A Hymn by Anne Steele
Anne Steele (1717–1778) was a hymn-writer. Her hymns were widely known and appreciated by evangelicals in Britain and America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She was born in Broughton, Hampshire, where she lived until her death. She struggled with poor health many of her 61 years of life. In later years, she cared for her aging father, Baptist minister William Steele.
The following is a hymn on Matthew 5:3, written by Anne Steele.
Ye humble souls, complain no more;
Let faith survey your future store.
How happy, how divinely blest,
The sacred words of truth attest.
In vain the sons of wealth and pride
Despise your lot, your hope deride;
In vain they boast their little stores;
Trifles are theirs, a kingdom yours.
A kingdom of immense delight,
Where health, and peace, and joy unite;
Where undeclining pleasures rise,
And every wish has full supplies.
A kingdom which can never decay,
While time sweeps earthly thrones away;
The state which power and truth sustain,
Unmoved for ever must remain.
There shall your eyes with rapture view
The glorious Friend that died for you,
That died to ransom, died to raise
To crowns of joy and songs of praise.
Jesus! to thee I breathe my prayer;
Reveal, confirm my interest there;
Whatever my humble lot below,
This, this my soul desires to know.