SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 10 OF 22: O FOR A HEART TO PRAISE MY GOD

Kookaburas, Louisville Zoo

O for a heart to praise my God, 

A heart from sin set free,

A heart that always feels Thy blood 

So freely shed for me!

 

A heart resigned, submissive, meek, 

My great Redeemer's throne,

Where only Christ is heard to speak, 

Where Jesus reigns alone;

 

A lowly, humble, contrite heart, 

Believing, true, and clean,

Which neither life nor death can part 

From Christ who dwells within.

 

A heart in every thought renewed, 

And full of love divine;

Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, 

A copy, Lord, of Thine!

 

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart; Come quickly from above,

Write Thy new name upon my heart, Thy new, best name of Love.

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• This is the second hymn by Charles Wesley included in this series. It won't be the last. Wesley is only one of two hymn writers I'll be including more than one song by, the other being Isaac Watts.
• Does this song at all make you think of another of Wesley's classics, "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing?" Both of them are written Common Meter (8,6,8,6). In the Worship and Service Hymnal I grew up with, both songs are set to the tune Azmon, though for this song it also suggests a couple of other tunes, including Arlington, which is usually associate with "Am I A Soldier Of The Cross."
• In the above mentioned hymnal, it only included four verses for this song, omitting the third verse I included. The Cyberhymnal lists nine verses for "O For A Thousand Tongues" and eight for this one, so I selected one of the other verses to include when Becky and I sing it.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 6 OF 22: I WANT A PRINCIPLE WITHIN

Living Word Bible Church, Indianapolis; on sign: "Understanding the Bible. Independent, Non-Denominational, Dispensational."

I want a principle within Of watchful, godly fear,

A sensibility of sin, A pain to feel it near.

Help me the first approach to feel Of pride or wrong desire;

To catch the wandering of my will, And quench the kindling fire.

From Thee that I no more may stray, No more Thy goodness grieve,

Grant me the filial awe, I pray, The tender conscience give.

Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make!

Awake my soul when sin is nigh, And keep it still awake.

Almighty God of truth and love, To me Thy power impart;

The burden from my soul remove, The hardness from my heart.

O may the least omission pain My reawakened soul,

And drive me to that grace again, Which makes the wounded whole.

NOTES ON THIS HYMN:

• The words were written by my favorite hymn lyrist, Charles Wesley (brother and co-founder of the Methodist Church of John Wesley).
• The meter of this hymn is Common Meter Double (8,6,8,6,8,6,8,6). Becky and I are not familiar with the tune associated with it, so we sing it to the tune of other songs, such as "Faith Is The Victory," "My Faith Has Found A Resting Place (No Other Plea)," "I Sing The Mighty Power Of God," and "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear."
• I knew some of Wesley's hymns have more verses than are normally printed - for example, "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing," has 5 verses in the hymnal I'm most familiar with, 9 on Cyber Hymnal's page, and originally over twenty (with what we consider the first verse being actually the sixth or seventh verse) - so I looked on Cyber Hymnal of a pair of Wesley songs that had three verses each: this one and "Soldiers of Christ, Arise!" The total number of verses for this song? Three! For "Soldiers of Christ?" Sixteen. 
• As I was setting the date for this hymn, I realized it's 9-11. I'm following the planned format, of putting the first 16 songs in alphabetic order by title, and I'm sticking to it. But doesn't this song reflect spiritually the vigilance September 11th motivated us to have?