Eternal source of every joy

“Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” Psalm 65:11

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” Psalm 16:11.

This hymn is good for the season of the New Year. The author intended it for that purpose (considering its content and labeling). It opens considering God “whose goodness crowns the circling year.” The hymn continues through the seasons and the beauty of God’s creation, including every season. Then seasons, months, weeks, and days fade into eternity, “Where days and years revolve no more.” The eternal God is the source of the Christian’s joy, both now and forever!

This hymn, No. 43 in Hymns Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures (page 38), is there titled “The Year crowned with the divine Goodness.” It references Psalm 65:11, and has the notation “For New-Year’s Day.” Though not published until 1755, some sources say it was written in 1736.

1. Eternal source of ev’ry joy!
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
Whose goodness crowns the circling year.

2. While as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports the steady pole:
The sun is taught by thee to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.

3. The flow’ry Spring at thy command
Embalms the air, and paints the land;
The summer rays with vigour shine
To raise the corn, and cheer the vine.

4. Thy hand in Autumn richly pours
Through all our coasts redundant stores;
And Winters, softened by thy care,
No more a face of horror wear.

5. Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days
Demand successive songs of praise;
Still be the cheerful homage paid
With op’ning light, and ev’ning shade.

6. Here in thy house shall incense rise,
As circling sabbaths bless our eyes;
Still will we make thy mercies known,
Around thy board, and round our own.

7. O may our more harmonious tongues
In worlds unknown pursue the songs;
And in those brighter courts adore,
Where days and years revolve no more.

Philip Doddridge (1702–1751) was a 18th-century English Nonconformist preacher and hymnwriter. He was born June 26, 1702, the last of 20 children born to Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Doddridge. Philip and his sister Elizabeth were the only children who survived to adulthood. (Elizabeth married Dissenting minister John Nettleton.)

Doddridge preached his first sermon in 1722. He was ordained in 1730. In that same year, he married Mercy Maris. They had nine children. In addition to his hymns, his published works include The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, The Family Expositor, Three Sermons on the Evidences of the Gospel, Ten Sermons on the Power and Grace of Christ, and A Dissertation on the Inspiration of the New Testament. Doddridge died October 26, 1751, at age 49 while in Lisbon, Portugal. He was buried at the British Cemetery there. Several members of his family are interred in the burial ground of the Independent Chapel of Tewkesbury.

The most commonly-used tune for this hymn is Wareham. The tune Wareham was composed by William Knapp. He named it for his birthplace – Wareham in Dorsetshire, England. Knapp served as church organist in Wareham and Poole. In 1738 Knapp compiled A Set of New Psalm Tunes and Anthems, In Four Parts; On Various Occasions and set Wareham with the words based on Psalm 36 (p. 47). The hymn and tune are Long Meter.