1 [Thou Sovereign, let my evening song
Like holy incense rise;
Assist the offerings of my tongue
To reach the lofty skies.
2 Through all the dangers of the day
Thy hand was still my guard,
And still to drive my wants away
Thy mercy stood prepared.]
3 Perpetual blessings from above
Encompass me around,
But O how few returns of love
Hath my Creator found!
4 What have I done for him that died
To save my wretched soul?
How are my follies multiplied,
Fast as the minutes roll.
5 Lord, with this guilty heart of mine,
To thy dear cross I flee,
And to thy grace my soul resign,
To be renewed by thee.
6 Sprinkled afresh with pardoning blood,
I lay me down to rest,
As in the embraces of my God,
Or on my Savior's breast.
The Christian's duty, exhibited in a series of hymns, 1791
First Line: | Dread [Blest] Sovereign! let my evening song |
Title: | An Evening Song |
Author: | Isaac Watts |
Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Dread Sovereign, let my evening song. I. Watts. [Evening.] Appeared in the first edition of his Hymns & Sacred Songs, 1707, Bk. ii., No. 7, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "An Evening Song." The opening stanza, when compared with J. Mason's "Song of Praise for the Evening" (Songs of Praise, 1683, No. xi.), is evidently suggested by Mason's stanza i. The two are:—
Watts, 1109.
"Dread Sovereign, let my evening song
Like holy incense rise:
Assist the offerings of my tongue
To reach the lofty skies."
Mason, 1683.
"Now from the altar of my heart
Let incense flames arise;
Assist me, Lord, to offer up
Mine evening sacrifice."
The hymn in its original form is in common use both in Great Britain and America. There are also altered texts in common use, as (1) "Blest Saviour, let our evening song"; this is in Common Praise , 1879; and (2) "0 Holy Father, let my song," in Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858-80, &c.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)