The Christian's noblest resolution

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Ah, wretched souls, who strive in vain

Author: Anne Steele
Published in 93 hymnals

Instrumental
	Cello Solos for Worship (Arranged with K…

Representative Text

1. Ah, wretched souls, who strive in vain,
Slaves to the world, and slaves to me!
A nobler toil may I sustain,
A nobler satisfaction win.

2. I would resolve with all my heart,
With all my pow'rs to serve the Lord,
Nor from his precepts e'er depart,
Whose service is a rich reward.

3. Oh, be his service all my joy;
Around let my endeavors shine;
May others love the blest employ
And join in labors so divine.

4. Be this the purpose of my soul,
My solemn, my determined choice,
To yield to his supreme control,
And in his kind commands rejoice.

5. O may I never faint nor tire,
Nor wand’ring leave his sacred ways;
Great God, accept my soul’s desire,
And give me strength to live your praise.

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #347

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Ah, wretched souls, who strive in vain
Title:	The Christian's noblest resolution
Author:	Anne Steele
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Ah, wretched souls who strive in vain. Anne Steele. [Lent.] A hymn on "The Christian's Noblest Resolution” which appeared in her Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, 1760, vol. i. p. 161, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, from whence it passed into the Baptist Collection of Hymns of Ash and Evans, 1769, No. 286, and signed "T."; into Rippon's Baptist Selection 1787, No. 334, and others. It is also found in Sedgwick's reprint of Miss Steele's Hymns, 1863.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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Ah, wretched souls who strive in vain, p. 33, i. The following are from this hymn, (1) "My soul no more shall strive in vain"; and (2) "May [Now] I resolve with all my heart."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Notes

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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Tune

WARRINGTON

WARRINGTON was composed by Ralph Harrison (b. Chinley, Derbyshire, England, 1748; d. Manchester, Lancashire, England, 1810) and published in his collection of psalm tunes, Sacred Harmony (1784). The tune's rising inflections help to accent words such as erotic (probably the only time this word has b…

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PILESGROVE

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