Brethren Archive

NUMBER: 423

God And Father, We Thy Children


Tune: Northampton 8.7.8.7.D

Tune: Northampton 8.7.8.7.D

Tune: Northampton 8.7.8.7.D

Tune: Northampton 8.7.8.7.D

Tune: Northampton 8.7.8.7.D


1 GOD and Father, we Thy children
Would in meekness hear Thy word,
Undistracted, hearts responsive,
As Thy Spirit strikes the chord;
All Thy mind we would be learning,
As the desert path we trace;
Thine we are, and would be leaning
Ever on Thy boundless grace.

2 Still the Spirit is revealing
Heights of glory Thou hast given,
And our eyes by faith are seeing
Christ at Thy right hand in heaven;
As on earth His path was trodden,
Ever subject to Thy will,
As the Man of all Thy counsels,
Who the universe will fill.

3 When our hearts this place accord Him,
When, as Isaac, He has come,
Cast the bondslave out and ruleth
As the Lord upon His throne,
Then our hearts bow down before Him,
This world's glory waxeth dim,
Every hindrance then must vanish,
All be subject unto Him.

4 God our Father, Thee we worship,
Praise Thee evermore that Thou
Leadest us in triumph, telling
All Thy boundless love e'en now;
May we therefore still be learning,
In Thy word Thy counsels trace,
Till the day that Thou displayest
All the glory of Thy grace.





Comments:
Gregory Morris said ...
This is a lovely hymn and the Yarnfield set sing it beautifully. I always think the hymn is ruined by the 3rd verse as sung here. I have noted on my blog that it bears no resemblance to blind GGs original words.

https://penarlag.blogspot.com/2012/01/god-and-father-we-thy-children-note.html?m=1
Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 : 04:03
Steve H said ...
Hi Gregory

This is in Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Little Flock.

The first line of verse 2 reads "Still the Spirit is unfolding"

It is the first half of verse 3 which is very different, and so much better:-

When with joy we thus behold Him,
When His greatness fills our sight,
Gladly we His rights acknowledge,
Object blest of heav'n's delight.

I believe the hymn was originally written in Swedish and subsequently translated.

Steve H
Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 : 07:00
Jonathan said ...
Well, there's no accounting for taste. I love the third verse! :-)
Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 : 17:39
Nick Fleet said ...
This begs the question, who was responsible for the 1903 translation? T. H. Reynolds, Mrs Hedman, or?
Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 : 23:05
Nick Fleet said ...
The 3rd verse is, of course, an allusion to Gal 4:21-31.
Wednesday, Nov 9, 2022 : 23:19
Gregory Morris said ...
Interesting question, Nick Fleet! Mrs Hedman is an obvious suspect. There are lots of lovely hymns which were retained in the Swedish LFHB up to the 1949 revision. What was brought over was of a very high calibre. is a great pity more of them were not included in the later English versions: incl. Lena Sandell-Berg's Tryggare kan ingen vare, transl by Ernst Olson in 1925.
Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 : 18:40


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