How wonderful when great words and great music are paired together in the praise of God. In this study of “O God, Beyond All Praising,” we have three sources that have been joined together to provide us with a glorious hymn that exalts the greatness of our God. In chronological order, we have music from Gustav Holst, a patriotic song from Sir Cecil Spring Rice, and a marvelous text from Michael Perry.
We start with the music. It was during the turmoil of World War I that English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) completed his orchestral suite, “The Planets,” one of the greatest of this genre that has ever been written, and the piece for which he is most remembered. He worked on it from 1914 to 1917. Each of the seven movements in the suite is named for a planet in our solar system.
- Mars, The Bringer of War
- Venus, The Bringer of Peace
- Mercury, The Messenger
- Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity
- Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age
- Uranus, The Magician
- Neptune, The Mystic
Holst was influenced by the romantic style of Richard Wagner (1813-1883), and was partly a result of his fascination with astrology. The “Jupiter” movement includes a section which has been adapted as the music for this hymn. It was premiered in 1918, and in 1921 he adapted this theme to fit a patriotic poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice entitled “I Vow to Thee, My Country.” A few years later, Holst’s friend and fellow composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, included the song in the hymnal he was editing. From then on, the tune became known as THAXTED, named for the town in England where Holst and his family lived. Holst’s daughter, Imogene, recorded that at “the time when he was asked to set these words to music, Holst was so over-worked and over-weary that he felt relieved to discover they ‘fitted’ the tune from “Jupiter.”
We then move on in the second place to the initial text, the patriotic poem by diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice, written between 1908 and 1912, entitled “Urbs Dei” (“The City of God”) or “The Two Fatherlands.” It describes how a Christian owes his loyalties to his homeland and to the heavenly kingdom. In 1912, he was appointed Ambassador to the United States of America where he influenced the administration of Woodrow Wilson to abandon neutrality and join Britain in the war against Germany. It was in 1918 that he rewrote his poem, creating a more somber tone because of the loss of life in the war. The poem circulated privately for a few years until it was set to music by Holst with his “Jupiter” music, and finally published as a hymn in 1926. It has become an extremely beloved song in England, and is frequently sung with great passion at patriotic occasions, especially involving royalty. It is hard to underestimate the fervor that this text/tune combination inspires in the British homeland. It is often sung at Remembrance Day services, and Princess Diana requested it for her wedding in 1981. The song was repeated for her funeral in 1997 and again for the 10th anniversary observance of her death in 2007. Most recently, it was included in the service music for the coronation of Britain’s King Chares III.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
Then we move in the third place to the text which we now sing, “O God, Beyond All Praising.” It was written by Michael Perry (1942-1996), born in Beckenham, Kent, where he served as Vicar of Tonbridge and a canon of Rochester Cathedral. He was one of England’s most promising hymn writers. He worked as editor/director of “Jubilate Hymns,” a wonderful collection of congregational hymnody, until an inoperable brain tumor led to his death in December, 1996. Michael Baughen founded the Jubilate group in the early 1960s. According to Perry, the group pooled their talents to develop music for a new generation by extending congregational singing beyond the metrical psalmody and hymnody and the formalism typical of Anglican chant. Many of their compositions have been picked up for use in newer evangelical hymnals, including the “Trinity Hymnal,” for the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Perry initially studied mathematics and physics at Dulwich College, heading toward a career in the sciences. However, after a year of study in physics at the University of London, he switched to Oak Hill College to study theology, an evangelical school that trained Anglican clergy, and that for a time included J. I. Packer on staff. Perry also studied at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and received a M.Phil. from the University of Southhampton in 1973. He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1966, and served the parish of St Helen’s in Liverpool as a youth worker and evangelist. From 1972 to 1981 he was the vicar of Bitterne in Southhampton, and from 1981 to 1989 was rector of Eversley in Hampshire and chaplain at the Police Staff College. He then became vicar of Tonbridge in Kent, where he remained until his death from a brain tumor in 1996. He published widely and edited several Jubilate hymn collections, including “Hymns for Today’s Church” in 1982 and “Psalms for Today” in 1990. He wrote more than two hundred hymns and Bible versifications.
The text of Perry’s hymn, “O God, Beyond All Praising,” certainly one his finest, is a marvelous expression of the royal majesty of God, whose praise is truly “beyond” our ability to adequately laud in our worship. It causes us to stand in “wonder” before Him, not only that such a divine Being exists, but that He has condescended to reveal Himself to us, to love us, to redeem us, and to accept our feeble praise!
The hymn is filled with Biblical imagery and allusions. The words of the final line of the first stanza, “our sacrifice of praise,” come directly from Psalm 116:17 and Hebrews 13:15. In stanza one, the phrase, “wait upon Your word,” echoes Psalm 130:5. Another phrase from stanza one, “for we can only wonder at every gift You send,” resounds in the spirit of James 1:17. The brief words “without number” was an acknowledgment to fellow hymn writer Timothy Dudley Smith for his encouragement and an expression of homage to Dudley Smith because this was one of his favorite phrases. Bishop Smith (b. 1926) has written more than 400 hymns. In the final stanza, the phrase “we’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless You still” was, according to the author, a “reflection on my remembered determination of youthful days to overcome acute disappointment and personal loss.” The final line of the second stanza is based on Proverbs 3:17, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace” (KJV), in the context of which the feminine pronoun refers to Wisdom.
Stanza 1 directs our attention to all the good that flows to us from the hand of God, “blessings without number.” These words are spoken not just about Him, but are addressed to Him. Such divine benevolence astonishes us, causing us to “wonder,” since we are so undeserving, and often even ungrateful, taking these “mercies” for granted. Our response is expressed in strong verbs in this stanza: worship, sing, wonder, lift, wait, honor, and adore.
O God beyond all praising, We worship You today
And sing the love amazing That songs cannot repay;
For we can only wonder At every gift You send,
At blessings without number And mercies without end:
We lift our hearts before You And wait upon Your word,
We honor and adore you, Our great and mighty Lord.
Stanza 2 is also addressed to the Lord, in this instance, first asking Him to receive our pitiful and inadequate expressions of love, acknowledging Him to be the King whose favor has been so bountifully poured out on us. We further acknowledge that under His sovereign hand we don’t know “whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill.” But in whatever He has ordained for us, we promise to “triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless You still.” In whatever He has planned for us, we will “marvel at Your beauty and glory in Your ways,” bringing to Him “our sacrifice of praise” as our “joyful duty.”
Then hear, O gracious Savior, Accept the love we bring,
That we who know Your favor May serve You as our king;
And whether our tomorrows Be filled with good or ill,
We’ll triumph through our sorrows And rise to bless You still:
To marvel at Your beauty And glory in Your ways,
And make a joyful duty Our sacrifice of praise.
In some hymnals, an additional stanza (placed as number two of the three) by Roman Catholic composer Richard Proulx has been included. He wanted to write an anthem based on the text to correspond with the lectionary reading for the day from 1 Corinthians 15.
The flower of earthly splendor in time must surely die,
Its fragile bloom surrender to You our God most high,
But hidden from all nature the eternal seed is sown,
Though small in mortal stature, to heaven’s garden grown:
For Christ, Your gift from heaven, from death has set us free,
And we through Him are given the final victory.
Original Words © by Mrs. B. Perry 1982, 1987 and Jubilate Hymns, admin. by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Here is a link to an anthem based on this hymn, with choir, orchestra, and organ.