Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty
Let me share the rich history behind "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" - from Joachim Neander's triumphant German original in 1680 to Catherine Winkworth's beloved English translation. Explore the meaning of this magnificent hymn of praise based on Psalms 103 and 150, and learn why it's been called "the finest production of its author and of the first rank in its class."
Welcome back to Friday Classic Hymns! Today's hymn is requested by those who support me on Patreon - thank you very much for your support. When I asked what hymn I should feature next, this one came up a number of times.
I didn't know this title before learning it this week, and I really like it. Do you know the song? What does it mean to you? Do you have memories associated with it, or has it helped you somehow in your faith? Share all that stuff below in the comments, please.
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The Story Behind "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty"
This hymn comes out of Germany from a man named Joachim Neander. He was born in Germany in 1650, the son and grandson of Lutheran ministers. As a young man, he showed no interest in the ministry or in God. He lived a very wild and godless life until, at the age of 20, he heard a famous evangelist preach. Neander was converted and became a lay minister in the Lutheran Church. Later he became a pastor of the Reformed Church in Düsseldorf in Germany.
He was quite well known for his hymns and his particular passion and ability in hymn writing and in music. In fact, many people consider him the greatest German hymnist, and many people consider this song to be one of the greatest songs of praise ever written.
In Germany, before Luther, only the monks sang hymns and they were all in Latin. Luther came and said, "Let's write hymns that the people can enjoy." He started to write his own hymns - I've even covered one of his hymns in this series: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." He and others began to write hymns that were more accessible to people. This is why Neander and others like him wrote these types of hymns, which people could understand and were in the common tongue.
This hymn was written in German and was published in Germany in the late 1600s. Neander died as a young man - at the age of 30, unfortunately - so we are missing out on some of the great hymns he may have written if he had lived longer.
The English translation, which is the one we are going to sing today, is the work of Miss Catherine Winkworth. She was born in London in 1827 and lived most of her life in Manchester, doing a lot of good in society.
Her father was a businessman, but she, in an age where women didn't do a lot or weren't allowed to do much, broke the mould! She was one of those who really, in spite of the restrictions, did so much good in her community. She was a pioneer in higher education for women, and one of her specialities was translating German to English. She took a lot of German hymns and translated them into English - this was one that she did this for. In fact, she's widely regarded as one of the great German to English translators, "the Queen of translators" she's known as in some circles.
After the Wesleys in the 1700s had written their great hymns, there had been very little German influence in the hymn singing in England. There didn't seem to be much need for anything else, but she came along and found the great richness in hymns like these, and so she brought them into the English hymn-singing culture. Thank God that she did.
It was 1863 when this hymn was published in England, and it soon became a favourite. So let's take a look at the words that she translated into English.
What Do the Lyrics of "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" Mean?
This is a beautiful song of praise!
Verse 1
It opens with the words "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation." Let me say that some hymnals have "Praise ye the Lord" and others "Praise to the Lord." "Praise to the Lord" is perhaps the more direct translation, and I think in modern times it makes a bit more sense.
"Praise ye the Lord" is very King James English! It's a call to worship, saying "Come, people, and praise the Lord!" But "Praise to the Lord" is stating that our praise is given to the Lord. So I suppose either one works. Which one are you familiar with? If you know this hymn, do you sing "praise ye" or do you sing "praise to"? Here we're going to use "praise to."
"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation." A wonderful description of God - the Almighty, the King of creation. He's great. He's wonderful. He is above all, He's sovereign. It's a great way to start this hymn by praising His name.
"O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation." I love that - He's thy health and thy salvation. This was known to be a paraphrase or a rewording of Psalm 103, which starts by saying, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits - who heals all your diseases." The author is saying, "Praise God because He brings health and He brings salvation." Of course, it is not just physical health, but spiritual health that we need. Both of these elements come from God.
"All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near." If you hear these words, come and worship! I can imagine this as a great call to worship in the old days - “come to the temple, draw near to the place of worship, and let's give Him glory together.”
Of course, God doesn't dwell in the temple any more. He dwells in His people, in their hearts, through His Spirit. So the church community is the new temple. But draw to the temple, draw near to the people, the community, and sing together.
"Join me in glad adoration." I love that. Come and let's join together and adore Him. There's something special, by the way, about joining others in adoring God. You can do it by yourself anywhere. But when you're standing alongside other Christians worshipping, there is a power, there is a depth, there is a shared strength there. I encourage you to join others in adoring God - and don't just do it from your phone or your computer screen.
Verse 2
"Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth." He reigns over all. Amen to that. Nothing can compare, no one can compare to God. He is the one who reigns, and we worship Him because everything is under His care.
"Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth." Beautiful. Psalm 91 talks about how He covers us with His feathers, and being under the shadow of His wings is a good old picture from the Bible. God shelters you and gently sustains you. Isn't that true? Haven't you found God to be a gentle sustainer of your life? Sometimes life gets very rocky and He gently just keeps you going.
"Hast thou not seen how thy desires have been granted in what He ordaineth?" It's a rhetorical question - haven't you seen? Can't you see how your desires have been granted by this wonderful God, in the way that He ordains everything to come to pass? He sees to it that your desires are met. If you have faith in Him, if you put your faith in Him, your desires are met.
There's a great verse in Psalm 37:4 that says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It doesn't mean if you go to church, He's going to give you a BMW or anything stupid like that. It means if your delight is in Him and your greatest love is Him, then you're going to be so satisfied because He will give you the desire of your heart. His presence will be your greatest desire. Find your satisfaction in God - everything else will pale in comparison.
Verse 3
"Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee." God prospers you as you go, work hard and do what you've got to do. He's the one who cares for you and prospers you as you do what you do. He defends you as you go about your business. It doesn't mean that everything's just going to go well for you, but it means that He knows what is true and He'll vindicate you as you do what is right and true.
"Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee." Well, that comes out of Psalm 23. Many of you will know that line - His goodness and His mercy will follow you all the days of your life if you are one of His sheep. Daily, you can trust that He will bring these things into your life. Beautiful. How faithful God is.
"Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, if with His love He befriend thee." If you have accepted His offer of friendship, then you can forever be pondering how this Almighty God is going to be pouring out His love and His blessing into your life. It's a beautiful thing to sit and ponder God's works and how they keep manifesting in your life time and time again.
Verse 4
"Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!" That is worship - when all that is in you adores Him. When there is not a part of you that rebels against Him, but when everything in you is submitting to Him in worship and in wonder. Is that your life? Is that my life? I'm asking me. Maybe there's parts of us that we still need to bring under His authority, but let it be that we can stand and say, "Let all that is in me adore Him."
That, by the way, sounds a lot like Psalm 103:1, which says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy name." This is about complete worship, not just words of lip service, but a lifestyle that honours God.
"All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him." Psalm 150 says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." This is a call for every creature to worship together. Have you ever considered that as you stand in worship to God, you're joining in with creation? Creatures, plants, the skies, the clouds, the stars - everything shouts forth the creation of God. As we worship, we join in with them.
"Let sound from His people again." I love that - let the people be singing. Amen! Let that be the sound that is heard throughout the land.
"Gladly for aye we adore Him." We sing amen gladly. "Aye" means forever, by the way - it's just a shortened form of forever. So let us gladly worship Him always. I love reading in Revelation how the saints are just continually praising Him in heaven! Let us praise Him here always in the way we live and in the words we say, but looking forward to one day worshipping Him forever.
Conclusion
What a great song! Is there a line in there that just spoke to you today? Did something spark in your heart? Share your thoughts on these lyrics below in the comments, please.
Maybe you'd like to share this video with somebody else - that would be great. Join me here on Fridays for these classic hymn expositions. I love doing this and I hope you'll find worth in them.
Thank you to those who support me on Patreon, and I hope that this hymn really blessed you today. Thank you to those who also support me on PayPal - every little donation helps me so that I can get a team around me to get these videos out to you. It really helps. Let's sing it together, and I hope that this will be a moment of great worship for us together.
References
Osbeck, K.W. 1985. 101 Hymn Stories. Kregal Publications: Grand Rapids
Bradley, I. 1989. The Penguin Book of Hymns. Penguin Group: London
Colquhoun, F. 1988. Sing to the Lord: A Fresh Look at Great Hymns on Praise. Hodder & Stoughton: London
