Seeking to God For the Communication of His Spirit

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Hear, gracious Sovereign, from thy throne

Author: Philip Doddridge
Published in 38 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Hear, gracious sov'reign, from thy throne,
And send thy various blessings down:
While by thine Israel thou art sought,
Oh hear the pray'r thy word hath taught.

2 Come, sacred spirit, from above,
And fill the coldest heart with love;
soften to flesh the rugged stone,
And let thy godlike power be known.

3 Speak thou, and from the haughtiest eyes
shall floods of pious sorrow rise;
While all their glowing souls are borne
To seek that grace, which now they scorn.

4 O let a holy flock await
Num'rous around thy temple-gate,
Each pressing on with zeal to be
A living sacrifice to thee.

5 In answer to our fervent cries,
Give us to see thy church arise;
Or, if that blessing seem too great,
Give us to mourn its low estate.

Source: The Hartford Selection of Hymns: from the most approved authors: to which are added a number never before published (2nd ed.) #CIV

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Author: Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Hear, gracious Sovereign, from thy throne
Title:	Seeking to God For the Communication of His Spirit
Author:	Philip Doddridge
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain