Image in the Public Domain

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

Paraphrase (1924) of Psalm 139:23 and 24 by Claus August Wendell (1866-1950)

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Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy;

Try me, Thou who from afar

Knowest all my secrets;

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Blessed Saviour, lead Thou me

In the way eternal.

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The Service Book and Hymnal (immediate predecessors of the American Lutheran Church [1960] and the Lutheran Church in America [1962], 1958) also contains the above text verbatim.

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The Lutheran Book of Worship (immediate predecessors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [1987], 1978) modernizes the text and makes it the second verse of a composite hymn, with a new first verse (beginning with “Wondrous are your ways, O God!”) by Joel W. Lundeen.  The modernized version of the text by Wendell follows:

Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy.

From afar, O Lord, you know

All my thoughts and secrets.

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Cleanse, forgive me by your grace;

Grant me life eternal.

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Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1993) also modernizes the Wendell text and uses it as the second verse of a composite hymn.  However, this hymn book alters the Lundeen text.

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The text by Wendell is absent from the current Lutheran  denominational hymnals in my collection:

1. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1994),
2. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1996),
3. Worship Supplement 2000 (Church of the Lutheran Confession, 2000),
4. Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006), and
5. Lutheran Service Book (The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, 2006).

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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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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 Luther Rose

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe (1889-1941), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was one of the best hymn writers and translators the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) produced.  Her texts seem to have fallen out of favor with editorial committees recent North American Lutheran hymnals, however.  My survey of the most recent denominational hymnals (1993-2006) among North American Lutherans has yielded the following results:

1. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996, The Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)–no Hoppe hymns;
2. Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Lutheran Service Book (2006, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)–one Hoppe hymn each; and
3. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (1994, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations)–two Hoppe hymns.

Also, The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996, the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, a close relation to Scandinavian Lutheranism) contains one Hoppe hymn.

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By Nature Deaf to Things Divine:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/by-nature-deaf-to-things-divine/

Desire of Every Nation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/desire-of-every-nation/

Eternal God, Our Father:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/eternal-god-our-father/

Have Ye Heard the Invitation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/have-ye-heard-the-invitation/

Heavenly Sower, Thou Hast Scattered:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/heavenly-sower-thou-hast-scattered/

How Blest Are They Who Through the Power of Heaven-Kindled Faith:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/how-blest-are-they-who-through-the-power-of-heaven-kindled-faith/

I Open Wide the Portals of My Heart:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/i-open-wide-the-portals-of-my-heart/

Jesus, O Precious Name:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/jesus-o-precious-name/

Like Enoch, Let Me Ever Walk With Thee:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/let-enoch-let-me-ever-walk-with-thee/

Lord Jesus Christ, the Children’s Friend:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/lord-jesus-christ-the-childrens-friend/

O Dear Redeemer Crucified:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-dear-redeemer-crucified/

O Father Mine, Whose Mercies Never Cease:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-father-mine-whose-mercies-never-cease/

O Friend of Sinners, Son of God:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-friend-of-sinners-son-of-god/

O Precious Saviour, Heal and Bless:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-precious-saviour-heal-and-bless/

The Sower Goeth Forth to Sow:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-sower-goeth-forth-to-sow/

This Night a Wondrous Revelation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/this-night-a-wondrous-revelation/

Thou Goest to Jerusalem:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-goest-to-jerusalem/

Thou Hast Indeed Made Manifest:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-hast-indeed-made-manifest/

Thou Lord of Life and Death:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-lord-of-life-and-death/

Jesus, Thou from Death Hast Risen:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/jesus-thou-from-death-hast-risen/

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Eucharistic Adoration

Image Source = Shark96z

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eucharistic_adoration_(lutheran).jpg)

Prayer Source = Common Service Book (1917), of the predecessor bodies of the United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962), itself an ancestor of the Lutheran Church in America (1962-1987) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1987-)

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We give thanks to Thee, Almighty God, that Thou hast refreshed us with this Thy salutary gift; and we beseech Thee, of Thy mercy, to strengthen us through the same in faith toward Thee, and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end.  Amen.

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This prayer is quite common in Lutheran hymnals and service books of North American origin across generations.  I have found in the 1930 American Lutheran Hymnal, the 1941 Lutheran Hymnal, and the 1958 Service Book and Hymnal.  And I have found updated variations of it in the 1993 Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal, the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, the 1982 Lutheran Worship, the 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and the 2006 Lutheran Service Book.

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Here is the version from the Lutheran Service Book (2006), of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod:

We give thanks to You, almighty God,

that you have refreshed us through this salutary gift,

and we implore You that of Your mercy

You would strengthen us through the same

in faith in You and fervent love toward one another;

through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

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Here is the version from Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993), of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod:

We give thanks, almighty God,

that you have refreshed us with this holy supper.

We pray that through it you will strengthen our faith in you

and increase our love for one another.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

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Here is the version from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:

We give you thanks, almighty God,

that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life.

In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift,

in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another;

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.