Above:  Parable of the Sower

Image in the Public Domain

Text (1863) by James Russell Woodford (1820-1885), Anglican Bishop of Ely (1873-1885)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

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Not by Thy Mighty hand,

Thy wondrous works alone,

But by the marvels of Thy Word,

Thy glory, Lord, is known.

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Forth from the eternal gates,

Thine everlasting home,

To sow the seed of truth below,

Thou didst vouchsafe to come.

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And still from age to age,

Thou, gracious Lord, hast been

The Bearer forth of goodly seed,

The Sower still unseen.

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And Thou wilt come again,

And heaven beneath Thee bow,

To reap the harvest Thou has sown,

Sower and Reaper Thou.

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Watch, Lord, Thy harvest field,

With Thine unsleeping eye,

The children of the Kingdom keep

To Thy Epiphany;

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That when, in Thy great day,

The tares shall severed be,

We may be surely gathered in

With all Thy saints to Thee.

Above:  Saint John and the Cup, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Text by Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

A hymn for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist

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O Thou, Who gav’st Thy servant grace

On Thee the living Rock to rest,

To look on Thine unveiled face,

And lean on Thy protecting breast;

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Grant us, O King of mercy, still

To feel Thy presence from above,

And in Thy word and in Thy will

To hear Thy voice and know Thy love;

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And when the toils of life are done,

And nature waits Thy just decree,

To find our rest beneath Thy throne,

And look in certain hope to Thee.

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To Thee, O Jesus, Light of Light,

Whom as their King the saints adore,

Thou strength and refuge in the fight,

Be laud and glory evermore.

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:  Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, Atlanta, Georgia, December 10, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), Episcopal Church

Words (1882) by John Julian (1839-1913)

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1.  Hark! the voice eternal,

Robed in majesty,

Calling into beginning

Earth and sea and sky;

Hark! in countless numbers

All the angel throng

Hail creation’s morning

With one burst of song

High regal glory,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reign, O King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

2.  Bright the world and glorious,

Calm both earth and sea,

Noble in its grandeur

Stood man’s purity;

Came the great transgression,

Came the saddening fall,

Death and desolation

Breathing over all.

Still in regal glory,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reigned the King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

3.  Long the nations waited,

Through the troubled night,

Looking, longing, yearning,

For the promised light,

Prophets saw the morning

Breaking far away,

Minstrels sang the splendour

Of that opening day.

Whilst sang the splendour

Of that opening day.

Whilst in regal glory,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reigned the King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

4.  Brightly dawned the Advent

Of the new-born King,

Joyously the watchers

Heard the angels sing.

Sadly closed the evening

Of His hallowed life,

As the noontide darkness

Veiled the last dread strife.

Lo! again in glory,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reigns the King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

5.  Lo! again He cometh,

Robed in clouds of light,

As the Judge eternal,

Armed with power and might

Nations to His footstool

Gathered then shall be;

Earth shall yield her treasures,

And her dead, the sea.

Till the trumpet soundeth,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reign, Thou King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

6.  Jesus! Lord and Master,

Prophet, Priest, and King,

To Thy feet, triumphant,

Hallowed praise we bring.

Thine the pain and weeping,

Thine the victory;

Power, and praise, and honour,

Be, O Lord, to Thee.

High in regal glory,

‘Mid eternal light,

Reign, O King immortal,

Holy, infinite.

Above:  Diocesan Confirmation, the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, December 8, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), Episcopal Church

Original Latin Text (Fifth Century C.E.) by Anonymous

English Translation (1849, altered) by Edward Caswall (1814-1878)

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1.  Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding;

“Christ is night,” it seems to say;

“Cast away the works of darkness,

O ye children of the day.”

2.  Wakened by the solemn warning,

Let the earth-bound soul arise;

Christ, her Sun, all sloth dispelling,

Shines upon the morning skies.

3.  Lo! the Lamb, so long expected,

Comes with pardon down from heaven;

Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,

One and all to be forgiven;

4.  So when next He comes with glory,

Wrapping all the world in fear,

May He with His mercy shield us,

And with words of love draw near.

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This is post #1350 of GATHERED PRAYERS.

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Above:  Diocesan Confirmation, the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, December 8, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), Episcopal Church

Words (publication date = 1827) by Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

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1.  Hosanna to the living Lord!

Hosanna to the Incarnate Word!

To Christ, Creator, Saviour, King,

Let earth, let heav’n, Hosanna sing!

Hosanna, Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

2.  Hosanna, Lord! Thine angels cry;

Hosanna, Lord! Thy saints reply;

Above, beneath us, and around,

The dead and living swell the sound;

Hosanna, Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

3.  O Saviour, with protecting care,

Return to this Thy house of prayer:

Assembled in Thy sacred Name,

Where we Thy parting promise claim:

Hosanna, Lord! Hosanna in the higest!

4.  But, chiefest, in our cleansed breast,

Eternal! bid Thy Spirit rest;

And make our secret soul to be

A temple pure and worthy Thee.

Hosanna, Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

5.  So in then last and dreadful day,

When earth and heaven shall melt away,

Thy flock, redeemed from sinful stain,

Shall swell the sound of praise again.

Hosanna, Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

Above:  Part of the Hymn

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), Episcopalian

Original German Words (published in 1642) by Georg Weissel (1590-1635)

English Translation (1855) by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)

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1.  Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!

Behold, the King of glory waits;

The King of kings is drawing near;

The Saviour of the world is here.

2.  The Lord is just, a helper tried;

Mercy is ever at His side;

His kingly crown is holiness;

His scepter, pity in distress.

3.  O blest the land, the city blest,

Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!

O happy hearts and happy homes

To whom this King of triumph comes!

4.  Fling wide the portals of your heart!

Make it a temple, set apart

From earthly use for heaven’s employ,

Adorned with prayer and hope and joy.

5.  Redeemer, come!  I open wide

My heart to Thee:  here, Lord, abide!

Let me Thy inner presence feel:

Thy grace and love in me reveal.

6.  So come, my Sovereign! enter in!

Let new and nobler life begin!

Thy Holy Spirit, guide us on,

Until the glorious crown be won!

Above:  The Conversion of Saint Paul (1690), by Luca Giordano (1634-1705)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

Words (1871) by John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church and England, and a writer and translator of hymns

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1.  We sing the glorious conquest

Before Damascus Gate,

When Saul, the Church’s spoiler,

Came breathing threats and hate;

The ravening wolf rushed forward

Full early to the prey;

But lo! the Shepherd met him,

And bound him fast to-day.

2.   O glory most excelling

That smote across his path!

O light that pierced and blinded

The zealot in his wrath!

O voice that spake within him

The calm, reproving word!

O love that sought and held him

The bondman of his Lord!

3.  O Wisdom ordering all things

In order strong and sweet,

What nobler spoil was ever

Cast at the Victor’s feet?

What wiser master-builder

E’er wrought at thine employ

Than he, till now so furious

Thy building to destroy?

4.  Lord, teach thy Church then lesson,

Still in her darkest hour

Of weakness and of danger,

To trust thy hidden power:

Thy grace by ways mysterious

The wrath of man can bind,

And in thy boldest foeman

Thy chosen saint can find.

Above:  Ocean Surf

Image dated 1900-1910

Image copyrighted by the Detroit Publishing Company

Image #034801

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994015895/PP/)

Reproduction Number = LC-D4-34801

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Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

Words (1821) by James Edmeston (1791-1867), archtect, surveyor, and member of The Church of England

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1.  Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us

O’er the world’s tempestuous sea;

Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,

For we have no help but thee,

Yet possessing every blessing,

If our God our Father be.

2.  Saviour breathe forgiveness o’er us;

All our weakness thou dost know;

Thou didst tread this earth before us;

Thou didst feel its keenest woe;

Lone and dreary, faint and weary,

Through the desert thou didst go.

3.  Spirit of our God, descending,

Fill our hearts with heavenly joy;

Love with every passion blending,

Pleasure that can never cloy;

Thus provided, pardoned, guided,

Nothing can our peace destroy.

Above:  St. David’s Episcopal Church, Roswell, Georgia, December 18, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StDavidSRoswell#5687623653731760306)

Words (1867) by John Monsell (1811-1875), a priest of the Church of Ireland

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

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1.  Holy offerings rich and rare,

Offerings of praise and prayer,

Purer life and purpose high,

Clasped hands, uplifted eye,

Lowly acts of adoration

To the God of our salvation;

On his altar laid, we leave them:

Christ, present them!  God, receive them!

2.  Homage of each humble heart,

Ere we from thy house depart;

Worship fervent, deep and high,

Adoration, ecstasy;

All that childlike love can render

Of devotion true and tender;

On thine altar laid, we leave them:

Christ, present them!  God, receive them!

3.  To the Father, and the Son,

And the Spirit, Three in One,

Though our mortal weakness raise

Offerings of imperfect praise,

Yet with hearts bowed down most lowly,

Crying, Holy! Holy! Holy!

On thine altar laid, we leave them:

Christ, present them! God, receive them!