1 My gracious Lord, I own thy right
to ev'ry service I can pay;
and call it my supreme delight
to hear thy dictates and obey.
2 What is my being but for thee,
its sure support, its noblest end,
thy ever-smiling face to see
and serve the cause of such a friend?
3 I would not breathe for worldly joy,
or to increase my worldly good,
nor future days or pow'rs employ
to spread a sounding name abroad;
4 But to my Saviour I would live,
to him who for my ransom died;
nor could untainted Eden give
such bliss as blossoms at his side.
5 His work my later tears shall bless,
when youthful vigour is no more,
and my last hour of life confess
his love hath animating pow'r.
Source: Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #459
First Line: | My gracious Lord, I own Thy right |
Title: | Living to Serve the Cause of Christ |
Author: | Philip Doddridge |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
My gracious Lord, I own Thy right. P. Doddridge. [The Service of Christ a delight.] Published by Job Orton in his posthumous edition of Doddridge's Hymns, 1755, No. 294, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Christ's Service the fruit of our Labours on earth:" also given in J. D. Humphreys’s edition of the same, 1839, No. 320. Its use, especially in America, is extensive. Sometimes it is given as “All-gracious Lord, I own Thy right," as in the Unitarian Hymns of The Spirit, Boston, U.S.A., 1864.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)