O, richly, Father, have I been
Blest evermore by Thee!
And morning, noon, and night Thou hast
Preserved me tenderly.
And yet the love which Thou shouldst claim
To idols I have given;
Too oft have bound to earth the hopes
That know no home but heaven.
Unworthy to be called Thy son,
I come with shame to Thee,
Father!—O, more than Father, Thou
Hast always been to me!
Help me to break the heavy chains
The world has round me thrown,
And know the glorious liberty
Of an obedient son.
That I may henceforth heed whate’er
Thy voice within me saith,
Fix deeply in my heart of hearts
A principle of faith,—
Faith that, like armor to my soul,
Shall keep all evil out,
More mighty than an angel host,
Encamping round about.
Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #203
Furness, William Henry, D.D., born in Boston, 1802, and graduated at Harvard in Arts and Theology, 1820. From 1825 he has been an Unitarian Pastor in Philadelphia. He is an accomplished scholar, and has been an active worker in reforms of various kinds. His publications are numerous and
include a Manual of Domestic Worship, 1840, and a translation of Schiller's Song of the Bell.
His hymns are somewhat numerous, and several of them have great merit. The best and most widely used are:—
1. Father in heaven, to Thee my heart. Resignation. Appeared in The Christian Disciple, 1822. It was repeated in this form in some of the older collections, and a few modern hymnals, including the Boston Unitarian Hymns [& Tune] Book, 1868.… Go to person page >
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