Son of a doc­tor, Hast­ings grew up as a farm boy, walk­ing six miles to school in the win­ter. He be­gan his ca­reer as a mu­sic teach­er. In 1823, he be­came ed­it­or of the West­ern Re­cord­er in Ut­i­ca, New York. From 1832 un­til his death, Hast­ings trained choirs and de­vel­oped re­li­gious mu­sic. He penned al­most 1,000 hymn tunes and 600 texts. His son, who be­came pres­i­dent of Un­ion The­o­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary, said of him:

He was a de­vout and ear­nest Christ­ian, a hard stu­dent, and res­o­lute work­er, not lay­ing aside his pen un­til three days be­fore his death.

Hastings’ works in­clude:

• Musica Sacra, 1816
• The Mu­sical Taste, 1822
• Spiritual Songs for So­cial Wor­ship (Uti­ca, New York: 1831-2), with Low­ell Ma­son
• The Mo­ther’s Hymn-Book, 1834, en­larged 1850
• The Christ­ian Psalm­ist (New York: 1836)
• Devotional Hymns and Po­ems (New York: 1850)
• Church Mel­o­dies (New York: 1858), as­sist­ed by his son

• Hughes, p. 420
• Julian, pp. 494-5, 1569, 1587, 1596, 1692
• Nutter, pp. 413, 458
• Randel, pp. 363-4
• Robinson, pp. 28-9

1. Be Tran­quil, O My Soul
2. Before Thy Foot­stool Kneel­ing
3. Bleeding Hearts De­filed by Sin
4. Child of Sin and Sor­row
5. Child of Sor­row, Child of Care
6. Children, Hear the Melt­ing Sto­ry
7. Delay Not, O Sin­ner, Draw Near
8. Drooping Souls, No Long­er Mourn
9. Dying Souls, Fast Bound in Sin
10. Father, We for Our Child­ren Plead
11. For Those in Bonds as Bound with Them
12. Forbid Them Not, the Sav­ior Cried
13. Forget Thy­self, Christ Bids Thee Come
14. Forgive My Fol­ly, O Lord Most Ho­ly
15. Forgive Us, Lord, to Thee We Cry
16. Gently, Lord, O Gent­ly Lead Us
17. Go Forth on Wings of Fer­vent Pray­er
18. Go, Tune Thy Voice to Sac­red Song
19. God of Mercy, Hear Our Pray­er
20. God of the Morn­ing Ray
21. God of the Na­tions, Bow Thine Ear
22. Hail to the Bright­ness of Zi­on’s Glad Morn­ing!
23. He That Go­eth Forth with Weep­ing
24. Heirs of an Im­mor­tal Crown
25. How Calm and Beau­ti­ful the Morn
26. Hosanna to the King
27. How Ten­der Is Thy Hand
28. I Look to Thee, O Lord, Alone
29. I Love the Lord, Whose Gra­cious Ear
30. In This Calm, Im­press­ive Hour
31. In Time of Fear, When Trou­ble’s Near
32. Jesus, Full of Ev­ery Grace
33. Jesus, Mer­ci­ful and Mild
34. Jesus, Save My Dy­ing Soul
35. Jesus, While Our Hearts Are Bleed­ing
36. Lord, I Would Come to Thee
37. Lord Je­ho­vah Lives, The
38. Lord of the Har­vest, Bend Thine Ear
39. Majestic Sweet­ness Sits En­throned
40. Now Be the Gos­pel Ban­ner
41. Now from La­bor, and from Care
42. O God of Ab­ra­ham, Hear
43. O Lord, Be­hold Us at Thy Feet
44. O Sav­ior, Lend a List­ening Ear
45. O Tell Me, Thou Life and De­light of My Soul
46. O Why Should Gloomy Thoughts Arise?
47. Peace, Peace, I Leave with You
48. Peace to Thee, O Fa­vored One
49. Pilgrims in This Vale of Sor­row
50. Return, O Wan­der­er, to Thy Home
51. Rosy Light Is Dawn­ing, The
52. Savior Bids Us Watch and Pray, The
53. Savior, Hear Us Through Thy Mer­it
54. Savior, I Look to Thee
55. Savior of Our Ru­ined Race
56. Savior, Thy Gen­tle Voice
57. Soft and Ho­ly Is the Place
58. That Warn­ing Voice, O Sin­ner, Hear
59. Thou God of Sov­er­eign Grace
60. Today the Sav­ior Calls
61. Wherever Two or Three May Meet
62. Why That Look of Sad­ness
63. Why That Soul’s Com­mo­tion?
64. Within These Qui­et Walls, O Lord
65. Zion, Dreary and in An­guish

1. Bremen
2. Byefield
3. Franconia
4. Haven
5. Illinois
6. Invitation
7. Luther
8. Monson
9. New Ha­ven
10. Ortonville
11. Retreat
12. Robinson
13. Romberg
14. Toplady
15. Zion