Scripture Verse

Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Galatians 4:6

Introduction

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 281: A fi­li­al tem­per the work of the Spir­it, and proof of adop­tion.

Music: La­ti­mer, ano­ny­mous, in Book of Hymns and Tunes, ed­it­ed by E. Thomp­son Baird & Charles C. Con­verse (Rich­mond, Vir­gin­ia: Pres­by­ter­ian Com­mit­tee of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1874), page 186 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
Philip Doddridge
(1702–1751)

Lyrics

Sovereign of all the worlds on high,
Allow my hum­ble claim;
Nor, while a worm would raise its head,
Disdain a fa­ther’s name.

My Fa­ther God! How sweet the sound!
How ten­der, and how dear!
Not all the me­lo­dy of Heav’n
Could so de­light the ear.

Come, sac­red Spir­it, seal the name
On mine ex­pand­ing heart;
And show, that in Je­ho­vah’s grace
I share a fi­li­al part.

Cheered by a sig­nal so di­vine,
Unwavering I be­lieve;
Thou know’st I Ab­ba, Fa­ther, cry,
Nor can the sign de­ceive.

On wings of ev­er­las­ting love
The Com­fort­er is come;
All ter­rors at His voice disperse,
And end­less plea­sures bloom.