Psalm 148 is a glorious call to everyone and everything to praise the Lord with exuberance. “Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven.” (vs. 13) That call to worship is directed to the angels around God’s throne, to the sun and moon and stars in the sky, to the waters above the heavens, to the great sea creatures in the deep, to the fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind, mountains and hills, trees and cattle, birds and rulers of the earth In other words, it is directed to “All Creatures of Our God and King.”
And that’s the opening line of this marvelous hymn, based on an ancient text from Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181 – 1226). Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone, more commonly known as St. Francis of Assisi, was born in Assisi, Italy. He lived during the time of the Crusades, when the upper class and elite ruled the land and when armored knights rode chivalrously on their horses across the European countryside. But not Francis. A monk in search of reform, Francis lived a humble, simple lifestyle in service to God and to his fellow man. He is said to have loved nature, travel, and would preach to anyone who’d listen, even if it was a group of birds in a cave. His love of nature and his love for the Creator of nature is what birthed his “Song of Brother Sun and All Creatures,” or “Cantico del frate sole.” It was one of several popular “laude spirituale,” or popular spiritual songs in Italian for use outside of the liturgical context of corporate worship. It is the basis of the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King.”
The poem was translated and paraphrased in its present form in English by William H. Draper. He did this for a children’s Whitsuntide (Pentecost) Festival in Leeds, England, around 1910. Originally in seven stanzas, Draper’s translation was published with the tune LASST UNS ERFREUEN in the “Public School Hymn Book” of 1919. Educated at Cheltenham College and Keble College, Oxford, England, Draper was ordained in the Church of England in 1880. He served at least six churches during his lifetime, including the Temple Church in London (1919-1930). He is known for his sixty translations of Latin, Greek, and German hymns.
Francis of Assisi was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. Though never ordained to the priesthood, he is one of the most revered religious figures in history. Francis is believed to have written this poem near the end of his earthly life, during a period of tremendous pain and suffering. Born about the year 1182 to the family of a wealthy silk merchant, Francis led a carefree youth participating in various revelries of the day. He joined a military expedition fighting as a soldier for Assisi and was taken prisoner, spending a year in captivity while also suffering illness. During this time Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost all interest in that which he once enjoyed. He renounced his wealth and social status to become an itinerant preacher. Legends surrounding him lead us to picture him preaching to birds and bunnies! But from what we know of him, he appears to have been an early forerunner to the Reformation as he preached justification by faith to the people of his day.
On a pilgrimage to Rome in 1205, he joined the poor in begging at the doors of churches and began nursing lepers. He had a vision of Christ saying to him, “Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins.” He took this to mean the church in which he was presently praying and sold some cloth from his father’s store to assist the priest there. His father, angered once more, tried changing his mind, first through threats, then beatings. After this exchange, Francis renounced his father and embraced, even more, the life of a penitent.
It was during this time that he heard a sermon based on Matthew 10, in which Christ tells His followers to go forth and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Inspired by Christ’s instruction to take no money, nor even shoes, for the road, Francis followed suit. Clothed in rough garments and barefoot, he began to take on a life of poverty, preaching repentance and bringing run-down chapels and shrines to restoration. He soon gathered a following of men and women who led simple lives without possessions, but with cheerful countenances and full of songs leaving a lasting impact on anyone who heard them. These men and women became known as the Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance, or “Franciscans” and the Order of Poor Clares.
In Francis’ last days, he became virtually blind and unable to endure daylight. He wrote this “nature hymn” during the summer of 1225 in the seclusion of a hut near San Damiano, Italy. He had arrived at a convent there to bid farewell to his dear friend, Sister Clara, the first woman to follow the call of Francis and take vows of the Order. It was Clara who built him a small reed hut in the garden of her little monastery. It’s said that at times Francis could be heard singing faint melodies from within the hut. It was at a meal with the sisters after having stayed for some time at the monastery that he wrote his famous text, “Canticle of the Sun.” He died on the evening of October 3, 1226 while singing Psalm 142.
Stanza 1 of “All Creatures of Our God and King” draws from Psalm 145 as well as Psalm 148, calling all creation to render glorious praise to the Creator, describing even sun and moon as having voices with which to exalt Him. There are also echoes of Psalms 8 and 19. Notice how each stanza concludes with a three-fold (Trinitarian) “alleluia.”
All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Stanza 2 adds the winds, clouds, rising morn (sun) and lights of evening (moon and stars) to the chorus of praise. Not only are voices ascribed to all of these. They are virtually given personalities to respond in joyful, conscious recognition of the glory of their Creator. And notice the verbs that suggest their movement: rushing, sailing, rising, and rejoicing.
Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in heav’n along, O praise Him, alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Stanza 3 brings an unexpected combination of fire and water into the choir. In Scripture water is described as something that brings healing and cleansing. And of course Jesus is the one who gives living water. And in Scripture fire not only warms us and gives light. It also purifies and removes pollution and corruption.
Thou flowing water, pure and clear, make music for thy Lord to hear, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright, that givest man both warmth and light,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Stanza 4 breaks from the pattern of attention to nature to focus on mankind, made in God’s image to praise Him. The words sing of our ability, like God, to grant forgiveness. And it combines that with our need for divine consolation and sustaining help as we face pain and sorrow. As we read in 1 Peter 5:7, we should cast all our cares on Him, for He cares for us.
And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part, O sing ye, alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, praise God and on him cast your care,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Stanza 5 is a recapitulation of the theme of stanza 1. Added to it is the Trinitarian doxology. How appropriate that the text calls us, and all things, to approach God “in humbleness.” We do so not only because of our position as creatures beneath His majesty, but also because of our spiritually distorted nature as sinners, needing the redemption that Jesus has brought.
Let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness, O praise Him, alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one,
O praise Him, O praise Him, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Here are two additional stanzas not often found in hymnals today.
Dear mother earth, who day by day, unfoldest blessings on our way, alleluia, alleluia!
The flow’rs and fruits that in thee grow, let them God’s glory also show,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
And thou, most kind and gentle death, waiting to hush our final breath, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou leadest home the child of God, as Christ before that way hath trod,
O sing ye, O sing ye, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The hymn owes its popularity in part to the stirring tune LASST UNS ERFREUEN (“Let us rejoice”) discovered in a German Catholic songbook, “Geistliche Kirchengesänge” (“spiritual hymns”), dating to 1623. The famous English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) arranged the tune for the 1906 “English Hymnal,” for which he served as musical editor. He used it there with the Athelstan Riley hymn, “Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones.”
CCLI claims no less than 185 different entries in their catalog of songs that either quote, mention, borrow from, or add choruses or other pieces to the original hymn. “All Creatures” is found in over 200 hymnals, and the LASST UNS ERFREUEN tune is found in more than 300 hymnals as well. The title of the tune is derived from the Eastertide text, “Lasst uns erfreuen herzlich sehr.” Other texts often associated with this tune include “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow,” “From All That Dwell Below The Skies,” “Ye Watchers And Ye Holy Ones,” “Now All The Vault Of Heaven Resounds,” and “Give To Our God Immortal Praise.” There are numerous arrangements and opportunities for variation in texture, voicing, call and response, or many other creative options. Hymnologist Erik Routley once suggested this hymn to be a part of a broader family of tunes based on the major triad, including MIT FREUDEN ZART.
Here is a recording of the glorious anthem arrangement of this hymn, composed by John Rutter,
And here is the Gustav Holst setting of the music to a text based on Psalm 148.