There are a number of hymns which include a key phrase that is repeated in each stanza, either at the beginning or the end. One of those is the 17th century hymn, “Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above.” (It is sometimes rendered as “All Praise to God,” rather than “Sing Praise to God.”) Each stanza concludes with the words, “To God all praise and glory.” There is no better summary of what worship is all about than that. Too often today in many churches, and in many hearts, worship is all about us … the kind of music we like, the way the message makes us feel, how it helps us have a better quality of life, or the way it motivates us to live more selflessly for the benefit of others. But shouldn’t worship be about God, above all else? That’s certainly what we find in the Bible’s examples and instructions about worship, from the Old Testament sacrificial legislation to the descriptions of heaven’s worship in the book of Revelation.
This stately hymn dates back to 1675, more than two hundred years after gospel truth began to be recovered by the preaching of John Huss (the Bohemian martyr burned at the stake in 1415 for his evangelical preaching), about 150 years after Martin Luther’s 95 These sparked the Reformation, only a few decades after the disastrous Thirty Years War (1618-1648), and just 10 years before the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), arguably the greatest church musician of all time. It was a time in the Lutheran church in Germany when orthodoxy for many had grown cold. The liturgical structures were there and the doctrines were more or less intact. But like the church in Ephesus in Revelation 3, their love had grown cold. That danger persists for every person and every congregation and every denomination, not only the danger of slipping into heresy but also the danger of slipping into what has come to be known as “cold orthodoxy.”
It was during those times in 17th century Germany that Philip Spener (1635-1705) accepted a call to pastor the Lutheran Church in Frankfort am Main. But instead of preaching the prescribed texts, he began to preach through the entire Bible. He called for repentance and serious discipleship, including personal faith in the Lord Jesus. In 1669 he preached from the Sermon on the Mount, and revival broke out in his church. People were converted and lives and families were transformed. Johann Jacob Schütz (1640-1690), a prominent city attorney who became very proficient in the practice of both civil and church law, was excited about the growing revival and suggested that Spener take some of the converts and disciple them in small home prayer and Bible study groups. Spener did this and the groups grew. These people were called “Pietists” in derision, but the revival continued to spread throughout Germany. It is now known in history as the “Pietistic Movement”.
And so it is said that out of his joy of what was happening, Johann Schütz wrote this great hymn. It is sung to a traditional Bohemian melody taken from the 1566 songbook “Kirchengesange” The tune for the hymn is known today as MIT FREIDEN ZART. It was originally a Bohemian tune for an Easter text. As a result of the influence of Spener, his own pietistic wife, and his belief in millennialism, Schütz eventually left the Lutheran Church in 1686 to become a Separatist and join the Moravians. While he wrote other hymns, this is the only one to have survived in popular use today. It is based on, or inspired by, Deuteronomy 32:3, “I proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God.” Schütz died in Frankfurt at the age of 49 in 1690.
That Pietist Movement gave birth to a great revival in hymnody in Germany, both in Lutheran and Reformed circles. It took considerable time for the English-speaking world, however, to discover this great wealth of hymnody. Finally, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English translations were made of many of these fine hymns. Among the important English translators of the nineteenth century was Frances Elizabeth Cox (1812-1897), a member of the Anglican Church and a native of Oxford, England. She was one of the first to rediscover and translate German hymns. Her collection of translations was first published in 1841. Her translation of this hymn. dates from 1864. She is credited with 56 hymn translations, the best known of which are “Jesus Lives!” and “Who Are These Like Stars Appearing?”
In the hymn “Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above,” there are obviously two key words, as they are repeated at the conclusion of each stanza. Each of these are very familiar to everyone, as they are not only a normal part of our Christian vocabulary, but also very prominent words throughout the Scriptures.
The first is “praise,” a very common word especially in the Psalms. We associate it with singing about the Lord, and also to Him, in our worship, especially in music that is overflowing with joy. The Hebrew words are pronounced “halal” (as in Hallelujah – praise Yahweh) or “yadah,” and mean to rave or boast about someone or something, and even to celebrate and make a show of the object of our praise. The Greek words are pronounced “epainos,” or “eulogeo” (as in Eulogy – good words), and mean to laud, glory, or speak well of. When we combine all of these in terms of praising God, the Bible means that we are to directly address the Lord, or speak about Him to others, telling of His divine magnificence in His being and work. In other words, the Lord loves to hear us tell Him how great He is, something we should delight to do continually!
The second key word from the repeated conclusion is “glory.” The Hebrew word is pronounced “khavod,” and literally means to be heavy or weighty, not necessarily in literal weight but in the concept of incredibly weighty and significant and majestic and influential. The Greek word is pronounced “doxa” (as in Doxology – words of glory), and is the word used in the Greek Septuagint for “khavod.” It carries the meaning of announcing God’s greatness to Him and to others, that He might receive our acclamations and that others might be drawn into the celebration of His excellencies. In English, when used as a noun, we often think of the brilliant radiance of some person or object or event. To “glory” in someone or something is to treat that person or thing as marvelously wonderful.
When combined, is it any wonder that we sing the Reformation phrase “Soli Deo Gloria,” only to God be glory, or to God be all glory? It was with that in mind that Johann Sebastian Bach scribbled the initials “SDG” in the margins of many of his manuscripts. And we should have those initials displayed over every moment of our lives, desiring that He be magnified not only from our lips but more importantly from the depths of our hearts.
Most hymnals provide only four of the stanzas. Some include six, using Cox’s translation, which are numbered as such below. Here are what are probably the original nine stanzas as translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1858.
In stanza 1, we praise God for His gracious salvation. It’s a salvation that comes from the one “who reigns above,’ and uses all that He has created to magnify His name and to bless His people. This is a salvation that not only heals our souls, but in His providential design, also brings “healing balm” that “every sorrow stills.”
Sing praise to God, who reigns above, the God of all creation,
The God of wonders, power, and love, the God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul He fills, the God who every sorrow stills.
To God all praise and glory!
In a next stanza, we praise God for His sovereign control of all things He has made. Not only “the angel host,” but also “all living things” “in earth and sky.” This brings to mind that common theme in the Psalms that announces that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the works of His hands” (Psalm 19), adoring the one whose might and wisdom “orders all things right.”
The angel host, O King of kings, Thy praise forever telling,
In earth and sky all living things beneath Thy shadow dwelling,
Adore and praise their Maker’s might, whose wisdom orders all things right.
To God all praise and glory!
In stanza 2, we praise God for His omnipotent power. This is not just the creation power that “made all things of nothing by the word of His power” (Westminster Shorter Catechism no. 9). It is also the providential power that keeps all that He has made, from morning to evening, never slumbering nor sleeping (Psalm 121) so that “all is just and all is right” within His kingdom.
What God’s almighty power hath made His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning dawn or evening shade His watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of His might lo, all is just and all is right.
To God all praise and glory!
In stanza 3, we praise God for His compassionate mercy. This is a God who not only hears and answers prayer. He deeply cares about and for us. When we “cried to Him in time of need,” He spares our loves and kept our feet from falling, again reminiscent of Psalm 121. Such divine kindness deserves our deepest, endless thanks.
I cried to Him in time of need; Lord God, oh, hear my calling!
For death He gave me life indeed and kept my feet from falling.
For this my thanks shall endless be; oh, thank Him, thanks our God, with me.
To God all praise and glory!
In stanza 4, we praise God for His faithful help. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:7), and He keeps that promise for “His flock, His chosen generation.” This promise to be “their Refuge and their Rock, their peace and their Salvation,” is not a promise that can be claimed by any other than His elect. But for us, He does this “as with a mother’s tender hand,” leading “His own, His chosen band.”
The Lord forsaketh not His flock, His chosen generation;
He is their Refuge and their Rock, their peace and their Salvation.
As with a mother’s tender hand He leads His own, His chosen band.
To God all praise and glory!
In a next stanza, we praise God for His blessed comfort. According to 2 Corinthians 1, He is “the God of all comfort.” There is nothing and no one on earth who can give us the kind of help He provides. He Himself comes, “whose store of blessing never faileth.” And He does so for us with “a Fathers eyes,” a Father in whom we can rest, a Father whose hope will never be denied.
When earth can comfort us no more nor human help availeth,
The Maker comes Himself, whose store of blessing never faileth,
And bends on them a Father’s eyes whom earth all rest and hope denies.
To God all praise and glory!
In a next stanza, we praise God for His cheering joy. Because of His goodness to us, we pilgrims can proceed along our journey singing “aloud Thy praises.” And we should be conscious of singing in such a manner “that men may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises.” How wonderful that He delights in the joyful praise that comes from deep within our heart, and which engages both soul and body!
Thus all my pilgrim way along I’ll sing aloud Thy praises
That men may hear the grateful song my voice unwearied raises;
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart! Both soul and body, bear your part!
To God all praise all glory!
In stanza 5, we praise God for His conquering power. As a result of Jesus’ victory on the cross, we “who confess Christ’s holy name” can celebrate that victory by trampling all the idols of this world under our feet, the idols that tempt us to turn our loyalty to them rather than to the Lord. In this one stanza, we have the threefold repetition of that key phrase: “praise and glory”
Ye who confess Christ’s holy name, to God give praise and glory!
Ye who the Father’s power proclaim, to God give praise and glory!
All idols underfoot be trod, the Lord is God! The Lord is God!
To God all praise and glory!
In stanza 6, we praise God for His supreme greatness. Knowing that He is God, and our God, when we come “before His presence,” finding the strength to “banish fear and sadness.” Even now, living by faith before we have sight, we “sing with joy and gladness.” This side of heaven, we will experience times of “great distress,” but we know that in the end we will see that “God did all things well.”
Then come before His presence now and banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow and sing with joy and gladness;
Though great distress my soul befell, the Lord, my God, did all things well.
To God all praise and glory!
Here you can hear the singing of this wonderful hymn: