A New Look at a Not-So-Old Hymn

Occasionally someone will ask me to name my favorite hymn. It’s a question that usually makes me a little uncomfortable because it's usually a loaded question, often coming in a context that implies judgment of my competence as a Worship Pastor on the basis of how I answer the question. My best answer is that it depends on who is singing it, when, and why.

Noted British hymn scholar and theologian Erik Routley asserted that a good hymn must be well written, well chosen, and well sung. In this, the first week of a new year, one hymn that my mind has been singing (praying, perhaps?) is this text by Harry Emerson Fosdick. This is the version of the text that is in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal.

God of Grace and God of Glory

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power;
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.


Lo! the hosts of evil round us
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways!
Fears and doubts too long have bound us,
Free our hearts to work and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.


Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control;
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.


Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be
Armored with all Christ-like graces
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee!
That we fail not man nor Thee!

As I researched that hymn, I learned that Fosdick wrote it in the summer of 1930 for the opening of the Riverside Church on October 5, 1930. So in the timeline of church music, it is comparatively recent. Well written? Check. Well chosen? Depends on context. Well sung? That’s our job.

BTW: if you’re leading a spoken prayer following that hymn, PLEASE do not begin, “Let us pray …”. To sing that hymn well, one must pray the text while singing. Better, then, to say, “Let us continue in prayer …”.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.