Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
- Metre
- 8.7.8.7.8.7
- Written
- 1834
- Copyright
- Public domain
Lyrics
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet thy tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who like me his praise should sing?
Alleluia, alleluia,
praise the everlasting King.
Praise him for his grace and favour
to our fathers in distress;
praise him still the same for ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless:
Alleluia, alleluia,
glorious in his faithfulness.
Father-like he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows;
in his hands he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes:
Alleluia, alleluia,
widely as his mercy flows.
Angels, help us to adore him,
ye behold him face to face;
sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space:
Alleluia, alleluia,
praise with us the God of grace.
History
Henry Francis Lyte's "Praise, my soul, the King of heaven" is a free paraphrase of Psalm 103. It was first published in 1834 in his collection The Spirit of the Psalms, a small book of psalm paraphrases and hymns written for his congregation in the south of England. Lyte, a clergyman born near Kelso in Scotland in 1793, had moved to the Devon fishing village of Lower Brixham in about 1824 and died at Nice in 1847; he is also remembered as the author of "Abide with Me".
The original was written as five stanzas, and most modern hymnals leave out the original fourth stanza. The text was taken into Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) and The English Hymnal (1906), and it is listed in nearly six hundred hymnals. Its metre is 8.7.8.7.8.7.
The tune most closely associated with the words is LAUDA ANIMA by John Goss (1800-1880), organist of St Paul's Cathedral in London from 1838 to 1872. Goss composed it in 1868 for this text; it was first printed in Robert Brown-Borthwick's Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book (third edition, 1869). The tune's name is the Latin for the opening words of Psalm 103. An alternative setting is REGENT SQUARE by Henry Smart, first published in 1867 for Horatius Bonar's doxology "Glory be to God the Father" rather than for this text.
The hymn has been sung at several high-profile occasions. These include the 1947 wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, the funeral of George H. W. Bush in 2018, and the 2023 coronation of Charles III and Camilla.
Performance
This recording is credited in its video description to St Martin's Voices (St Martin-in-the-Fields) and runs for about 2 minutes 43 seconds.
Sources: hymnary.org · en.wikipedia.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book
About St Martin's Voices
The recording on this page is sung by St Martin's Voices, the professional vocal ensemble based at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the church on Trafalgar Square in London. One of the UK's most versatile professional choirs, they sing for services, concerts and broadcasts — including on BBC radio and Classic FM — and have released a number of acclaimed recordings.
Their hymn recordings are made freely available to Anglican parishes through the Church of England's A Church Near You Resource Hub, produced by Andrew Earis, Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in collaboration with the Royal School of Church Music.