Sardis

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Write to Sardis, (said the Lord)

Author: William Cowper
Published in 14 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Write to Sardis, (said the Lord)
And write what he declares;
He whose spirit and whose word
Upholds the seven stars:
All thy works and ways I search,
Find zeal and live decayed;
Thou art called a living church,
But thou art cold and dead.

2 "Watch, remember, seek and strive;
Exert thy former pains;
Let thy timely care revive,
And strengthen what remains;
Cleanse thine heart, thy works amend,
Former time to mind recall,
Lest my sudden stroke descend,
And smite thee once for all.

3 "Yet, I number now in thee,
A few that are upright;
These my father's face shall see,
And walk with me in white:
When in judgment I appear,
They for mine shall be confessed;
Let my faithful servants hear,
And woe be to the rest.

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians, 1803

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Author: William Cowper

William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional st… Go to person page >

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