Today’s hymn comes from Samuel Medley (1738-1799). He was well educated as a young boy in a school his father kept, but after he did not like the business he was being apprenticed in, Medley joined the British Royal Navy in 1755. He was wounded badly and had to take leave; while he recuperated, someone read him a sermon by Isaac Watts, leading to his conversion. He left the navy and studied for the ministry becoming a Baptist minister and hymn writer1. Enjoy!
Awake, my soul, in joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;
He justly claims a song from me;
His loving-kindness, O how free!
He saw me ruined in the fall,
Yet loved me notwithstanding all;
He saved me from my lost estate;
His loving-kindness, O how great!
Though numerous hosts of mighty foes,
Though earth and hell my way oppose,
He safely leads my soul along;
His loving-kindness, O how strong!
When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
Has gathered thick and thundered loud,
He near my soul has always stood;
His loving-kindness, O how good!
Often I feel my sinful heart
Prone from my Saviour to depart;
But though I have him oft forgot,
His loving-kindness changes not!
Soon shall I pass the gloomy vale;
Soon all my mortal powers must fail;
O may my last expiring breath
His loving-kindness sing in death!
Then let me mount and soar away
To the bright world of endless day,
And sing with rapture and surprise,
His loving-kindness in the skies.
1hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/e/d/l/medley_s.htm
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