“O God Beyond All Praising”

Published: 11 October 2015
Categories: Authors, Hymns

For hundreds of years, hymn writers have set their lyrics to classical, folk, pop and rock tunes. One recent example is Michael Perry’s hymn, “O God Beyond All Praising.”

the planetsAccording to the United Methodist Church website, this hymn was “written specifically for the melody THAXTED in 1982, a composition by the early 20th-century British composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) [which is part of the “Jupiter” section of his orchestral suite, “The Planets.”] This tune is normally associated in the United Kingdom with a more patriotic text. Perry composed the text, he said, ‘in response to a call for alternative words that would be more appropriate for Christian worship.’”

The lyrics of “O God Beyond all Praising” celebrate “blessings without number and mercies without end” as “We lift our hearts before you and wait upon your Word.” By setting his lyrics to this triumphant, solemn tune he effectively claimed it for the church—not only that we might sing it for ages to come, but I believe (like many great hymns of the church) for throughout eternity.

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Cecil Francis Alexander

Published: 7 July 2013
Categories: Authors, Hymns

by Annette Christensen

The Apostles’ Creed (click here to hear our original composition of “The Apostle’s Creed”) is a very important, very old document in the Christian church. It states, in a nutshell, the basic truths of the Christian church. But those truths are very big and important, and sometimes hard for children to understand. Cecil Francis Alexander knew this, so she wrote a whole series of hymns for children, to help them understand the doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed. Some of those hymns are still loved today: Once in Royal David’s City was written to explain “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”; There is a Green Hill Far Away explained “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried”; and the hymn we are talking about today, All Things Bright and Beautiful, was written to explain (God the Father), “maker of heaven and earth”.

Cecil Francis Humphrey Alexander was a gifted poet and hymn writer. She was born in Ireland in 1818, and started writing poems when she was only nine. Some of her hymns were already included in the Church of Ireland hymn book in the 1840’s. She wrote primarily for children, and her poetry was mainly to teach about God and the Bible. Always concerned for children, with the money from her first publications she established the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, founded in 1846 in Strabane. In 1848 she published Hymns for Little Children and profits from this book were also donated to the school. The Derry Home for Fallen Women, and developing a district nurses service, were also projects that Cecil helped.

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