Samuel Stennett
1727-1795
Dr. Samuel Stennett was born in Exeter, in 1727. He was converted and was baptized when young. Like his father he was a man of superior talents and great erudition. One authority says: “His proficiency in Greek, Latin and Oriental tongues and extensive acquaintance with sacred literature, are so abundantly displayed in his valuable works that they cannot fail to establish his reputation for learning and genius.”In 1763 he was made a Doctor of Divinity by King’s College, Aberdeen. He ministered to the Little Wild Street church as his father’s assistant for ten years; and as its pastor, after his father’s death, for thirty-seven years. The meeting house was rebuilt during his ministry. His father, Joseph Stennett, D. D.; his grandfather, Joseph Stennett; his great-grandfather, Edward Stennett; his brother, Joseph, and his son, Joseph, were all Baptist ministers—and Sabbath-keepers.
Dr. Samuel Stennett was a hymn writer of note. He wrote the beautiful and well known hymn, “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned;” also “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.”
Majestic sweetness sits enthroned
Upon the Savior’s brow;
His head with radiant glories crowned,
His lips with grace o’erflow,
His lips with grace o’erflow.
No mortal can with Him compare
Among the sons of men;
Fairer is He than all the fair
Who fill the heav’nly train,
Who fill the heav’nly train.
He saw me plunged in deep distress
And flew to my relief;
For me He bore the shameful cross
And carried all my grief,
And carried all my grief.
To Him I owe my life and breath
And all the joys I have;
He makes me triumph over death
And saves me from the grave,
And saves me from the grave.
Since from His bounty I receive
Such proofs of love divine,
Had I a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be Thine,
Lord, they should all be Thine.
1 comments:
Thanks for posting Samuel Stennett's great hymn, and a bit of information about him. It's a song we need to keep singing, even though it's more than two centuries old.
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