The Evil Heart

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Astonished and distressed

Author: Benjamin Beddome (1787)
Published in 82 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Astonished and distressed,
I turn my eyes within;
My heart with loads of guilt oppressed
The source of every sin.

2 What crowds of evil thoughts,
What vile affections there!
Envy and pride, deceit and guile,
Distrust and slavish fear.

3 Almighty King of saints!
These tyrant lusts subdue;
Drive the old serpent from his seat,
And all my powers renew.

4 This done,–my cheerful voice
Shall loud hosannas raise;
My heart shall glow with gratitude,
My lips be filled with praise.

Source: Hymns for the Sanctuary and Social Worship: with tunes #406

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Author: Benjamin Beddome

Benjamin Beddome was born at Henley-in Arden, Warwickshire, January 23, 1717. His father was a Baptist minister. He studied at various places, and began preaching in 1740. He was pastor of a Baptist society at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, until his death in 1795. In 1770, he received the degree of M.A. from the Baptist College in Providence, Rhode Island. He published several discourses and hymns. "His hymns, to the number of 830, were published in 1818, with a recommendation from Robert Hall." Montgomery speaks of him as a "writer worthy of honour both for the quantity and the quality of his hymns." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Astonished and distressed
Title:	The Evil Heart
Author:	Benjamin Beddome (1787)
Meter:	6.6.8.6
Source:	Appeared posthumously in Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (London: Burton and Briggs,1818); John Rippon, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, 1787
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Astonished and distressed. B. Beddome. [Lent.] Contributed to Rippon's Selection 1787, No. 40, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines and headed "The evil heart." From Rippon it has passed into several selections, and is found in use at the present time both in Great Britain and America, sometimes in an altered form. Original text as above. A revised version of the text was given in the posthumous edition of Beddome's Hymns, edited by B. Hall, 1817, No. 469. This is not in common use. In some collections this hymn is attributed to Toplady. This error arose out of the fact that Walter Row included it in his unsatisfactory edition of Toplady's Works. [William T. Brooke]

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)