I think I've found a new favorite hymn writer.  I would imagine you've sung at least one hymn by this writer, and have heard it sung on many TV shows and in many movies.  It seems every time the Ingalls went to church at their little church on the prairie, they would sing "Rock of Ages" by Augustus Montague Toplady.  Of course, it was almost a contemporary song then, and so was probably on the cutting edge.

Toplady wrote many more hymns beside "Rock of Ages", though.  Another favorite of mine, which Ed Nalle of Glad has sung on one of their a capella CDs and is also on Sovereign Grace Music's "Upward" CD is "A Debtor to Mercy Alone".  If you dig deeper, though, you'll find even more. Cyberhymnal lists 39 hymns by Toplady, some with a couple of different versions.

Here is the text of the hymn referenced in the title.

Verse 1
Inspirer and hearer of prayer,
Thou Shepherd and Guardian of Thine,
My all to Thy covenant care,
I, sleeping or waking, resign.

Verse 2
If Thou art my Shield and my Sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And, fast as my minutes roll on,
They bring me but nearer to Thee.

Verse 3
A sovereign Protector I have,
Unseen, yet for ever at hand;
Unchangeably faithful to save,
Almighty to rule and command.

Verse 4
His smiles and His comforts abound,
His grace, as the dew, shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround
The soul He delights to defend.

Now read "How Vast the Benefits Divine"

Verse 1
How vast the benefits divine which we in Christ possess!
We are redeemed from guilt and shame and called to holiness.
But not for works which we have done, or shall hereafter do,
Hath God decreed on sinful men salvation to bestow.

Verse 2
The glory, Lord, from first to last, is due to Thee alone;
Aught to ourselves we dare not take, or rob Thee of Thy crown.
Our glorious Surety undertook to satisfy for man,
And grace was given us in Him before the world began.

Verse 3
This is Thy will, that in Thy love we ever should abide;
That earth and hell should not prevail to turn Thy Word aside.
Not one of all the chosen race but shall to Heav’n attain,
Partake on earth the purposed grace and then with Jesus reign.

And finally "What Though I Cannot Break My Chain

Verse 1
What though I cannot break my chain
Or e’er throw off my load,
The things impossible to men
Are possible to God.

Verse 2
Who, who shall in Thy presence stand,
Or match omnipotence;
Unfold the grasp of Thy right hand
And pluck the sinner thence?

Verse 3
Faith to be healed I fain would have,
O might it now be given;
Thou canst, thou canst the sinner save,
And make me meet for Heav’n.

Verse 4
Bound down with twice ten thousand ties,
Yet let me hear Thy call;
My soul in confidence shall rise,
Shall rise and break through all.

Verse 5
Thou canst o’ercome this heart of mine,
Thou wilt victorious prove;
For everlasting strength is Thine,
And everlasting love.

The archivist at Cyberhymnal doesn't know when this was written.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was written as Toplady lay on his deathbed in 1778, when, at the age of 37 he died of tuberculosis.

Do you have a favorite hymnwriter?