Scripture Verse

Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching. Luke 12:37

Introduction

Words: Jo­seph Ad­dis­on, in The Spec­ta­tor, Lond­on, is­sue 489, Sep­tem­ber 20, 1712. The hymn fol­lowed an es­say on Great­ness as a source of plea­sure to the ima­gi­na­tion, with spe­cial ref­er­ence to the ocean.

Music: Prae­to­ri­us Har­mo­ni­ae Hym­nor­um Schol­ae Gor­li­cen­sis, 1599 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
Joseph Addison
(1672–1719)

Quote by Author

Great paint­ers do not on­ly give us Land­skips of Gar­dens, Groves, and Mea­dows, but ve­ry of­ten em­ploy their Pen­cils on Sea-Pieces. I could wish you would fol­low their ex­am­ple. If this small Sketch may de­serve a Place among your Works, I shall ac­com­pa­ny it with a Di­vine ode, made by a Gen­tle­man up­on the Con­clu­sion of his Tra­vels.

Joseph Ad­di­son

Lyrics

How are Thy ser­vants blest, O Lord!
How sure is their de­fense!
Eternal wis­dom is their guide,
Their help Om­ni­po­tence.

In for­eign realms, and lands re­mote,
Supported by Thy care,
Through burn­ing climes they pass un­hurt,
And breathe in taint­ed air.

Thy mer­cy sweet­ened every soil,
Made ev­ery re­gion please:
The hoa­ry Al­pine hills it warmed,
And smoothed the Tyr­rhene seas.

Think, O my soul, de­vout­ly think,
How with af­fright­ed eyes
Thou sawest the wide-ex­tend­ed deep
In all its hor­rors rise!

Confusion dwelt on ev­ery face,
And fear in ev­ery heart;
When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs,
O’ercame the pi­lot’s art.

When by the dread­ful tem­pest borne
High on the brok­en wave,
They know Thou art not slow to hear,
Nor im­po­tent to save.

The storm is laid, the winds re­tire,
Obedient to Thy will,
The sea, that roars at Thy com­mand,
At Thy com­mand is still.

From all our griefs and fears, O Lord,
Thy mer­cy sets us free;
While in the con­fi­dence of pray­er
Our hearts take hold on Thee.

In midst of dan­gers, fears and death,
Thy good­ness we adore;
We praise Thee for Thy mer­cies past,
And hum­bly hope for more

Our life, while Thou pre­serv­est life,
A sac­ri­fice shall be;
And death, when death shall be our lot,
Shall join our souls to Thee.