Thee, dearest Lord, my soul adores

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Thee, dearest Lord, my soul adores

Author: Anne Steele
Published in 4 hymnals

Representative Text

I. Thee, dearest Lord, my soul adores,
I would be thine, and only thine;
To thee, my heart and all it pow'rs,
With full consent, I would resign.

II. But ah! this weak inconstant mind,
How frail, how apt from thee to stray!
Trifles, as empty as the wind,
Can tempt my roving thoughts away.

III. Sure I am thine—or why this load
When earthly vanities beguile?
Why do I mourn my absent God,
And languish for thy cheering smile?

IV. If thou return, how sweet the joy,
Though mix'd with penitential smart!
Then I despise each tempting toy,
And long to give thee all my heart.

V. Come, Lord, thy saving pow'r display,
(Resistless pow'r of love divine!)
And drive thy hated foes away,
And make me thine, and only thine.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 1 #117

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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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