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Awhile in Spirit, Lord, to Thee

Representative Text

1 Awhile in spirit, Lord, to Thee
Into the desert would we flee;
Awhile upon the barren steep
Our fast with Thee in spirit keep:

2 Awhile from Thy temptation learn
False Satan's wileful lures to spurn,
And in our hearts to feel and own
"Man liveth not by bread alone."

3 O Thou once tempted like as we,
Thou knowest our infirmity;
Be Thou our helper in the strife,
Be Thou our true, our inward life.

4 And while at Thy command we pray
"Give us our bread from day to day,"
May we with Thee, O Christ, be fed,
Thou Word of God, Thou living Bread.

Amen.

The Hymnal: revised and enlarged as adopted by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the year of our Lord 1892

Author: Joseph Francis Thrupp

Thrupp, Joseph. Francis, M.A., son of a solicitor, was born May 20,1827, and educated at Winchester School and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Winchester he gained the Heathcote and Duncan prizes, and the Queen's gold medal for an English poem, and was Head Prefect during his last year. He graduated in 1849 as 7th Wrangler, and 11th in the 1st class of the Classical Tripos. In 1850 he was elected a Fellow of his college. Taking Holy Orders in 1852, he was appointed Vicar of Barrington, Cambridge, in 1852, and Select Preacher before the University in 1865. He was also for some time a member of the Board of Theological Studies, and was associated with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge some 20 years. He died at Surbiton, Sept. 24,… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Awhile in spirit, Lord, to Thee
Title: Awhile in Spirit, Lord, to Thee
Author: Joseph Francis Thrupp
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Awhile in spirit, Lord, to Thee. J. F. Thrupp. [Lent.] One of the best known and most popular of Mr. Thrupp's hymns. It was written for and first published in his Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship, 1853, No. 64, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In 1861 the Rev. F. Pott included it in his Hymns, &c, No. 72, with stanzas iii. and iv. transposed, some minor alterations, and a doxology from the Latin. This form was repeated in Church Hymns, 1871, No. 103. Original text in Thring's Collection, 1882, No. 154, with stanza i., 1. 2, "Into the desert would we flee," for “Would we unto the desert flee,” an alteration from the Rev. F. Pott as above. The text of Hymns & Songs of Praise: N. Y., 1874, is that of the Rev. F. Pott with a slight alteration, and the omission of the doxology.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

RIVAULX (Dykes)


ABENDS


ROCKINGHAM (Miller)

Edward Miller (b. Norwich, England, 1735; d. Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, 1807) adapted ROCKINGHAM from an earlier tune, TUNEBRIDGE, which had been published in Aaron Williams's A Second Supplement to Psalmody in Miniature (c. 1780). ROCKINGHAM has long associations in Great Britain and North Amer…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #334
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The Cyber Hymnal #334

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