Sunday Morning Hymns

William Longstaff found inspiration for this hymn in a message from a missionary that was based on 1 Peter 1:16, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” He wrote the poem in 1882, but it was not set to music until a few years later. It’s possible that Longstaff never heard it sung. Here, though, the text is included so you can add your voice and sing along.

When Charles Wesley originally wrote this hymn, “Glory to God, and praise, and love,” was the opening verse. The familiar text that opens the hymn as we sing it today, was the seventh verse in Wesley’s poem. Written in commemoration of Wesley’s renewal of faith, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” has appeared with rare exception in every Wesleyan/Methodist hymnal. Five verses are included here so you can add your voice and sing along.

Theodolf of Orléans wrote the text for All Glory, Laud, and Honor while imprisoned in France during the reign of Emperor Louis. J.M. Neale contributed to church music both by composing original hymns and by translating Greek and Latin hymns, including this text, into English. Neale’s translated text is included so you can add your voice and sing along.

Edwin Hatch served as a vicar and professor with a faith described as “simple and unaffected as a child.” Hatch was not a prolific hymn writer, but Breathe on Me, Breath of God has been passed down over generations. The hymn first appeared in The Congregational Psalmist Hymnal. The text is included here, so please add your voice and sing along.

While the exact date of the composition is not known, sometime between 1880-1882, Lousia Stead’s hymn was first published in Songs of Triumph (1882). The hymn might be best described as a mantra on the name of Jesus. Indeed, “Jesus” is sung twenty-five times if one sings all four stanzas and the refrain. The text is included so you can add your voice and sing along.

William W. Walford preached from time to time in rural English churches. He was blind and would compose sermons in his head to deliver on Sundays. Walford also composed lines of verse in his head, including Sweet Hour of Prayer. Thomas Salmon wrote the text down as Walford recited it, submitting to the New York Observer, where the hymn first appeared in print. Walford’s text is included, so please add your voice and sing along.

Each verse of this hymn by Johnson Oatman reminds us to count our many blessings. The hymn invites us to rise above discouragement, burden, envy, and conflict to be surprised, singing, rewarded, and comforted. The text to accompany the melody by Edwin O. Excell is included, so please add your voice and sing along.

Inspired in part by camp meeting songs of the early 19th century, William Ralph Featherston wrote this hymn in 1864, shortly after his conversion when he was 16 years old. He died at age 27, before Adoniram Gordon set the text to the tune we use today and before it became a well-known inspirational hymn. The text is included so you can add your voice and sing along.

A hymn for Transfiguration Sunday by Rick Loader, set to the William H. Doane tune, Near the Cross.

Near to the Heart of God was a favorite of my wife’s grandmother. Cleland McAfee was a Presbyterian minister and educator who wrote the melody and text for this hymn in mourning the concurrent deaths of two of his nieces to diphtheria. The text is included so you can add your voice and sing along.