Divine Light

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Praise to the Lord of boundless might

Author: Philip Doddridge
Published in 52 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Praise to the Lord of boundless might,
With uncreated glories bright!
His presence gilds the worlds above;
Th' unchanging source of light and love.

2 "Let there be light," Jehovah said;
And light o'er all the earth was spread:
Nature, array'd in charms unknown,
Gay with its new-born lustre, shone.

3 He sees the mind, when lost it lies
In shades of ignorance and vice;
And darts from heav'n a vivid ray,
And changes midnight into day.

4 Shine, mighty God, with vigour shine
On this benighted heart of mine;
And let thy brighter beams reveal'd,
As in the Saviour's face beheld.

5 Thine image, on my soul impress'd,
In radiant lines shall stand confess'd;
While all my faculties unite
To praise the Lord who gives me light.

Source: A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches; to which are added prayers for families and individuals #194

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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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