A Hymn to the God of Abraham

The God of Abrah'm praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
And God of Love:
Jehovah Great I am!
By earth and heaven confest;
I bow and bless the sacred Name,
For ever bless'd.

The God of Abrah'm praise,
At whose supreme command,
From earth I rise—and seek the joys
At his right hand;
I all on earth forsake,
Its wisdom, fame, and power;
And him my only Portion make,
My Shield and Tower.

The God of Abrah'm praise,
Whose all-sufficient grace
Shall guide me all my happy days,
In all my ways:
He calls a worm his friend!
He calls himself my God!
And he shall save me to the end
Thro' Jesu's blood.

He by Himself hath sworn,
I on his oath depend,
I shall, on eagles' wings up-borne,
To heaven ascend;
I shall behold his face,
I shall his power adore,
And sing the wonders of his grace
For evermore.

Part the Second

Tho' nature's strength decay,
And earth and hell withstand,
To Canaan's bounds I urge my way,
At his command.
The wat'ry deep I pass,
With Jesus in my view;
And thro' the howling wilderness
My way pursue.

The goodly land I see,
With peace and plenty bless'd;
A land of sacred liberty,
And endless rest
There milk and honey flow;
And oil and wine abound,
And trees of life for ever grow,
With Mercy crown'd.

There dwells the Lord our King,
The Lord our righteousness
(Triumphant o'er the world and sin),
The Prince of Peace;
On Sion's sacred height,
His Kingdom still maintains;
And glorious with his saints in light,
For ever reigns.

He keeps his own secure,
He guards them by his side,
Arrays in garments, white and pure,
His spotless bride:
With streams of sacred bliss,
With groves of living joys—
With all the fruits of Paradise
He still supplies.

Part the Third

Before the great Three-One
They all exulting stand;
And tell the wonders he hath done
Thro' all their land:
The list'ning spheres attend,
And swell the growing fame;
And sing the songs which never end,
The wond'rous Name.

The God who reigns on high,
The great arch-angels sing,
And "Holy, Holy, Holy," cry,
"Almighty King!
Who Was, and Is, the same;
And evermore shall be;
Jehovah—Father—Great I Am!
We worship Thee."

Before the Saviour's face
The ransom'd nations bow;
O'erwhelmed at his Almighty grace,
For ever new:
He shews his prints of Love—
They kindle—to a flame!
And sound thro' all the worlds above,
The slaughter'd Lamb.

The whole triumphant host,
Give thanks to God on high;
"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,"
They ever cry:
Hail, Abrah'm's God—and mine!
(I join the heav'nly lays,)
All Might and Majesty are Thine
And endless Praise."

—Daniel ben Judah (attr.), trans. Thomas Olivers
Quoted in A Dictionary of Hymnology (1892; John Julian, ed.).


Tune: "Leoni," traditional Hebrew melody, arr. Meyer Lyon.

About the Authors

Daniel ben Judah was a Jewish liturgical poet who lived in Rome in the middle of the fourteenth century. He authored the Hebrew hymn Yigdal Elohim Hai, which is included in the daily or weekly ritual for the vast majority of Jewry. (Adapted from Wikipedia, s.v. "Daniel ben Judah".)

Thomas Olivers (1725–1799) was a profligate shoemaker's apprentice converted under the ministry of George Whitefield. He was an itinerant Methodist minister until his death. It is said that he wrote this hymn after hearing Meyer Lyon, chorister at the Great Synagogue in London, sing the Yigdal. It is a loose translation of the original with a Christian character.

Thoughts

This is one of those great hymns that I wish we could sing corporately, but which is too long for most congregations to do comfortably. A typical hymnal arrangement includes the first part and the last verse of the third. I love the imagery used of Israel in the wilderness, and I love it when hymns spiritualize the stories and pictures of the Old Testament. The OT, after all, was the training wheels for the NT, and if God worked so mightily for the people of an inferior covenant (Heb 8:6–13), how much more will he do for his chosen people of the better covenant?

I found two arrangements of this hymn that I liked. One is a choral version by the Choir of St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, available on the album Famous Hymns of Praise (via iTunes or Amazon). I would have posted it alone, except that I found a beautiful piano arrangement by Fernando Ortega on his album Come Down O Love Divine (via iTunes or Amazon).

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