1 In glad amazement, Lord, I stand,
Amidst the bounties of thy hand.
How numberless those bounties are!
How rich, how various, and how fair!
2 But O! what poor returns I make!
What lifeless thanks I pay thee back!
Lord! I confess with humble shame,
My off'rings scarce deserve the name.
3 Fain would my lab'ring heart devise
To bring some nobler sacrifice.
It sinks beneath the mighty load:
What shall I render to my God?
4 To him I consecrate my praise,
And vow the remnant of my days.
Yet, what at best, I can pretend,
Worthy such gifts from such a friend?
5 In deep abasement, Lord, I see
My emptiness and poverty.
Enrich my soul with grace divine,
And make me worthier to be thine.
6 Give me at length an angel's tongue,
That heav'n may echo with my song.
The theme, too great for time, shall be
The joy of long eternity.
Source: A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #49
Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files