Thou, who wast a child on earth

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Thou, who wast a child on earth

Author: Philip Doddridge (1755)
Tune: BREAD OF HEAVEN (Maclagan)
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

1 Thou, who wast a child on earth
And dost know the wondrous worth
Of a child's unblemished life,
Not yet bruised by storm or strife,
Keep our children, Lord, from harm
'Neath the shelter of Thine arm.

2 Lead the Church's little band,
Blessed Savior, by Thy hand
Early to the house of God,
In the way Thy feet have trod,
That in childhood and in youth
They may know Thy saving truth.

3 Send Thy guardian angels, Lord;
Let them e'er keep watch and ward,
That our dear ones need not fear
Tho' the tempter may be near;
But, upheld by heav'nly hands,
Safe may pass through earthly lands.

4 Go before them constantly,
Ever saying, Follow Me!
This their comfort day by day:
Thou art with them all the way;
And, however far they roam,
In the evening bring them home.

Amen.

Source: American Lutheran Hymnal #521

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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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