128. Ye servants of the Lord
Philip Doddridge, 1702-51
“The Active Christian” is the author’s title of this hymn. It appeared first in Job Orton’s posthumous edition of Hymns founded on Various Texts, 1755. It is founded on Luke 12:35-37:
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Doddridge, known for his sound learning and genuine Christian character, was a first-rate hymn writer. He taught Hebrew, Greek, algebra, trigonometry, logic, philosophy, and theology to classes of candidates for the Congregational ministry.
For further comments on Doddridge see [Hymn 56].
MUSIC. OLD 134TH (ST. MICHAEL) is one of the greatest of short-meter tunes, derived from the tune composed by L. Bourgeois for Psalm 101 in the Genevan Psalter of 1551.
For comments on L. Bourgeois see [Hymn 34].