The author of this hymn, Philip Doddridge, was born in 1702 in London, the youngest of twenty children. Philip was so small at birth that the nurse, thinking he would not live, laid him in a little box. But another attending to him noticed some signs of life and cared for him, and he survived. His parents were strong Christians, and his mother taught him the Bible before he could read. Both parents died when he was still quite young, leaving Philip an orphan.
The young boy was cared for by loving neighbors. Samuel Clarke, a Presbyterian minister, supported him in his studies as a young man. Doddridge eventually became an influential nonconformist pastor who established and headed a seminary. He contracted tuberculosis when he was forty-one years old. He went to Portugal hoping to improve his health, but he died there within a few months.
Doddridge’s friend, Isaac Watts, encouraged Philip to join the Dissenters. Most of Doddridge’s 400 hymns were like those written by Watts. They express God’s grace, which gives the believer encouragement and confidence. Like many hymn writers of that time, Doddridge wrote hymns to reinforce his sermons and teach them to the congregation.
“Eternal Source of Every Joy!” was written in 1736 and first published in 1755 by Job Orton in the posthumous edition of Doddridge's “Hymns Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures.” The hymn actually became more popular in America than in England. The title was taken from the opening line. The most commonly-used tune, “Wareham,” was composed by William Knapp and named for his birthplace, Wareham, Dorsetshire in England. Knapp was a church organist in Wareham and Poole and known as the "country Psalm-singer." Knapp first used the tune in 1738 as a setting for Psalm 36 in “A Set of New Psalm Tunes and Anthems.” Because of its gentle melody, the tune is easy to sing and adds to the beauty of the text.
In some hymnals, “Eternal Source of Every Joy!” is considered a hymn for the New Year because of the phrase at the end of the first verse, “Whose goodness crowns the circling year.” The other verses give a narrative of the beauty of God’s creation, including every season. The hymn also refers to eternity, “Where days and years revolve no more.” “Eternal Source of Every Joy!” encourages one to praise God for the beauty and provisions of His creation and to anticipate heaven’s even greater joys. 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).
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
Whose goodness crowns the circling year.
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.
The flow'ry spring at thy command
Embalms the air, and paints the land;
The summer rays with vigour shine
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.
Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days
Demand successive songs of praise;
Still be the cheerful homage paid
With op’ning light, and evening shade.
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.
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.
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