The Happiness of Humble Worship

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How lovely, how divinely sweet

Author: Anne Steele
Tune: PORTUGAL (Thorley)
Published in 52 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 How lovely, how divinely sweet,
O Lord, Thy sacred courts appear!
Fain would my longing passions meet
The glories of Thy presence there.

2 Oh, blest the men, blest their employ,
Whom Thine indulgent favors raise
To dwell in those abodes of joy,
And sing Thy never-ceasing praise.

3 God is a sun; our brightest day
From His reviving presence flows;
God is a shield through all the way,
To guard us from surrounding foes.

4 O Lord of hosts, Thou God of grace,
How blest, divinely blest, is he,
Who trust Thy love and seeks Thy face,
And fixes all his hopes on Thee!

Amen.

Source: Book of Worship with Hymns and Tunes #53

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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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