Above:  The Union Jack

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1893) by George Thomas Coster (1835-1912), an Englishman

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1904), which lists it under the category “Our Country”

A Temperance Hymn

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Lord of the gracious sunshine,

Lord of the angry flame,

Thou in the book of nations

Hast writ our country’s name:

Blot it not thence, we pray thee,

To our eternal shame!

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There is a foe among us,

That’s stronger than the strong,

In men the manhood slaying,

To children doing wrong:

And shall it rage forever?

How long, O Lord, how long?

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Eyes charmed to blindness, open,

This subtle foe to shun;

Breathe in each patriot bosom

The spirit of thy Son;

From all self-pleasing save us,

And let thy will be done!

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O God, for this, our home-land,

We lift our prayer to thee:

Pardon us, Lord, and may we

Be pure, and strong, and free,

And while the earth remaineth,

Thy people ever be!

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Above:  The Ship and Its Furniture, 1850

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-pga-06010

Text (1830) by Jane Cross Bell Simpson (1811-1886); debuted in The Seaman’s Devotional Assistant (1830)

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935), Congregational Christian Churches

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Star of peace to wand’rers weary,

Bright the beams that smile on me;

Cheer the pilot’s vision dreary,

Far, far at sea;

Cheer the pilot’s vision dreary,

Far, far at sea.

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Star of hope, gleam on the billow;

Bless the soul that sighs for thee;

Bless the sailor’s lonely pillow,

Far, far at sea;

Bless the sailor’s lonely pillow,

Far, far at sea.

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Star of faith, when winds are mocking

All his toil, he flies to thee;

Save him on the billows rocking,

Far, far at sea;

Save him on the billows rocking,

Far, far at sea.

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Star Divine, oh, safely guide him;

Bring the wand’rer home to thee;

Sore temptations long have tried him,

Far, far at sea;

Sore temptations long have tried him,

Far, far at sea.

Above:  Augustus Nelson

Image Source = The Escanaba Daily Press, Escanaba, Michigan, June 27, 1924, Page 4

Accessed via newspapers.com

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

Original Text (1571) by Martin Mikael Schalling (1532-1608)

Swedish Text (1818) by Johann Olaf Wallin (1779-1839)

English Translation by Augustus Nelson (1863-1949)

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O Lord, devoutly love I Thee;

Come, Jesus, and abide with me,

And grant me e’er Thy favor.

In this wide world of anxious care

Vain glory find I everywhere,

But peace with Thee, my Saviour.

E’en though, in woeful agony,

My soul and body pine away,

Thou art my Comfort, ever blest,

I safely on Thy bosom rest.

Lord Jesus Christ, my Saviour dear,

Thy saving hand is ever near.

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Almighty God, for what I own,

Receive, and am, to Thee alone

I ought my thanks to render.

Teach me to use Thy gifts, I pray,

To aid the poor, and never stay,

O Lord, Thy mercies tender.

Make known to me, O God, Thy will,

And purge my soul of every ill;

Yea, make my patient and content,

Nor let my soul to earth be bent.

Lord Jesus Christ, for Thy death’s sake

The bonds of my affliction break.

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Send, Lord, Thine angels forth at last

To bear my soul, when life is past,

Where heavenly joy aboundeth;

And let my weary body rest

In peace, where’er Thou seest best,

Until Thy voice resoundeth.

Then lo! in holy raiment clad,

I shall behold my Lord and God;

His grace and glory then shall be

My joy in all eternity,

Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer fulfill;

In life, in death, Thine am I still.

Above:  Labor Day Parade, 1910

Image Creator = Bain News Service

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ggbain-14667

Text by Maria Matilda Penstone (1859-1910)

Hymn Source = The Church School Hymnal for Youth (1928)

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1.  God bless all the workers

Laboring for men’s good,

Who in fields and cities

Seek our daily food.

Those in mines and workshops,

Those who sail the sea,

Lord, in all our labors,

May we think on Thee.

Refrain:

Lord, to all the workers

May Thy grace be given;

While on earth they labor

Lift their hearts to heaven.

2.  Jesus was a Worker,

Toiled by Joseph’s side,

Brother to all workers,

Dwelling far and wide.

Jesus! to the workers

Strength and comfort bring,

Thou dost know our labors;

Be the workers’ King!

Refrain

Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

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This is a hymn for use in time of war.  Sadly, we human beings keep acting is ways which keep the sentiments of the hymn current.

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This is one of those great Anglican contributions to English-language hymnody.

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PART THE FIRST:  THE BEGINNING

The story begins with Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808-1872), a Quaker-born novelist, playwright, libretticist, and literary and music critic in London, England, the United Kingdom.  In 1842 he published a hymn, “God, the All-Terrible! Thou Who Ordainest.”  My sources identified the the publication as having occurred in Part Music (1842), by John Pike Hullah (1812-1884).  A search at hymnary.org led me to my reprint of the Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes (Henry Ward Beecher, Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1855), where I found these verses:

1.  God, the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest

Thunder Thy clarion, and lightning Thy sword;

Show forth Thy pity on high where Thou reignest,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God, the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger,

Watching invisible, judging unheard;

Save us in mercy, O save us from danger,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the all-merciful! earth hath forsaken

Thy ways all holy, and slighted Thy word;

But not Thy wrath in its terror awaken,

Give to us pardon and peace, O Lord.

4.  So will Thy people with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,

Peace to the nations, and praise to the Lord.

(Hymn #1101)

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PART THE SECOND:  UNITARIANS DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864), included an abbreviated and different version of the text, starting with the second stanza.  Thus the hymn became “God, the Omnipotent! Mighty Avenger!”  The context of the U.S. Civil War was evident:

1.  God the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger!

Watching invisible, judging unheard!

Save Thou our land in the hour of her danger,

Give to us peace in Thy time, O Lord!

2.  Thunder and lightnings Thy judgment have sounded;

Letters of flame have recorded Thy word,

‘Only in righteousness true peace is founded’:

Give us that peace in Thy time, O Lord!

3.  So shall the people, with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,–

‘Peace to the nation, and praise to the Lord!’

(Hymn #262)

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PART THE THIRD:  ENTER JOHN ELLERTON

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church of England and author of no fewer than 86 hymns, wrote “God the Almighty One, Wisely Ordaining,” based on Chorley’s hymn.  The text debuted in Robert Brown-Borthwick’s Select Hymns for Church and Home (The Church of England, 1871).  I found the original version of that hymn via Google Books.

1.  God the Almighty One, wisely ordaining

Judgments unsearchable, famine and sword;

Over the tumult of war Thou are reigning;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

2.  God the All-righteous One! man hath defied Thee;

Yet to eternity standeth Thy word;

Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

3.  God the All-pitiful, is it not crying,

Blood of the guiltless like water outpoured?

Look on the anguish, the sorrow, the sighing;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

4.  God, the All-wise! by the fire of Thy chastening

Earth shall to freedom and truth be restored;

Through the thick darkness Thy kingdom is hast’ning,

Thou wilt give peace in Thy time, O Lord!

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PART THE FOURTH:  THE JOINING AND SUBSEQUENT VARIATIONS AND ALTERATIONS

The first joining of the Chorley and Ellerton texts occurred in the 1874 revision of Church Hymns (The Church of England, 1871), as one can read for oneself by following the hyperlink and seeking hymn #262.  Since then many hymnals have contained various composites of the Chorley and Ellerton texts, frequently with alterations to them.  The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) contained the hymn, but listed it as “God, Lord of Sabaoth, Thou Who Ordainest.”  The hymn was “God the All-Merciful! Earth Hath Forsaken” in the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917) but “God the Omnipotent! King, Who Ordainest” in the Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  The influential Hymnal (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895) and its successor from 1911 listed the hymn as “God, the All-Terrible,” but The Hymnal (1933) changed the title to “God the Omnipotent.”  Among more conservative Presbyterians (especially in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America) who use either the 1961 or the 1990 versions of the Trinity Hymnal, God remains “All-terrible.”  God was “All-terrible” in The Methodist Hymnal (Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1905), but “Omnipotent” in The Methodist Hymnal of 1935 (Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Protestant Church, and Methodist Episcopal Church, South; later The Methodist Church, 1939-1968).  As late as The Hymnal of 1918 (Episcopal Church, authorized in 1916) God was “All-Terrible,” but the deity was “Omnipotent” instead in The Hymnal 1940 (published in 1943).  The consensus among hymnal committees is that God is “Omnipotent,” not “All-terrible.”

The variation on the hymn in The Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal Church, 1985) contains four stanzas–two from Chorley, two from Ellerton, and all of them altered.  This is the version I sing in church:

1.  God the Omnipotent! King, who ordainest

thunder thy clarion, the lightning thy sword;

show forth thy pity on high where thou reignest:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God the All-merciful! earth hath forsaken

thy ways all holy, and slighted thy word;

bid not thy wrath in its terrors awaken:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the All-righteous One! earth hath defied thee;

yet eternity standeth thy word,

falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside thee:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

4.  God the All-provident! earth by thy chastening

yet shall to freedom and truth be restored;

through the thick darkness thy kingdom is hastening:

thou wilt give peace in thy time, O Lord.

Hymn writer Brian Wren (1936-) wrote of hymns in Praying Twice:  The Music and Words of Congregational Song (Louisville, KY:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2000, page 297):

I have shown that congregational songs are communal.  Though they usually originate from particular authors, their primary purpose is to give shared expression to shared experience, not parade the author’s personality.  Because they are communal a faith community may, in principle amend them.

The story of “God the Omnipotent!” fits that statement well.

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PART THE FIFTH:  DROPPING THE HYMN

Denominations revise their official hymnals from time to time.  In so doing they add some texts and remove others.  Here is a partial list of denominations which have removed “God the Omnipotent!” (however they have listed it) from their official hymnody as of 2015, based on hymnals of which I own physical copies:

1. the American Baptist Churches U.S.A., during their transition from the Hymnbook for Christian Worship (1970) to no official hymnal;
2. the Anglican Church of Canada, during the transition from The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971) to Common Praise (1998);
3. the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, during the transition from The Covenant Hymnal (1973) to The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996);
4. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, during the transition from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006);
5. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996);
6. the Free Methodist Church of North America and the Wesleyan Church, during their transition from Hymns of Faith and Life (1976) to no official hymnal;
7. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, during its transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Lutheran Worship (1982) and the Lutheran Service Book (2006);
8. the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), by way of its predecessors, the Presbyterian Church in the United States and The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., during the transition from The Hymnbook (1955) to The Worshipbook–Services and Hymns (1972);
9. the Reformed Church in America, during its transition from Rejoice in the Lord:  A Hymn Companion to the Scriptures (1985) to Lift Up Your Hearts:  Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (2013);
10. the Southern Baptist Convention, during the transition from Baptist Hymnal (1956) to Baptist Hymnal (1975); the text is absent even from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship‘s Celebrating Grace Hymnal (2010);
11. the Unitarian Universalist Association, sometime after Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864) and before Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association and Universalist Church of America, 1937);
12. The United Methodist Church, during its transition from The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957) and The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966) to The United Methodist Hymnal:  Book of United Methodist Worship (1992); and
13. the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993); neither is the hymn present in Christian Worship:  Supplement (2008).

That list covers a wide theological range.  So does the list of denominations which have retained it–from The Episcopal Church to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to the United Church of Christ to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America.  The list of denominations which have never added it to their official hymnody is also diverse, ranging from the Christian Reformed Church of North America to the Church of Nazarene.  Sometimes the presence or absence of the hymn indicates more about tastes in hymnody and worship style than about theology.

Another piece of supporting evidence for that conclusion comes from two non-denominational Evangelical hymnals Tom Fettke edited:  The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (1986) and The Celebration Hymnal:  Songs and Hymns for Worship (1997).  The former contains the hymn which is the subject of this post, but the latter does not.  A Victorian hymn set to the majestic former Russian national anthem does not fit with contemporary worship, with its seven-eleven songs, does it?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 21, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF J. B. PHILLIPS, BIBLE TRANSLATOR AND ANGLICAN PRIEST

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Above:  The Flag of Canada, 1868-1921

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1880)

Text by Robert Murray (1832-1910)

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1.  Thou, Lord, art our life and the length of our days:

Our voices to Thee in thanksgiving we raise;

Our shield and our buckler, our refuge and tower,

We trust in Thy faithfulness, mercy, and power.

2.  We thank Thee, we praise Thee, for sunshine and rain,

For calm and for tempest, for pleasure and pain;

Thy love and Thy wisdom our tongues shall employ,

In light and in darkness, in sorrow and joy.

3.  The summer and autumn, the winter and spring,

To Thee shall their tribute of gratitude bring;

The sea and its fullness, the earth and the air,

And tell of Thy goodness, Thy glory declare.

4.  We thank Thee, we praise Thee, for beauty and youth,

For justice and freedom, for honour and truth;

For the wealth of the ocean, the forest and field,

And all the rewards that our industries yield.

5.  We thank Thee, we praise Thee, for plenty and peace,

For Thy full-flowing bounty that never doth cease,

For the Church and the Sabbath, the Home and the School,

For a land in which mercy and righteousness rule.

6.  We thank Thee and praise Thee, our Father above,

For all the dear tokens of kindness and love

Thou sendest to greet us, as day follows day,

To lighten our burdens and gladden our way.

7.  We thank Thee for life with its blessings so free,

And for the glad hope which we have, Lord, in Thee,

That Thou wilt receive us in peace to Thy rest,

To serve Thee on high with the saved and the blest.

Above:  Canada and Newfoundland, 1945

Image Source = Hammond’s New Era Atlas of the World (1945)

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Hymnary of The United Church of Canada (1930)

Text (1880) by Robert Murray (1832-1910)

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1.  From ocean unto ocean

Our land shall own Thee, Lord,

And, filled with true devotion,

Obey Thy sovereign word;

Our prairies and our mountains,

Forest and fertile field,

Our rivers, lakes, and fountains

To Thee shall tribute yield.

2.  O Christ, for Thine own glory,

And for our country’s weal,

We humbly plead before Thee,

Thyself in us reveal;

And may we know, Lord Jesus,

The touch of Thy dear hand,

And, healed of our diseases,

The tempter’s power withstand.

3.  Where error smites with blindness,

Enslaves and leads astray,

Do Thou in loving-kindness

Proclaim Thy gospel day,

Till all the tribes and races

That dwell in this fair land,

Adorned with Christian graces,

Within Thy courts shall stand.

4.  Our Saviour King, defend us,

And guide where we should go,

Forth with Thy message send us,

Thy love and light to show,

Till, fired with true devotion

Enkindled by Thy word,

From ocean unto ocean,

Our land shall own Thee, Lord.

Above:  Flag of Canada, 1868-1921

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnary of The United Church of Canada (1930)

Text by Robert Murray (1832-1910)

A verse of “God Save Our Gracious King/Queen” in Canada

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Our beloved Dominion bless

With peace and happiness

From shore to shore;

And let our Empire be

United, loyal, free

True to herself and Thee

For evermore.

Above:  Part of the Hymn

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Words (1884) by Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840-1929)

Hymn Source = Pilgrim Hymnal (1935), Congregational Christian Churches

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1.  “O beautiful, my Country!”

Be thine a nobler care

Than all thy wealth of commerce,

Thy harvests waving fair;

Be it thy pride to lift up

The manhood of the poor;

Be thou to the oppressed

Fair freedom’s open door!

2.  For thee our fathers suffered;

For thee they toiled and prayed;

Upon thy holy altar

Their willing lives they laid.

Thou hast no common birthright,

Grand mem’ries on thee shine;

The blood of pilgrim nations

Commingled flows in thine.

3.  O beautiful, our country!

Round thee in love we draw;

Thine is the grace of freedom,

The majesty of law.

Be righteousness thy scepter,

Justice thy diadem;

And on thy shining forehead

Be peace the crowning gem!

Above:  The Hymn Title

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Concordia Hymnal (1932), U.S. Lutheran

Original German Words (1833) by Carl Johann Philipp Spitta (1801-1859)

English Translation by Sarah Borthwick Findlater (1823-1907)

I found the name of the translator in Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  The Concordia Hymnal (1932) and its sort-of successor, The Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (1994), list Spitta as author but do not identify the translator.

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1.  O happy home, where Thou art loved the dearest,

Thou loving Friend and Savior of our race,

And where among the guests there never cometh

One who can hold such high and honored place!

2.  O happy home, where little ones are given

To Thee, O Lord, in humble faith and pray’r,

To Thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven

Guides them, and guards with more than mother’s care!

3.  O happy home, where each one serves Thee lowly,

Whatever his appointed work may be,

Till ev’ry common task seems great and holy,

When it is done, O Lord, as unto Thee!

4.  O happy home, where Thou art not forgotten

When joy is overflowing, full and free,

O happy home, where ev’ry wounded spirit

Is brought, Physician, Comforter, to Thee.

5.  And when at last all earthly toil is ended,

All meet Thee in the blessed home above,

From whence Thou camest, where Thou hast ascended,–

Thine everlasting home of peace and love.