Hymn of the Week: February 5, 2024
Glory to Thee, My God this Night
Glory to God: 675
Text: Thomas Ken (1637-1711)
Hymn Published: 1674
The first hymn is the original version, below it is the version used in our hymnal. I invite you to look at how the tune remains the same and notice how the text has changed. It’s always fun to try and decide why some words were changed and others were not. Also, take a look at the verses that were deleted.
Glory to thee, my God, this night
for all the blessings of the light;
keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
beneath thy own almighty wings.
Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son,
the ill that I this day have done,
that with the world, myself, and thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Teach me to live, that I may dread
the grave as little as my bed;
teach me to die, that so I may
rise glorious at the aweful day.
O may my soul on thee repose,
and may sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
sleep that may me more vigorous make
to serve my God when I awake.
When in the night I sleepless lie,
my soul with heavenly thoughts supply;
let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
no powers of darkness me molest.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,
praise him, all creatures here below,
praise him above, angelic host,
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Glory to God Hymnal:
All praise to thee, my God, this night,
for all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, O keep me safe from harm
within the shelter of thine arm!
Forgive me, Lord, through Christ, I pray,
the wrong that I have done this day,
that I, before I sleep, may be
at peace with neighbor, self, and thee.
O may my soul on thee repose,
and with sweet sleep mine eyelids close.
Refresh my strength, for thine own sake,
to serve thee well when I awake.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Hymn Texts: A Devotional
Today’s reflection is a paraphrase from Eric Routley’s 1954 book, Hymns and the Faith.
Bishop Ken
Bishop Ken’s “Glory to thee, My God this night;” is the simplest, the oldest, and the most popular of the traditional English evening hymns. Many others have been modeled on it; some of these are inferior imitations. But this is written for the scholars of Winchester College (and carrying the rubric, “Be sure to sing the Morning and Evening Hymns in your chamber devoutly’) and is as solid and as sensible, and at the same time as lyrical, as the seventeenth century could make it.
Evening Hymns
Evening hymns are to be found among the earliest Christian hymns written. The oldest hymn we sing is “O gladsome light” is an evening hymn from perhaps the 2nd century. More than the morning hymns, the evening hymns gather up into Christian devotion much that is primeval in human experience and aspiration.
Mankind didn’t have to reach a very advanced state of self-awareness to know that the nighttime is a time of mystery and fear. The evening incantation, the invocation of the Great Spirit to ward off demons of the night, corresponds to any ancient religion. Our locks, alarms, and technology have led us away from this fear to being able to appreciate the beauty of nighttime. One can only appreciate the subtle pleasures of darkness when we are at leisure and at peace. Men are worried and busy and anxious by day are liable to be fretful at night. These hymns of protection and peace help put those anxieties at bay. Sleep, as we all know, is a true gift from God that we all should be thankful for.
The hymn begins with an act of thanksgiving for the day past, and a prayer of protection for the night. It goes on with a prayer of forgiveness for all that was amiss in the day, and the plea that the singer may be at “peace with the “world, myself to Thee”. Then comes the best verse - Teach me to live… Teach me to Die. Life leads to death as day leads to night, and death leads to resurrection as night leads into day. The prayer is that life, death, and what follows may all be encountered without fear and without dishonor; theory; the man who is at peace with himself, the world, and God will be able thus to live and die.
From here the hymn proceeds to a matter of fact petition for a sound sleep; a quiet mind brings good sleep, and good sleep brings renewed strength. If sleep doesn’t come, fear and the powers of darkness come to the door.But the singer prays for “heavenly thoughts”.
Nothing can be more fortifying for the everyday life and common faith than this kind of simple and direct prayer, nor better for the advancement of the Christian in faith and love than the simple praise which closes the hymn. “Praise God for whom all blessings flow” – that is the beginning and end of life; the humble creature’s prayer is in the end absorbed in universal praise.
