He wants not friends that hath thy love

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He wants not friends that hath thy love

Author: Richard Baxter
Published in 25 hymnals

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	His Majesty and Power (Jubilant Hymns of…

Representative Text

1 He wants not friends that hath thy love,
and may converse and walk with thee,
and with thy saints here and above,
with whom for ever I must be.

2 In the blest fellowship of saints
is wisdom, safety, and delight;
and when my heart declines and faints,
it’s raisèd by their heat and light.

3 As for my friends, they are not lost;
the several vessels of thy fleet,
though parted now, by tempests tossed,
shall safely in the haven meet.

4 Still we are centred all in thee,
members, though distant, of one Head;
in the same family we be,
by the same faith and spirit led.

5 Before thy throne we daily meet
as joint-petitioners to thee;
in spirit we each other greet,
and shall again each other see.

6 The heavenly hosts, world without end,
shall be my company above;
and thou, my best and surest Friend,
who shall divide me from thy love?

Source: Common Praise: A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern #459a

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Author: Richard Baxter

Baxter, Richard. Only s. of Richard Baxter, yeoman, Eaton Constantine, Shropshire, b. at Rowton, Shropshire, Nov. 12,1615. He was educated at Wroxeter School, and for a time held the Mastership of the Dudley Grammar School. On taking Holy Orders, he became, in 1640, Ourate of Kidderminster. Subsequently he was for some time chaplain to one of Cromwell's regiments. Through weakness he had to take an enforced rest, during which he wrote his Saints’ Everlasting Rest. On regaining his health he returned to Kidderminster, where he remained until 1660, when he removed to London. At the Restoration he became chaplain to Charles II and was offered the bishopric of Hereford, which he refused. On the passing of the Act of Uniformity, he retired fro… Go to person page >

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First Line:	He wants not friends that hath thy love
Author:	Richard Baxter
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

He wants not friends that hath Thy love. R. Baxter. [The Communion of Saints.] This, in The English Hymnal, 1906, No. 401, is a cento from Baxter's poem, "The Resolution," in his Poetical Fragments, 1681, pp. 51-61. The poem is headed "Written when I was. silenced and cast out," and dated Dec. 3, 1663. The first stanza is "Lord, I have cast up the account." [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

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