Begin, my tongue [soul], some heavenly theme. I. Watts. [Faithfulness of God.] First published in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707 (2nd edition, 1709, Book ii., No. 169), in 9 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "The faithfulness of God in His promises." In 1776, Toplady included it, in an altered and abbreviated form, in his Psalms and Hymns, No. 388, as "Begin, my soul, some heavenly theme." This form of the hymn has been repeated in many collections, sometimes verbatim from Toplady, and… Read More
Begin, my tongue [soul], some heavenly theme. I. Watts. [Faithfulness of God.] First published in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1707 (2nd edition, 1709, Book ii., No. 169), in 9 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "The faithfulness of God in His promises." In 1776, Toplady included it, in an altered and abbreviated form, in his Psalms and Hymns, No. 388, as "Begin, my soul, some heavenly theme." This form of the hymn has been repeated in many collections, sometimes verbatim from Toplady, and again, with further alterations, as in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1830, and revised edition, 1875. Its use in America, usually abbreviated, is much more extensive than in Great Britain.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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