The Church — Baptism

Blest Saviour, we thy will obey

No. 1079
Metre L. M.
Tune EUCHARIST.
Words Benjamin Beddome.
Music Isaac B. Woodbury.
Key D major
Time 2/2
4 stanzas

Words

Blest Saviour, we thy will obey;—Not of constraint, but with delight,Thy servants hither come to-dayTo honor thine appointed rite.

With faith in thy blest name we come,The Spirit's cleansing power confess;O Saviour, from thy heavenly homeConfirm the covenant of thy grace!

Descend, descend, Celestial Dove,On these dear followers of the Lord;Exalted Head of all the church,Thy promised aid to them afford.

Let faith, assisted now by signs,The wonders of thy love explore;And, washed in thy redeeming blood,Let them depart and sin no more.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHURCH—BAPTISM.»; hymn number «1079» (large, left), tune name «EUCHARIST. L. M.» centred over the music (condensed display capitals), «ISAAC B. WOODBURY.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). A pen question mark stands before the tune name in this exemplar (a reader's annotation, not print; see `uncertainties.md`). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one text line per system (two verse lines each), with «1.» before «Blest»: «Blest Sav-iour, we thy will o - bey;—Not of constraint, but with de - light,» / «Thy servants hith - er come to - day To hon - or thine ap-point - ed rite.»; its four verse lines are given here as poetry, «to - day» with the book's spelling «to-day». Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text in the left column below the music, under the reference line «624, 431, 538.» in italic figures (= the words may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 624, 431 or 538); «Benjamin Beddome.» in italics after stanza 4. The stanza numbers of the text stanzas are printed without a full stop («2 With»); they are numbered «2.»–«4.» here like stanza 1. Lines 2 and 4 of each text stanza are indented in the print; stanza 1 is laid out the same way here. The printer's thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («obey ;», «confess ;», «grace !», «Lord ;», «explore ;») is closed up here; apostrophes are written straight. «honor» (American spelling), «Saviour» and «to-day» as printed. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.