Page:The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated.djvu/63

 THE STORY OF THE HYMNS AND THEIR WRITERS $1

Toplady s last hymn, published in 1776, is a paraphrase of the same words

Very meet and right it is

Thy wondrous love to sing : Shout the blood and righteousness

Of heaven s incarnate King. For what He hath kindly done,

And endured, to set us free, Father, Holy Ghost, and Son,

Be equal praise to Thee.

Hymn 12. O heavenly King, look down from above.

CHARLES WESLEY (i).

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1742; Works, ii. 177. A Thanks giving.

A delightful expression of Charles Wesley s happy religion.

Hymn 13. Praise, my soul, the King of heaven.

HENRY F. LYTE (7).

In The Spirit of the Psalms, 1834. Psalm ciii. The fourth verse is omitted

Frail as summer s flower we flourish ;

Blows the wind, and it is gone ; But while mortals rise and perish,

God endures unchanging on. Praise Him, Praise Him,

Praise the High Eternal One.

Hymn 14. O God, my strength and fortitude.

THOMAS STERNHOLD.

Psalm xviii. Old Version. It has forty-nine stanzas.

Sternhold (died 1549) seems to have been a Gloucestershire man, who studied at Oxford, and was Groom of the Robes to Henry VIII, who left him a bequest of a hundred marks. He served in the same capacity under Edward VI. Sternhold wrote his psalms for his own godly solace, but the young king over heard them, and they were repeated in his presence. Musical

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