Skip to content

A copy of Advent Hymnals. Open this page on adventhymnals.org →

Advent Hymnals

Church Hymnal 18

O for a Heart to Praise My God

Words: Charles WesleyMusic: [unclear]Tune: [unclear]C.M.

Studio

1O for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free,
A heart that always feels Thy blood
So freely shed for me.

2A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
My great Redeemer's throne,
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone.

3A humble, lowly, contrite heart,
Believing, true, and clean,
Which neither life nor death can part
From Christ who dwells within.

4A heart in every thought renewed
And full of love divine,
Perfect and right and pure and good,
A copy, Lord, of Thine.

Music
[unclear]
Tune
[unclear]
Also sung to
Azmon (SDA Hymnal #323)
Meter
C.M.
Scripture
Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.6 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 85% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB

Could also be sung to Coronation, Ortonville, Cantate Domino, Christmas, St. Agnes · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O for a heart to praise my God,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
A heart from sin set free,˘/˘///6B
A heart that always feels Thy blood˘/˘/////8C
So freely shed for me.˘/˘/˘˘6B

Verse 2

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
My great Redeemer's throne,˘/???/6B
Where only Christ is heard to speak,//˘/˘/˘/8A
Where Jesus reigns alone.//˘/˘/6B

Verse 3

A humble, lowly, contrite heart,˘/˘/˘˘//8A
Believing, true, and clean,˘/˘/˘/6B
Which neither life nor death can part˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
From Christ who dwells within.˘/˘/˘/6C

Verse 4

A heart in every thought renewed˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And full of love divine,˘/˘/˘/6B
Perfect and right and pure and good,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
A copy, Lord, of Thine.˘/˘/˘/6B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.