Scripture Verse

Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto His name. Psalm 135:2–3

Introduction

portrait
Uzziah C. Burnap (1834–1900)

Words: Phi­lip Dodd­ridge (1702–1751). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Found­ed on Va­ri­ous Texts in the Ho­ly Scrip­tures, by Job Or­ton (Shrop­shire, Eng­land: Jo­shua Ed­dowes & John Cot­ton, 1755), num­ber 67. The orig­in­al be­gan, House of our God, with cheer­ful an­thems ring. The ver­sion be­low was rec­ast by John El­ler­ton in Church Hymns, by the So­ci­ety for Pro­mot­ing Chris­tian Know­ledge, 1871.

Music: New Year’s Day Uz­zi­ah C. Bur­nap, 1895 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Philip Doddridge
(1702–1751)

Lyrics

House of our God, with hymns of glad­ness ring,
While all our lips and hearts His prais­es sing;
The op­en­ing year His mer­cies shall pro­claim,
And all its days shall ce­le­brate His name.

Ye an­gel choirs on high, whose dwell­ing place
Shines with the glo­ry of His un­veiled face,
Through your im­mor­tal life, as love still grows,
Tell of His good­ness, which no end­ing knows.

O Earth, en­light­ened by His rays di­vine,
Stored by His hand with corn and oil and wine,
Crowned with His good­ness, let thy na­tions raise
From shore to shore the song of cease­less praise.

O Church, His chos­en dwell­ing and de­light,
Graven on His hands, and pre­cious in His sight,
Sing the deep mar­vels of that bound­less grace
Which sheds on thee the bright­ness of His face.

Burst in­to praise, my soul; and ev­er­more
Through chang­ing life thy change­less God adore:
He is thy trust, thy re­fuge, and thy fear;
Strong in His strength, begin the new-born year.