STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS
Often I seek my Lord by night Christ found in the street, and brought to the church, Cant. 3. 1-5
Isaac Watts printed it in 1707 in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I, no. 71, under Song of Songs 3:1–5.
WRITTEN BY
Isaac Watts 1674–1748
PRINTED
1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs · no. 71
METRE
Long Metre 8.8.8.8 · 6 stanzas
WRITTEN ON
Song of Songs 3:1–5 the verse printed above it
The hymn, and the Scripture in it
All 6 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.
SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes
AMONG THE SCRIPTURES
The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.
a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here
STANZA I
Often I seek my Lord by night
Often I seek my Lord by night,
Jesus, my love, my soul's delight;
With warm desire and restless thought
I seek him oft, but find him not.
Where Watts found it
Watts printed the hymn under Song of Songs 3:1–5. The line that comes closest to it is marked.
1On my bed at night I sought the one I love; I sought him, but did not find him. 2I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him. 3I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?” 4I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me. 5O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right. SONG OF SONGS 3:1–5 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ SONG OF SONGS 3
Often I seek my Lord by night, Jesus, my love, my soul's delight; With warm desire and restless thought I seek him oft, but find him not. STANZA I
Its place in the book
Book I of the hymn book, “Collected from the Holy Scriptures”, holds these hymns in this order: 179 hymns. This is number 71. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.
NO. 71 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Often I seek my Lord by night
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