This Month's Theme: Wonder, Love and Praise
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. — Lamentations 3:22
Hymns and Coffee
Joseph Addison, one of England's finest writers and well-known politician started a daily newspaper with his childhood friend, Richard Steele. They called the newspaper The Spectator and they were determined to give more glory to God in that paper than other papers in town.
On August 9, 1712, Addison published an essay on gratitude in The Spectator and wrote, "If gratitude is due from man to man, how much more from man to His Maker."
He then appended the full text to a hymn he wrote called "Thanksgiving to God for His Particular Providence." Today we often call it by the first line, "When All Thy Mercies, O, My God." The original thirteen stanzas trace the hand of God on a life from womb to eternity.
Fun Fact: Addison frequently visited Button’s Coffee House in Covent Garden and asked readers to place their submissions to The Spectator in a marble lion head letterbox near the entrance. Isaac Watts is rumored to be one of the contributors of even more hymns included in the daily newspaper.
Considering the popularity of coffee houses at the time as a gathering place to read and discuss newspaper and other literature, it’s likely hymns by Addison, Watts and others were the topic of lively discussion.
Today, a Starbucks is located where Button’s used to be.
Hymn Study Outline
A Panoramic View of God's Breathtaking Blessings Reveals His:
Awesome Mercies (Stanza One)
Unnumbered Comforts (Stanza Two)
Reviving Grace (Stanza Three)
Daily Gifts (Stanza Four)
Faithful Goodness (Stanza Five)
Joyful Eternity (Stanza Six)
Read & Relate
When All Thy Mercies, O, My God
by Joseph Addison, 1672—1719
When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise.
Lam. 3:22-23; Ps. 23:6; Eph. 2:4-8; Luke 5:26
Unnumbered comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flowed.
2 Cor. 1:3; Ps. 145:9; Gal. 1:15; Ps. 71:6
When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.
Jer. 30:17; Ps. 40:2; Ps. 147:3; 1 Peter 2:24
Ten thousand, thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful heart
That tastes those gifts with joy.
Eph. 1:8; 1 Thess. 5:18; 2 Cor. 9:15; Ps. 34:8; Ps. 16:11
Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I’ll pursue
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
Ps. 104:33; Tim. 2:22; Phil. 3:14; Rev. 5:13
Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
For, oh, eternity’s too short
To utter all Thy praise!
Ps. 113:2; Eph. 3:21; 1 John 2:17; Rev. 7:12
Go Deeper
Study It More!
The Study Guide
Become a member and use this guide to help you reflect through each stanza of our hymn and connect it more firmly in biblical truth.
This guide includes:
- the hymn story
- the hymn text
- related Scripture passages
- a glossary of terms to help you consider the meaning of the text
- five stanza studies to help you think through each stanza and the refrain
- reflection questions for each stanza
- a space to write each stanza in your own words
To Help You Reflect
To Help You Remember
Keep a framed reminder of all God's mercies.
Print and post this print on your fridge or bulletin board, clip in a photo holder or place in a 5 x 7 photo frame.
To Help You Share
Daily Thanks (Postcard)
Cornucopia (Landscape)
