Jerusalem, my happy home

Here is the spring where waters flow

Tune: BRADFIELD
Published in 2 hymnals

Text Information

First Line: Here is the spring where waters flow
Title: Jerusalem, my happy home
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Here is the spring where waters flow. [Holy Scripture.] There are six stanzas given from a poem on The New Jerusalem dated circa 1660, beginning “Jerusalem, my happy home"; and the last three stanzas of the six are set forth as the original of the lines prefixed to some editions of the English Bible which were published in the early part of the 17th century, and beginning: "Here is the spring whence waters flow." Later we have found the same lines in a hymn published 85 years before the date given earlier.
The lines are printed on the page facing the Titlepage of an Edition of the Bible published by C. Barker, in London, in 1575, and read, together with the various references to Holy Scripture.

"O Gracious God and moft mercifull Father, which haft vouchfafed us the rich and precious Jewell of thy holy word, aflift us with thy Spirit, that it may be written in our hearts to our everlafting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to thine owne Image, to build us up, and edifie us into the perfect building of thy Christ, Sanctifying and encreafing in us all heavenly vertues. Graunt this, O heavenly Father, for Jefus Chrift's sake. Amen."

We have seen these lines, including the prayer, attributed to Beza. If he had been the author, we should expect to find them in an edition of the English Bible printed at Geneva at or about the same date as the above. In the British Museum there is a copy printed at Geneva by John Crispin in 1569; but the lines are not therein. Not having any reliable evidence either for Baza or for any other writer, we must therefore give these lines and the prayer as Anon.
The peculiarity to be noticed in the fact that st. i-iii., as above, are also in the earlier broadsheet in a slightly different form, we cannot explain. We can only suggest that there is a possible original not yet discovered from which both pieces may have been taken.

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix I. (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
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Hymns of the Ages (3rd series) #314

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The Service Hymnal with an introductory service #52

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