Eternal Beam of Light Divine

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Eternal Beam of light divine

Author: Charles Wesley (1739)
Published in 95 hymnals

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	Evensong

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	CANONIC PROCESSIONAL

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	Tallis Canon: A Festive Hymn Setting

Representative Text

1 Eternal Beam of light divine,
Fountain of unexhausted love,
in whom the Father’s glories shine,
through earth beneath, and heav'n above:

2 Jesus, the weary wand'rer’s rest,
give me thine easy yoke to bear,
with steadfast patience arm my breast,
with spotless love and holy fear.

3 Thankful, I take the cup from thee,
prepared and mingled by thy skill,
though bitter to the taste it be,
pow'rful the wounded soul to heal.

4 Be thou, O Rock of ages, nigh;
so shall each murm'ring thought be gone,
and grief and fear and care shall fly,
ss clouds before the mid-day sun.

5 Speak to my warring passions, “Peace”'
day to my wounded heart, “Be still!”
Thy power my strength and fortress is,
and all things serve thy sovereign will.

6 O death, where is thy sting? Where now
thy boasted victory, O grave?
Who shall contend with God? or who
can hurt whom God delights to save?

Source: Rejoice in the Lord #476

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Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Eternal Beam of light divine
Title:	Eternal Beam of Light Divine
Author:	Charles Wesley (1739)
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Eternal Beam of Light Divine. C. Wesley. [In Affliction.] Appeared in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1739, p. 144, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. (Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. i. p. 128; and again in the Wesleyan Hymn Book, 1780, No. 328. It has passed into several collections in Great Britain, America, and other English-speaking countries. In the Boston (U.S.) Unitarian Hymn & Tune Book for the Church & Home, 1868, it is altered to "Eternal God, Thou Light Divine"; and in Songs of Christian Praise, N.Y., 1880, and others, as:—"Eternal Source of Light Divine." It is a soothing and inspiriting hymn, and well adapted for use in affliction.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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