O heavenly King, look down from above

O heavenly King, look down from above. Charles Wesley* (1707-1788). First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742), entitled ‘Another’ [i.e. ‘A Thanksgiving’]. It followed ‘O what shall I do my Saviour to praise’*, which was thus titled, and, like that hymn, this one was printed in 10-syllable lines with a space and a capital letter: ‘O Heavenly King, Look down from above’. It was the second of three thanksgiving hymns in the same metre. This one is distinguished from the other two by its close attention to the General Thanksgiving in the Book of Common Prayer: stanzas 2 and 3 celebrate our creation, preservation, and the blessings of this life; stanza 4 begins ‘But O above all’,...