Hail to the Lord's Anointed (Psalm 72) & tune

Haruo · May 11, 2003

Our Bible study this evening will be on Psalm 72, and whenever possible I like to get us to sing the psalm we are reading/studying. This is a great one as it has yielded (by the pen of James Montgomery, one of my favorite hymn lyricists) one of my favorite hymns, "Hail to the Lord's Anointed". The most common tune for it seems to be Ellacombe, though in Northern Baptist hymnals it has usually been set to Sheffield ("British Grenadiers") and this is my own preferred tune for the hymn. I'd be interested in knowing whether any of you sing it, and if so what verses and to what tune.

Here are the verses given in The Cyber Hymnal [click] which also gives Crüger, Woodbird and Zoan as alternative melodies; I have bolded the stanzas I am accustomed to seeing in hymnals:

Hail to the Lord’s anointed, great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
To take away transgression and rule in equity.

He comes in succor speedy to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, were precious in His sight.

By such shall He be fearèd while sun and moon endure;
Beloved, obeyed, reverèd; for He shall judge the poor
Through changing generations, with justice, mercy, truth,
While stars maintain their staions, or moons renew their youth.

He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in His path to birth.
Before Him, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.

Arabia’s desert ranger to Him shall bow the knee;
The Ethiopian stranger His glory come to see;
With offerings of devotion ships from the isles shall meet,
To pour the wealth of oceans in tribute at His feet.

Kings shall fall down before Him, and gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him, His praise all people sing;
For He shall have dominion o’er river, sea and shore,
Far as the eagle’s pinion or dove’s light wing can soar.

For Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end:
The mountain dews shall nourish a seed in weakness sown,
Whose fruit shall spread and flourish and shake like Lebanon.

O’er every foe victorious, He on His throne shall rest;
From age to age more glorious, all blessing and all blest.
The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His Name shall stand forever, His Name to us is Love.
Click to expand...

I have lately noticed a revision of this hymn by Bert Polman (1985; © 1987 CRC Publications), in some places bringing it closer to the psalm text, in the Psalter Hymnal (of the Christian Reformed Church, a pædobaptist Calvinist outfit of Dutch Reformed and Huguenot antecedents) where it is #72 and set to Es flog ein kleins Waldvogelein, apparently just another name for Woodbird:

Hail to the LORD's anointed, great David's greater son!
Hail, in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free,
to take away transgression, and rule in equity.

He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
And love, joy, hope, like flowers, spring in his path to birth.
The king shall have dominion from sea to shining sea,
and over every nation his peaceful rule shall be.

The desert tribes adore him and bend to him the knee;
the wicked bow before him, his glory they will see.
With gifts of adoration the foreign kings shall meet
to pour the wealth of nations in tribute at his feet.

He comes with rescure speedy to those who suffer wrong,
to help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong.
He turns their sighs to singing, their darkness into light,
for they, condened and dying, are precious in his sight.

His kingdom is increasing, a kingdom without end.
For him shall prayer unceasing and daily praise ascend.
The mountain dews will nourish a harvest from the fields;
the grain and fruit will flourish, the land its bounty yields.

In name forever glorious, he on his throne shall rest,
from age to age victorious, all blessing and all-blest.
Praise God, who rules each nation; tell of his deeds again.
His glory fills creation; sing praise to God. Amen!
Click to expand...

Haruo

rsr · May 12, 2003

Nice hymn. The update seems to be pretty good too.

Seems the Hassler/Bach Passion Chorale would be a good tune too.

Ellacombe is the tune to which I have traditionally sung Watts "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," which in the Cyberhymnal is listed as an alternate.

I SING THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD IN CYBERHYMNAL

DanielFive · May 12, 2003

We sing:

O LORD, thy judgements give the king, His son thy righteousness.....

The hymnbook at my church only gives the verses 17-19, although the hymnbook at my last church listed all 19.

Hail to the Lord's Anointed (Psalm 72) & tune

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Hail to the Lord's Anointed (Psalm 72) & tune

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