Thy Hand, O God, Has Guided

Lyrics

Thy hand, O God, has guided
thy flock, from age to age;
the wondrous tale is written,
full clear, on every page;
our fathers owned thy goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both of this bear witness;
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Thy heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade them rise, and hasten
to share the great King's feast;
and this was all their teaching,
in every deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Through many a day of darkness,
through many a scene of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely,
to guard the nation's life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, man restored,
was all in this enfolded:
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Thy mercy will not fail us,
nor leave thy work undone;
with thy right hand to help us,
the victory shall be won;
And then, by men and angels,
thy name shall be adored,
and this shall be their anthem:
one church, one faith, one Lord.

History

Edward Hayes Plumptre, an Anglican clergyman and scholar, wrote this hymn under the title 'Church Defence'. The text was published in Plumptre's Lazarus and Other Poems and was reprinted in the 1889 Supplemental Hymns to Hymns Ancient & Modern, by which time it had gained much popularity in England. The hymn is in the metre 7.6.7.6 D and has a refrain that draws on Ephesians 4:4-5. The original had six stanzas; the Psalter Hymnal's three-stanza version moves from God's guidance of the church, to the church's proclamation of the gospel, to its ultimate victory. Suggested liturgical uses include festivals, church anniversaries, mission services, Reformation celebrations and ordination or commissioning services.

Plumptre was born in London on 6 August 1821 and died in Wells on 1 February 1891. He was educated at King's College, London, and University College, Oxford, was ordained in the Church of England in the 1840s, and became professor of pastoral theology at King's College, London. He sat on the Old Testament company that revised the Authorized Version of the Bible, and he served as Dean of Wells from 1881 until his death. His other writings include biblical studies, a translation of Sophocles (1865) and of Aeschylus (1868), a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy (1886-1887) and a Life of Bishop Ken (1888).

The text is commonly sung to THORNBURY, a tune by the English organist Basil Harwood (1859-1949), dated to 1898, though other tunes are used; one Psalter Hymnal listing pairs it with LANCASHIRE.

Performance

The supplied video title and description name no performer. The recording runs to about three and a half minutes (3:24).

Sources: hymnary.org · en.wikipedia.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book