Hymn 204. Desiring Assurance of the Favour of God

         Eternal source of joys divine,

                     To thee my soul aspires;

         O could I say, ‘The Lord is mine,’

                     ’Tis all my soul desires.

         Thy smile can give me real joy,                                                             

                     Unmingled and refin’d,

         Substantial bliss, without alloy,

                     And lasting as the mind.

         Thy smile can gild the shades of woe,

                     Bid stormy trouble cease,                                                          

         Spread the fair dawn of Heaven below,

                     And sweeten pain to peace.

         My hope, my trust, my life, my Lord,

                     Assure me of thy love;

         O speak the kind transporting word,                                                               

                     And bid my fears remove.

         Then shall my thankful powers rejoice,

                     And triumph in my God,

         ’Till heavenly rapture tune my voice

 To spread thy praise abroad. 

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, p. 89; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 204 (all stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 82-83; MS, Steele Collection, STE 3/1/1 no. 47, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.