Today’s hymn comes from Haldor Lillenas (1885-1959). Newly married and setting up house with his young bride, Haldor Lillenas wondered how he was going to provide for his family after barely pulling together enough money to finish building their home. When a neighbor offered a dusty organ Haldor eagerly it and set about composing. As he settled into family life, he wrote many songs on that first, imperfect instrument. One of the early compositions Haldor wrote on that five-dollar organ was “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. He wrote over 4,000 hymns in his lifetime and he went on to found his own music publishing company¹. Enjoy this one!

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
greater than all my sin;
how shall my tongue describe it,
where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
setting my spirit free,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain:
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
deeper than the mighty rolling sea, 
higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
all sufficient grace for even me;
broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!
greater far than all my sin and shame.
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
reaching to all the lost,
by it I have been pardoned,
saved to the uttermost.
Chains have been torn asunder,
giving me liberty,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
reaching the most reviled,
by its transforming power
making me God’s dear child,
purchasing peace and heaven
for all eternity,
for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. [Refrain]

¹shereadstruth.com/wonderful-grace-of-jesus/

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Today’s hymn is written by Horatius Bonar, a Scottish minister in the 19th Century. I hope this can be your testimony too today, that you have a mind at perfect peace with God; enjoy!

A mind at perfect peace with God,
Oh! what a word is this!
A sinner reconciled thro’ blood;
This, this indeed is peace!

By nature and by practice far,
How very far from God;
Yet now by grace bro’t nigh to Him,
Thro’ faith in Jesus’ blood.

So near, so very near to God,
I cannot nearer be;
For in the person of His Son
I am as near as He.

So dear, so very dear to God,
More dear I cannot be;
The love wherewith He loves the Son;
Such is His love to me!

Why should I ever careful be,
Since such a God is mine?
He watches o’er me night and day,
And tells me “Mine is thine.”t

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Today’s song is vintage Sovereign Grace, going back to 2006! I hope you’re also able to rejoice in God today. Enjoy!

All the earth rejoice
Your Creator reigns
As the only awesome God
The Alpha and the Omega
Who was, is, and is to come
Let the oceans roar and the mountains sing
He provides for all He has made
So be comforted as He rules with grace
Rejoice, all the earth, rejoice

All the world rejoice
For the baby comes
As a humble prince in the night
The Word made flesh, Emmanuel
The Everlasting Light
Let the warmth of heaven reach the coldest heart
With the gospel of His grace
For His heel will bruise the serpent’s head
Rejoice, all the world, rejoice

All the church rejoice
For your King returns
On a white horse wearing a crown
He will break the sky with the angel’s shout
Descending from the clouds
Then the dead will rise from the land and sea
All His people will ascend
We will reign with Him for eternity
Rejoice, all the church, rejoice

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Today’s song is by Sovereign Grace and I’m sure was sung by many of your churches on Reformation Sunday – the Sunday before Martin Luther historically nailed his 95 thesis to the doors of a Wittenberg church on 31 October 1517. This song unashamedly celebrates the 5 tenants of the Reformation: we come to God by faith alone, a gift of God’s grace alone, given to us through the work of Christ alone, with all authority given to God’s word alone, to the glory of God alone. Gloria!

Your Word alone is solid ground,
The mighty rock on which we build;
In every line the truth is found
And every page with glory filled.

Through faith alone we come to You;
We have no merit we can claim.
Sure that Your promises are true,
We place our hope in Jesus’ name.

Refrain
Gloria, gloria, glory to God alone;
Gloria, gloria, glory to God alone.

In Christ alone we’re justified;
His righteousness is all our plea;
Your law’s demands are satisfied;
His perfect work has set us free.

Refrain

By grace alone we have been saved;
All that we are has come from You.
Hearts that were once by sin enslaved
Now by Your pow’r have been made new.

Refrain

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Today’s hymn is from the Lutheran Service Book and written by Stephen P. Starke. Starke had always had a heart for hymns and played hymns out of The Lutheran Hymnal and read through the hymnal to pass the time before Sunday services at a young age. He has written more than 175 hymns inspired by music and the Scriptures. This hymn is a versification of the Te Deum laudamus.” Te Deum laudamus is Latin and means “God, We Praise You.” It is “traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing. Enjoy!

We praise You and acknowledge You,
O God, to be the Lord,
The Father everlasting,
by all the earth adored.
To You all angel powers cry aloud,
the heavens sing,
The cherubim and seraphim
their praises to You bring:
“O holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth;
Your majesty and glory
fill the heavens and the earth!”

The band of the apostles
in glory sing Your praise;
The fellowship of prophets
their deathless voices raise.
The martyrs of Your kingdom,
a great and noble throng,
Sing with the holy Church
throughout all the world this song:
“O all-majestic Father,
Your true and only Son,
And Holy Spirit, Comforter—
forever Three in One!”

You, Christ, are King of glory,
the everlasting Son,
Yet You, with boundless love,
sought to rescue ev’ryone:
You laid aside Your glory,
were born of virgin’s womb,
Were crucified for us
and were placed into a tomb;
Then by Your resurrection
You won for us reprieve—
You opened heaven’s kingdom
to all who would believe.

You sit in splendid glory,
enthroned at God’s right hand,
Upholding earth and heaven
by forces You command.
We know that You will come
as our Judge that final day,
So help Your servants
You have redeemed by blood, we pray;
May we with saints be numbered
where praises never end,
In glory everlasting.
Amen, O Lord, amen!

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Today’s hymn is from Theodulph of Orleans, written roughly 820. Charlemagne brought him from Spain to help him build schools and reform the clergy, where he also started to write hymns. Theodulph got caught up in a family dispute between Charlemagne’s son King Louis and Louis’s nephew King Bernard of Italy, where Louis thought he was conspiring with Bernard. He was then thrown into prison where he wrote the 78(!) verses of this hymn. It is said that King Louis freed Theodulph upon hearing him sing this hymn from outside the prison window. This hymn was then translated from Latin to English by John Mason Neale in 1854, who became part of a moment that researched Roman liturgy and hymnody for English use. Other hymns he translated were “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”, and “Good Christian Men, Rejoice”¹. Enjoy!

All glory, laud, and honour
To Thee, Redeemer, King!
To Whom the lips of children
Made sweet Hosannas ring,

Thou art the King of Israel
Thou David’s Royal Son,
Who in the LORD’S name comest,`
The King and Blessèd One.

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went
Our praise and prayers and anthems
Before Thee we present.

To Thee before Thy Passion
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee now high exalted
Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the praise we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.

¹ page 79 – Leeman, D. and Leeman, B., 2022. Our Hymns, Our Heritage: A Student Guide to Songs of the Church

This song is written by UK collective Joyful Noise, with the chorus of this song coming straight from Psalm 115:1. We can be so quick to seek glory for ourselves, but this song reminds us that God alone is our creator, He alone is our redeemer, and He alone gives us the grace to persevere all the way to heaven. He alone deserves all the glory. Enjoy!

All the glory, Lord to You!
For in the secret place
Each life you fashioned through and through
In fearful wonder made!
What have we but given by you?
To our God all honour due!
You who also made the stars
Yours the glory never ours

Refrain
Not unto us, not unto us
But all the glory unto you!
For your great love and faithfulness
We give the glory all to you!

Though the world may praise our deeds
You search much deeper in
You see our pride you see our greed,
You see our darkest sin
You the seeker, we the lost
Ours the sin, and yours the cross
Yours the love that took our place
Yours the glory, ours the grace!

Refrain

Hopeless lies the road ahead
If in our strength we go
Our only hope to run the course
Is in your strength alone
Every battle every race
Won by your empowering grace
When our fearful faith is small
God of grace you give us all!

Refrain

☕Buy me a coffee☕

By the time of Martin Luther’s death in 1546, the Lutheran Church in Germany was strong—strong and zealous.  However, as so often happens, that zeal cooled considerably over the next century.  By the mid-1600s, the Lutheran Church in Germany was still quite correct doctrinally but cool with regard to zeal. Philip Spener became the pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Frankfurt am Main in the mid-1600s, and effected a revival by fervent preaching that emphasised repentance, personal piety, and discipleship. Not only did the church that Spener was serving in Frankfurt prosper, but a pietistic movement swept across Germany through his influence. An enthusiastic member of Spener’s congregation was a young attorney, Johann Jakob Schutz, who not only encouraged Spener’s work but also wrote hymns.  He wrote “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above” in 1675, and published it in a collection of hymns that same year. An Oxford scholar, Frances Elizabeth Cox translated this and many other German hymns into English. It was first published in English in 1841 in a collection entitled, “Sacred Hymns from the German.”¹.

Sing praise to God who reigns above, 
The God of all creation, 
The God of pow’r, the God of love, 
The God of our salvation. 
With healing balm my soul He fills, 
And ev’ry faithless murmur stills: 
To God all praise and glory

What God’s almighty pow’r hath made 
His gracious mercy keepeth. 
By morning glow 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!

The Lord is never far away, 
But, thru all grief distressing, 
An ever-present help and stay, 
Our peace and joy and blessing. 
As with a mother’s tender hand 
He leads His own, His chosen band: 
To God all praise and glory!

Thus all my toilsome way along 
I sing aloud His 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 and glory!

¹sermonwriter.com/hymn-stories/sing-praise-god-reigns/

☕Buy me a coffee☕

This hymn was written by Scotsman James Montgomery (1771-1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school. He published eleven volumes of poetry, mainly his own, and at least four hundred hymns. Some critics judge his hymn texts to be equal in quality to those of Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley. I love this version, with the melody written by Gregory Wilbur and sung by Neal Carpenter; I’m sure this will make you praise the name of our Lord!

Thank and praise Jehovah’s name;
For His mercies, firm and sure,
From eternity the same,
To eternity endure.

Praise Him, ye who know His love;
Praise Him from the depths beneath.
Praise Him in the heights above;
Praise your maker all that breathe.

Let the ransomed thus rejoice,
Gathered out of every land,
As the people of His choice,
Plucked from the destroyer’s hand.

For His truth and mercy stand,
Past, and present, and to be,
Like the years of His right hand
Like His own eternity.

☕Buy me a coffee☕

Born in Scotland and educated at Enniskillen and Trinity College in Dublin, Henry Francis Lyte’s (1793-1847) most significant appointment was as Anglican curate at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, England, where he served for 24 years. Lyte’s poetry earned him several honours. He wrote “Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven” for his congregation. The hymn was first published in 1834, among a collection of three hundred hymns entitled “Spirit of the Psalms.” Unlike translations of the Psalms-commonly used in Psalters of that time-or paraphrases like those written by Isaac Watts, “Spirit of the Psalms” contained hymns that were simply inspired by the Psalms. A part of this collection, “Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven” captured the “spirit” of Psalm 103¹.

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing?
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favour
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Frail as summer’s flower we flourish
Blows the wind and it is gone
But while mortals rise and perish
God endures unchanging on
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the high eternal One

Fatherlike He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He Knows.
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Widely as His mercy goes.

Angels help us to adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise with us the God of grace.

¹songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/praise-my-soul-the-king-of-heaven

☕Buy me a coffee☕