called on angels’ bread to feast?

Refrain

High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear,
Till in life’s latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear.

Refrain