Desiring to praise God for the experience of his goodness

Representative Text

The loving kindness of the Lord,
(Delightful theme!) demands my lays:
Thou, worthy to be lov'd, ador'd,
O teach my heart to sing thy praise!

In vain my heart with pleasure tries,
My God, to count thy mercies o'er;
So numerous and so bright they rise,
I gaze, I wonder, I adore!

Yet, all the powers I have are thine,
For thee, those powers I would employ;
And dedicate to love divine,
With humble gratitude and joy.

The sweet experience of thy grace
Which animates my voice to sing;
Incites my soul to seek thy face,
And trust the shelter of thy wing.

Thy guardian wing alone can bless;
I find repose and safety there;
The kindest refuge of distress
A sure relief in every care.

O let the wretched sons of woe
To thee apply, on thee depend:
And bid the drooping mourners know
In thee a never-failing friend.

Could e'er one soul in deep distress
That fled to thee for refuge say,
"Indulgent mercy would not bless,
and justice frown'd my hopes away?"

Ah no, a thousand thousand tongues
Thy love and truth, adoring own,
And offer their united songs
With grateful joy before thy throne.

Not e'en those happy minds can trace,
With all their powers renew'd, refin'd,
The boundless glories of thy grace,
O thou omnipotently kind!

Ah how shall these poor languid powers
With frail mortality opprest,
Display the grace my soul adored?
How speak the transports of the blest?

Dear Lord, accept my heart's desire,
Till death shall close these mortal days!
Then bid me join the heavenly choir,
And sing thy everlasting praise!

Source: Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose #77

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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First Line:	The loving kindness of the Lord, delightful theme
Title:	Desiring to praise God for the experience of his goodness
Author:	Anne Steele
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1780
Copyright:	This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.