Above:  All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Georgia, May 14, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original Text (1736) by Charles Coffin (1676-1749)

English Translation (1863) by James Russell Woodford (1820-1885)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

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Lord of the hearts of men,

Thou hast vouchsafed to bless,

From age to age, Thy chosen saints

With fruits of holiness.

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Here faith and hope and love

Reign in sweet bond allied;

There, when this little day is o’er,

Shall love alone abide.

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O love, O truth, O light!

Light never to decay!

O rest from thousand labors past!

O endless Sabbath day!

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Here, amid cares and tears,

Bearing the seed we come;

There, with rejoicing hearts, we bring

Our harvest burdens home.

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Give, mighty Lord Divine,

The fruits Thyself dost love;

Soon shalt Thou, from Thy judgment-seat,

Crown Thine own gifts above.

Above:  Christ in Majesty

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Anonymous Latin Text (500s or 600s)

English Translation (1852) by James Russell Woodford (1820-1885), Anglican Bishop of Ely (1873-1885)

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Christ, above all glory seated,

King triumphant, strong to save,

Dying, Thou hast death defeated,

Buried, Thou hast spoiled the grave.

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Thou art gone where now is given

What no mortal might could gain,

On the eternal throne of heaven

In Thy Father’s power to reign.

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There Thy kingdoms all adore Thee,

Heaven above and earth below;

While the depths of hell before Thee

Trembling and amazed bow.

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We, O Lord, with hearts adoring,

Follow Thee beyond the sky:

Hear our prayers Thy grace imploring,

Lift our souls to Thee on high;

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So when Thou again in glory

On the clouds of heaven shalt shine,

We Thy flock may stand before Thee,

Owned for evermore as Thine.

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Hail!  all hail!  In Thee confiding,

Jesus, Thee shall all adore,

In Thy Father’s might abiding

With one Spirit evermore.

Above:  Lake in Dawn Time

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1863) by Greville Phillimore (1821-1884)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

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O God, before Thy sun’s bright beams

All night’s dark and shadows fly;

So on the soul Thy mercy gleams,

And doubts and terrors die.

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So freshly falls Thy heaven-sent grace

As morning’s gladdening breath;

Gives light to all to seek Thy face,

And guides in life and death.

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O holy light! O light of God!

O light unseen below,

Which fills the courts of Thine abode,

Which there the blest shall know!

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Swift comes the hour when none can toil,

Short is the rugged way:

Teach us to fill our lamps with oil,

Whilst it is called to-day.

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Then we shall see that glorious light

Which to the saints is given,

So sweet, so fair, so passing bright,

The eternal morn of heaven.

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O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

O holy One in Three,

Grant us, with all Thy glorious host,

To share that morn with Thee.

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Above:  Episcopal Church of the Mediator, Washington, Georgia, June 7, 2015

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1838) by George Perkins Morris (1802-1864)

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1.  Searcher of hearts, from mine erase

All thoughts that should not be,

And in its deep recesses trace

My gratitude to Thee.

2.  Hearer of prayer, O guide aright,

Each word and deed of mine;

Life’s battle teach me how to fight,

And be the victory Thine.

3.  Giver of all–for every good

In the Redeemer came–

For raiment, shelter, and for food,

I thank Thee in His Name.

4.  Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost,

Thou glorious Three in One,

Thou knowest best what I need most,

And let Thy will be done.

Above:  Icon of Christ Pantocrator

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1817) by Ralph Wardlaw (1779-1853)

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1.  Christ, of all my hopes the Ground,

Christ, the Spring of all my joy,

Still in Thee may I be found,

Still for Thee my powers employ.

2.  Let Thy love my heart inflame;

Keep Thy fear before my sight;

Be Thy praise my highest aim;

Be Thy smile my chief delight.

3.  Fountain of o’erflowing grace,

Freely from Thy fulness give;

Till I close my earthly race,

May I prove it “Christ to live.”

4.  Firmly trusting in Thy blood,

Nothing shall my heart confound;

Safely I shall pass the flood,

Safely reach Emmanuel’s ground.

5.  Thus, O thus, an entrance give

To the land of cloudless sky;

Having known it “Christ to live,”

Let me know it “gain to die.”

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 Annunciation to the Shepherds

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1857) by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

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1.  Blessed night, when first that plain

Echoed with the joyful strain,

“Peace has come to earth again.”

Alleluia.

2.  Blessed hills, that heard the song

Of the glorious angel throng

Swelling all your slopes along.

Alleluia!

3.  Happy shepherds, on whose ear

Fell the tidings glad and clear,

“God to man is drawing near.”

Alleluia!

4.  Thus revealed the shepherds’ eyes,

Hidden from the great and wise,

Entering earth in lowly guise:

Alleluia!

5.  We adore Thee as our King,

And to Thee our song we sing;

Our best offering to Thee bring.

Alleluia!

6.  Blessed Babe of Bethlehem,

Owner of earth’s diadem,

Claim and wear the radiant gem.

Alleluia!

Above:  Dusk

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1878) by William Romanis (1824-1899), a priest of the Church of England

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1.  Round me falls the night.

Saviour, be my Light;

Through the hours in darkness shrouded

Let me see Thy face unclouded;

Let Thy glory shine

In this heart of mine.

2.  Earthly work is done,

Earthly sounds are none;

Rest in sleep and silence seeking,

Let me hear Thee softly speaking;

To my spirit here

Whisper, “I am near.”

3.  Darkened now each ray

O’er the traveler’s way;

Let me know that Thou has found me,

Let me feel Thine arms around me,

Sure from every ill

Thou wilt guard me still.

4.  Blessed, heavenly Light,

Shining through earth’s night;

Voice, that oft of love hast told me;

Arms, so strong to clasp and hold me;

Thou Thy watch wilt keep,

Saviour, o’er my sleep.

Above:  Christ the Merciful, Twelfth Century C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Original Latin text by St. Gregory the Great (circa 540-604), Bishop of Rome

English Translation (1858) by Ray Palmer (1808-1887), U.S. Congregationalist minister

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1.  O Christ, our King, Creator, Lord,

Saviour of all who trust Thy word,

To them who seek Thee ever near,

Now to our praises bend Thine ear.

2.  In Thy dear cross a grace is found–

It flows from every streaming wound–

Whose power our inbred sin controls,

Breaks the firm bond, and frees our souls.

3.  Thou didst create the stars of night;

Yet Thou has veiled in flesh Thy light,

Hast deigned a mortal form to wear,

A mortal’s painful lot to bear.

4.  When Thou didst hang upon the tree,

The quaking earth acknowledged Thee;

When Thou didst there yield up Thy breath,

Then world grew dark as shades of death.

5.  Now in the Father’s glory high,

Great Conqueror, never more to die,

Us by Thy mighty power defend,

And reign through ages without end.

Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1911), Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words (1858) by Ray Palmer (1808-1887), U.S. Congregationalist minister

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1.  Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb

To search the starry vault profound;

In vain would wing her flight sublime

To find creation’s utmost bound.

2.  But weaker yet that thought must prove

To search Thy great eternal plan,

Thy sovereign counsels, born of love

Long ages ere the world began.

3.  When my dim reason would demand

Why that, or this, Thou dost ordain,

By some vast deep I seem to stand,

Whose secrets I must ask in vain.

4.  When doubts disturb my troubled breast,

And all is dark as night to me,

Here, as on solid rock, I rest,–

That so it seemeth good to Thee.

5.  Be this my joy, that evermore

Thou rulest all things at Thy will;

Thy sovereign wisdom I adore,

And calmly, sweetly, trust Thee still.