A national holiday like July 4 inevitably stirs up pleasant thoughts and memories in our hearts as we acknowledge and celebrate the incredible privileges and benefits we enjoy in this unique country. As Christians we dutifully and joyfully turn those thoughts into prayers, prayers of gratitude for God’s protection and blessings on our land, and prayers for His providential hand to bring about the peace that we long for, not only a peace in the face of the threats of foes who wish to harm us but also a peace in the midst of inner turmoil within our land that is endangered by the new wave of “progressive” and Marxist thought that seeks anarchy as the path to craeting their vision of a utopia, one in which God and His will have no place.
And so in our hymnody we sing patriotic songs like “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” “God of Our Fathers,” and “God the All-Terrible!” (sometimes worded “the Omnipotent”). But we also sing “O God of Love, O King of Peace,” with its repeated phrase at the end of each stanza: “give peace, O God, give peace again.” The hymn reminds of the terrible reality of war, one of the most terrible results of the fall and of the effects of sin in the world. War has continuously been present in human existence ever since Can murdered his brother, Abel.
Think not only of the countless wars over the years that have pitted the armies of one nation against others, wars which have taken the lives of millions of combatants and also the lives of millions of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and aftermath of battles. Think also of the wars (and yes, they are wars!) against millions of infants slaughtered in the womb every year, the wars between factions in society as we now observe with the spread of things like Critical Race Theory, and even wars between families members fighting over inheritances and insults. Will this ever come to an end, so that we can live our lives in peace?
The Bible tells us “Yes, it will end, when the Prince of Peace returns to judge sin, to create a new heaven and earth, and to reign in eternal righteousness to bless His people, His elect bride, but not perfectly until then.” Jesus told us in His Word that until then, wars and rumors of wars will continue on the earth (Matthew 24:6). Yes, we are to seek peace through wise diplomatic efforts of government leaders, but we are also to pray for the peace that only God can bring.
And that is the focus of this next hymn study, “O God of Love, O king of Peace.” It was written in the mid-nineteenth century at the time wars were raging in many places, and shortly before the devastating Civil War in the United States. The author, Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877), wrote fewer than 60 hymns, but they were of such high quality that nearly all of them continue in use today. This hymn was included in the 1861 edition of the British Hymns Ancient and Modern which Baker spent twenty years compiling.
Sir Henry was a “high church” Anglican priest, a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. He remained celibate throughout his life, by conviction. He has been rightly described as a consummate poet. He served as Vicar of Monkland, Heresfordshire (the only parish he served), from 1850 until his death in 1877. One hymnody resource says that his texts were written “with a simplicity of language, smoothness of rhythm, and earnestness of utterance.” On his death bed, his last words were the third stanza of his exquisite rendering of the 23rd Psalm, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.”
Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid, and home, rejoicing, brought me.
The volume entitled Hymns, Ancient and Modern, for Use in the Services of the Church, has had an unprecedented popularity. No other compilation can compare with it in the rapidity and extent of its circulation. It appeared in 1861 with 273 hymns, and in 1868 with an appendix containing 113 additional hymns. Fourteen supplementary hymns have since been added, making the whole number 400. It has been published in a great variety of forms and sizes, with and without tunes, both in England and America. It is claimed that more than five million copies have been sold throughout the English-speaking Anglican world. Sir Henry distinguished himself principally in the line of hymnology. Some of his hymns were written as early as 1852. To Hymns, Ancient and Modern, he contributed twelve original hymns and at least ten translations.
In stanza 1, we ascribe two wonderful biblical titles to the Lord, those of love and peace. While there are many other divine attributes (grace, justice, righteousness, mercy, patience, wisdom, wrath, etc.) it is these two which we long to see demonstrated in our conflict-ridden world. Because of the violence that sin breeds in every human heart, both in national and in personal ways, only God, by the power of the gospel, can bring true and lasting peace. He alone is able to restrain those dimensions of evil that flow from the hearts of fallen mankind.
O God of love, O King of peace,
Make wars throughout the world to cease;
Our violent ways help us contain;
Give peace, O God, give peace again!
In stanza 2, we think back in personal experience and in the records of history to those times when God answered such prayers that rose from the longings of His people. Recall for example how the Lord guided His people to remember the prayers that continued for centuries from His enslaved people in Egypt. God heard, and in his perfect timing, set them free. How many more times have there been when the Lord has answered in mercy to grant peace. A part of our prayer must be that of repentance, acknowledging that because of sin’s dark stain in our hearts,” we have never deserved His mercy. That He has delivered us so often should cause us to wonder that He continues to keep His covenant with us. Notice that we are asking Him to remember, not just to help us to remember. We do so by asking Him to keep His promises to us.
Remember, Lord, Your works of old,
The wonders that our fathers told;
Remember not our sin’s dark stain,
Give peace, O God, give peace again!
In stanza 3, we remind ourselves that we have no one else on whom we can call with any hope that our prayers will be answered. There is no one but the Lord who is able to bring the kind of peace for which we pray. What a marvelous statement is this: “None ever called on You in vain.” Do we really believe that? There are times when we don’t see His answer, or when His answer seems to be delayed, or when we wonder if He even heard us. But His “faithful word” assures us that He does, and so we continue to call on Him, confident that in his perfect time and perfect way, He will respond. This requires biblically-informed patience to persevere.
Whom shall we trust but You, O Lord?
Where rest but on Your faithful word?
None ever called on You in vain;
Give peace, O God, give peace again!
In stanza 4, we turn our eyes heavenward where true peace is found. It is a dimension of what we profess to believe in the Apostles’ Creed regarding “the communion of the saints.” While we are still here in conflict-ridden warfare as part of the church militant (as theologians describe it), we are already joined spiritually with the church triumphant “where saints and angels dwell above,” and where “all hearts are joined in holy love.” The hymn concludes with the prayer that we might know the reality of “that heav’nly chain” that binds us to the Lord and to those above.
Where saints and angels dwell above,
All hearts are joined in holy love;
O bind us in that heav’nly chain;
Give peace, O God, give peace again!
Once more, look at that final phrase with which each stanza concludes (and in perfect poetic symmetry), “Give peace, O God, give peace again!” As we celebrate a national holiday, should not that be our greatest hope, that God who has granted us such a large degree of peace in years past, would do so again?
The hymn is usually sung to the tune QUEBEC, which was also written by Sir Henry. He composed this in 1854 while a student at Exeter, Oxford. It is also used for the hymn, “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts,” among others.
Here you can hear the hymn with congregational and choir voices.