Praise for the Blessings of Providence and Grace

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Almighty Father, gracious Lord

Author: Anne Steele
Published in 131 hymnals

Piano/Organ
	SONGS OF THE SHEPHERD

Representative Text

1 Almighty Father, gracious Lord,
Kind guardian of my days,
Thy mercies let my heart record
In songs of grateful praise.

2 In life's first dawn, my tender frame
Was thy indulgent care,
Long ere I could pronounce thy name,
Or breathe the infant prayer.

3 Each rolling year new favors brought
From thy exhaustless store;
But, ah! in vain my laboring thought
Would count thy mercies o'er.

4 While sweet reflection, through my day,
Thy bounteous hand would trace,
Still dearer blessings claim thy praise,
The blessings of thy grace.

5 Yes, I adore thee, gracious Lord!
For favors more divine;
That I have known thy sacred word,
Where all thy glories shine.

6 Lord, when this mortal frame decays,
And every weakness dies,
Complete the wonders of thy grace,
And raise me to the skies.

Source: A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #411

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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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First Line:	Almighty Father, gracious Lord
Title:	Praise for the Blessings of Providence and Grace
Author:	Anne Steele
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Psalm 139
(hymns)

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Notes

Almighty Father, gracious Lord. Anne Steele. [Providence and Grace.] "Praise to God for the Blessings of Providence and Grace,” is the title of this hymn in 16 stanzas of 4 lines in her Poems, &c, 1760, and 2nd edition 1780. A cento therefrom in Dr. Alexander's Augustine Hymn Book, 1849-65, is composed of st. i., ii., vii.-ix., xv., and xvi. It is also found in some American collections. Another arrangement of stanzas beginning with the first stanza was included in Cotterill's Selection 1810. Of this, stanza iii., 11. 5-8, is altered from Cowper.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

EVAN (Havergal)

This tune [EVAN], "the popularity of which in Scotland, America, and the Colonies is quite unprecedented" (Tonic Sol Fa Reporter, May 15, 1870), consists of the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th strains of "O Thou dread Power" a sacred song by the Rev. W.H. Havergal, the melody being unaltered. EVAN II is the…

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[Almighty Father, gracious Lord] (Mathias)

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