King of Glory, King of Peace

Lyrics

King of glory, King of peace,
I will love thee;
and that love may never cease
I will move thee.
Thou hast granted my request,
thou hast heard me;
thou didst note my working breast,
thou hast spared me.

Wherefore with my utmost art
I will sing thee,
and the cream of all my heart
I will bring thee.
Though my sins against me cried,
thou didst clear me;
and alone, when they replied,
thou didst hear me.

Seven whole days, not one in seven,
I will praise thee;
in my heart, though not in heaven,
I can raise thee.
Small it is, in this poor sort
to enrol thee:
e'en eternity's too short
to extol thee.

History

‘King of glory, King of peace’ comes from George Herbert’s poem entitled ‘Praise’, published in The Temple in 1633, the collection of his poems that appeared after his death. Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology records the original as seven stanzas of four lines, and notes that the hymn is usually abbreviated as in The English Hymnal (1906). It is a poem of grateful devotion: the singer resolves to sing ‘with my utmost art’, to bring ‘the cream of all my heart’, and to praise God ‘seven whole days, not one in seven’. Hymnary.org lists it in some seventy hymnals, with tunes including GWALCHMAI and REDLAND.

Herbert was born at Montgomery Castle on 3 April 1593, the fifth son of Richard Herbert and Magdalen, a daughter of Sir Richard Newport. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated in 1611 and became Orator for the University in 1619. He later took holy orders and was inducted to the parish of Bemerton on 26 April 1630. About three weeks before his death he entrusted the manuscript of The Temple to Nicholas Ferrar, leaving him to publish it if he judged it fit. Among his other poems still sung as hymns are ‘Let all the world in every corner sing’ and ‘Teach me, my God and King’.

Performance

This recording by St Martin’s Voices runs to a little over two minutes: a short organ introduction leads into three verses, closing with a brief organ postlude.

Sources: hymnary.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book (Words_for_8th_Sunday_after_Trinity_Year_A.docx): 'George Herbert (1593-1633)', '(Public Domain)'