How keen the tempter's malice is

Representative Text

1 How keen the tempter's malice is!
How artful, and how great!
Tho' not one grain shall be destroyed,
Yet will he sift the wheat.

2 But God can all his power control,
And gather in his chain;
And, where he seems to triumph most,
The captive soul regain.

3 There is a shepherd kind and strong,
Still watchful for his sheep;
Nor shall the infernal lion rend,
Whom he vouchsafes to keep.

4 Blest Jesus, intercede for us,
That we may fall not more,
O raise us when we prostrate lie,
And comfort lost restore,

5 The secret energy impart,
That faith may never fail;
But, 'midst whole showers of fiery darts,
That temper'd shield prevail.

6 Secur'd ourselves by grace divine,
We'll guard our brethren too;
And, taught their frailty by our own,
Our care of them renew.

Source: A Selection of Hymns: from the best authors, intended to be an appendix to Dr. Watt's psalms and hymns. (1st Am. ed.) #CLV

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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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