Introduction

Words: Hen­ry F. Lyte, The Spir­it of the Psalms 1834.

Music: Morn­ing­ton ar­ranged from Gar­ret C. Well­es­ley, cir­ca 1760, in Da­vid’s Harp, by Ed­ward Mill­er, 1805 (🔊 pdf nwc).

This was the fa­vo­rite text of Sir Fow­ell Bux­ton. He once wrote to his daugh­ter that she would find his Bi­ble op­en­ing of its­elf to the place where this pass­age oc­curs. This text it was which gave him cour­age to move in the Brit­ish Par­lia­ment for the eman­ci­pa­tion of slaves through the Bri­tish Em­pire.

When he en­tered on that con­flict he stood al­most alone; when this bill was first read in Par­lia­ment it was re­ceived with shouts of de­ri­sive laugh­ter. But he be­thought him of this text, and he be­gan his speech, say­ing: Mr. Spea­ker, the read­ing of this bill is the be­gin­ning of a move­ment which will sure­ly end in the abo­li­tion of sla­ve­ry through­out the British do­min­ions.

The old Heb­rew pro­phet ne­ver said a tru­er word. Sir Fow­ell knew it, for the bat­tle was not his, but God’s.

Robinson, p. 59