O Worship the King all glorious above

Representative Text

1 O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

2 O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

3 Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

4 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

5 O measureless Might, unchangeable Love,
whom angels delight to worship above!
Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,
in true adoration shall sing to your praise!

Psalter Hymnal, (Gray)

Author: Robert Grant

Robert Grant (b. Bengal, India, 1779; d. Dalpoorie, India, 1838) was influenced in writing this text by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns (The original stanza 3 was omitted in Lift Up Your Hearts). Of Scottish ancestry, Grant was born in India, where his father was a director of the East India Company. He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1807. He had a distinguished public career a Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament, where… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O worship the King all glorious above
Title: O Worship the King all glorious above
Author: Robert Grant (1833)
Meter: 10.10.11.11
Language: English
Notes: Swahili translation: See "Watu wa yesu, sifuni Bwana"; Spanish translation: See Al Rey adorad, grandioso Señor by S. L. Hernandez
Copyright: Public Domain
Liturgical Use: Opening Hymns

Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Ps. 18:2, Dan. 7:9, 13, 22
st. 2 = Ps. 18:9-12, Ps. 104:1-3
st. 3 = Ps. 104:7-10
st. 5 = Ps. 145:10

Robert Grant (b. Bengal, India, 1779; d. Dalpoorie, India, 1838) was influenced in writing this text by William Kethe’s (PHH 100) paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns. Stanza 3 was omitted in the Psalter Hymnal.

Rather than being a paraphrase or versification, the text is a meditation on the creation theme of Psalm 104. Stanzas 1-3, which allude to Psalm 104:1-6, focus on God’s creation as a testimony to his “measureless Might.” More personal in tone, stanzas 4 and 5 confess the compassion of God toward his creatures and affirm with apocalyptic vision that the “ransomed creation, with glory ablaze” will join with angels to hymn its praise to God.

Of Scottish ancestry, Grant was born in India, where his father was a director of the East India Company. He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1807. He had a distinguished public career a Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament, where he sponsored a bill to remove civil restrictions on Jews. Grant was knighted in 1834. His hymn texts were published in the Christian Observer (1806-1815), in Elliot’s Psalms and Hymns (1835), and posthumously by his brother as Sacred Poems (1839).

Liturgical Use:
An opening hymn of praise; because of the hymn’s relationship to Psalm 104, see suggestions for use at PHH 104.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
=======================

O worship the King, All-glorious above. Sir R. Grant . [Psalms civ.] This version of Psalms civ. is W. Kethe's rendering of the same psalm in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561, reset by Sir R. Grant in the same metre but in a less quaint and much more ornate style, as a quotation of Kethe's stanzas i., iii. will show:—

"My ƒoule praise the Lord,
speake good of his Name
0 Lord our great God
how doeƒt thou appear?
So passing in glorie,
that great is thy fame,
Honour and maieƒtie,
in thee ƒhine moƒt cleare.

"His chamber beames lie,
in the clouds full ƒure,
Which as his chariot,
are made him to beare.
And there with much ƒwiftneƒƒ
his courƒe doth endure:
Vpon the wings riding.
Of winds in the aire."

Sir R. Grant's version was given in Bickersteth's Church Psalmody, 1833, No. 17; in Elliott's Psalms and Hymns, 1835; and in Lord Glenelg's edition of Grant's Sacred Poems. 1839, p. 33. From the Preface to Elliott's Psalms & Hymns we find that the text in Bickersteth was not authorized. It was altered from a source at present unknown to us. The authorized text is in the Hymnal Companion, 1876, with stanza ii., l. 3, thus-—
“His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form."
This text with the omission of the "the" is ill extensive use in all English-speaking countries. It is also in use in an abbreviated and slightly altered form as in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861 ; and in the full form, but still altered as before, in Hymns Ancient & Modern1875. The 1839 text is in Church Hymns, 1871; Hymnal Companion, 1876; Turing's Collection, 1882, and others. It has been translation into Latin by R. Bingham, in his Hymnologia Christiana Latina, 1871, p. 143, as, "Glorioso ferte Regi vota vestra carmine."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
=======================

St. 1 = Ps 104:1, Ps 89:18, Da 7:9
St. 2 = Ps 104:2, Ps 104:3
St. 3 = Ps 104:5, Ps 104:6
St. 4 = Jb 37:9-13, Ps 104:15, Ps 104:13
St. 5 = Ps 104:29, Ps 104:31, Is 54:5
St. 6 = Ps 104:1, Ps 104:31, Ps 104:33

Sir Robert Grant stood as a man among men, serving both as a member of British Parliament and the governor of Bombay. Though himself of royal station, Grant's pen attested to the highest adoration-- his Maker. The regal prose of his pen ran rich in the lofty expressions and majestic declarations which attested to a humble concession to a being so much higher than himself.

- Psalms and Hymns And Spiritual Songs (2018)

Tune

LYONS


HANOVER (Croft)

William Croft (b. Nether Ettington, Warwickshire, England, 1678; d. Bath, Somerset, England, 1727) was a boy chorister in the Chapel Royal in London and then an organist at St. Anne's, Soho. Later he became organist, composer, and master of the children of the Chapel Royal, and eventually organist a…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
Baptist Hymnal 1991 #16
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
The Cyber Hymnal #5540
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #428
The United Methodist Hymnal #73
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
Worship and Rejoice #2

Instances

Instances (1001 - 1100 of 1132)

The School Hymn and Tune Book #d136

Page Scan

The School Hymnal #30

Page Scan

The School Hymnary #68

Page Scan

The Scottish Hymnal #16a

Page Scan

The Scottish Hymnal #16b

The Second Belfrey Book #d18

Page Scan

The Service Hymnal #4

The Service of Song for Baptist Churches #d708

The Service of Song for Baptist Churches #d448

TextPage Scan

The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book #97

Page Scan

The Sheet Music of Heaven (Spiritual Song) #1

Page Scan

The Sheet Music of Heaven (Spiritual Song) #1

The Singing Choir #d100

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #d615

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #16

Page Scan

The Song Companion to the Scriptures #441

Page Scan

The Spirit of Praise #17

Page Scan

The Spirit of Praise #29

The St. Alban Hymnal #d326

Page Scan

The Standard Church Hymnal #35

The Student Hymnary #d279

Page Scan

The Students' Hymnal #4a

Page Scan

The Students' Hymnal #4b

Page Scan

The Students' Hymnal #103

Page Scan

The Students' Hymnal #103

Page Scan

The Sunday School Chant and Tune Book #83

The Sunday School Hymnal #d151

Page Scan

The Sunday School Hymnal #351

Page Scan

The Sunday School Hymnal #351

Page Scan

The Sunday School Hymnary #419

The Supplement to "The Century Gospel Songs" #d121

The Tabernacle Chorus #d132

Page Scan

The Tabernacle Chorus (Trinity ed.) #137

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The United Methodist Hymnal #73

Text

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #223

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #224

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #225

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #226

Page Scan

The University Hymn Book #55a

Page Scan

The University Hymn Book #55b

Page Scan

The Very Best #142

The Vestry Hymn Book #d349

Page Scan

The Voice of Praise No. 2 #191

Page Scan

The Voice of Praise No. 3 #5

TextPage Scan

The Voice of Praise #104

Page Scan

The Voice of Thanksgiving #163

Page Scan

The Voice of Thanksgiving No. 2 #163

Page Scan

The Voice of Thanksgiving No. 4 #208

The Voice of Thanksgiving No. 5 #9

Page Scan

The Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal #23

Page Scan

The Winchester Hymn Supplement #23

The World Evangel #326

The World Evangel #328

Page Scan

The World's Best Hymns #75

Page Scan

The World's Best Hymns #141

TextPage Scan

The Worshipbook #533

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The Worshiping Church #29

Page Scan

The Y.M.C.A. Hymnal #17

The Youth Hymnary #d154

Tidings of the Cross #d173

Text

Together in Song #133

Tokyo Hymnal and Service Book #d58

Treasure Songs for Schools and Churches #d173

Treasured Hymns of the Radio Devotional League #d89

Page Scan

Treasury of Song #275

Page Scan

Treasury of Song #277

Page Scan

Tried and True #198

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal #13

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #2

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #219

Triumphant Service Songs #1

Page Scan

Triumphant Service Songs (Utility Ed.) #1

Tuneful Tidings #4

Page Scan

Twentieth (20th) Century Songs Part One #161

Union Hymnal for Jewish Worship #d134

Union Hymnal, Songs and Prayers for Jewish Worship. 3rd ed. Revised and enlarged. #60

Union Songster #35

Union Songster #37

Unitarian Service Book, and Hymns for Church and Home. Abridged ed. #d340

Page Scan

United Praise #234

Unity Hymns and Chorals. Rev and enl. with Service Elements #d222

Page Scan

Unity Song Selections #8

Unity Song Selections #8

Unity Song Selections #8

Universalist Hymn Book #d397

University Hymn Book for use in the Chapel of Harvard University #d185

Page Scan

University Hymns #45

Page Scan

University Hymns #70

Vacation Bible School; Intermediate, Books 1 and 2 #d15

Vacation School Songbook #d6

Vacation School Songbook #d8

Vesper Chimes #d174

Page Scan

Vestry Harmonies #94b

Page Scan

Victorious Revival Songs #161

Page Scan

Victorious Service Songs #296

Page Scan

Voice of Praise #122

Page Scan

Voices of Praise #228

TextPage Scan

Voices Together #74

TextPage Scan

Voices United #235

Warrior Songs for the White Cavalry. 2nd ed. #d181

Pages

Exclude 1027 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us