Hymn #491: Awake, My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve

Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) wrote this hymn to be sung after a sermon. It appeared under the title “Pressing On in the Christian Race” in a collection of his works published posthumously in 1755.

Philip Doddridge was a contemporary of Isaac Watts and the Wesley brothers in England. He served as minister for the Nonconformist chapel at Castle Hill, Northampton, and also established an academy there. It attracted students from England, Scotland, and Holland, many of whom became Independent (Congregational) ministers.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed the melody on which this tune is based for an aria in his opera Siroe. The tune is now called CHRISTMAS because of its close association with Nahum Tate’s text “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.”

George Frideric Handel’s greatest musical achievement was the oratorio Messiah, which he composed in twenty-four days in 1741. It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland, in 1742. Handel’s last public appearance was at a performance of that work on April 6, 1759. He died eight days later.