From Ocean unto Ocean

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From ocean unto ocean, Our land shall own you, Lord

Author: Robert Murray (1880)
Published in 78 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ
	Partita on Lancashire

Choral
	A Hymn to God: Creator

Instrumental
	Majestic Praise (Brass Solos for Worship…

Representative Text

1 From ocean unto ocean
our land shall name you, Lord
and, filled with true devotion,
obey your sovereign word;
our prairies and our mountains,
forest and fertile field,
our rivers, lakes and fountains
to you shall tribute yield.

2 O Christ, we pray before you:
come in your power to dwell.
Now humbly we implore you:
make this land whole and well,
and may we know, Lord Jesus,
the touch of your dear hand,
and, healed of our diseases,
the tempter's power withstand.

3 Our Savior King, defend us,
and guide where we should go;
forth with your message send us,
your love and light to show;
till, fired with true devotion
and kindled by your word,
from ocean unto ocean
our land shall name you Lord.

Source: The Book of Praise #801

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Author: Robert Murray

Murray, Robert, Minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, born Dec. 25, 1832, is the author of "From ocean unto ocean" (National Hymn), and "Lord, Thou lov'st the cheerful giver" (Almsgiving), in the Scotch Church Hymnary, 1898. [Rev. James Bonar M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)… Go to person page >

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First Line:	From ocean unto ocean, Our land shall own you, Lord
Title:	From Ocean unto Ocean
Author:	Robert Murray (1880)
Meter:	7.6.7.6 D
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Robert Murray (b. Earltown, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1832; d. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1910), editor of The Presbyterian Witness and an outstanding preacher, wrote this text. It was published with three other hymn texts, all identified with just the initial "M," in the first Canadian Presbyterian Hymnal of 1880.

Murray's text originally made reference to Canada's geography, but its opening lines, "From ocean unto ocean," recall the words of Psalm 72:8: "He will rule from sea to sea." Although many patriotic hymns express national pride, this text clearly affirms the sovereignty and healing power of God in human and national affairs and humbly admits human sin and folly. Stanza 1 confesses that the earth's natural resources will yield their bounty in praise to God (see Ps. 72: 16), and stanzas 3 and 4 profess submission to the claims of Christ. This hymn helps us to say and sing that our service to God has an impact on our daily lives, on our stewardship of resources, on our living together in community, and on our hope for and experience of reconciliation in the market¬place and in political life.

Murray began writing poetry at the age of ten. Educated at the Free Church College of Halifax, he was licensed to preach in the Presbyterian Church of Canada. His life's vocation, however, was not in pastoral ministry. Instead he served as editor of The Presbyterian Witness for more than fifty years. A member of numerous denominational committees, Murray favored Canadian confederation and the temperance movement in his editorials. A number of his hymns were first published in The Hymnal (1880) of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and its successor, The Book of Praise (1918).

Liturgical Use:
Worship that focuses on stewardship of natural resources (including harvest thanksgiving) and on justice and charity in public life; patriotic occasions and other times of prayer for national life.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

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Tune

LANCASHIRE (Smart)

Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed the tune in 1835 for use at a missions festival at Blackburn, Lancashire, England. For that festival, which celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in England, the tune was set to Reginald Heber's (PHH 249) “From Greenland's Icy Mountains.”…

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ELLACOMBE

Published in a chapel hymnal for the Duke of Würtemberg (Gesangbuch der Herzogl, 1784), ELLACOMBE (the name of a village in Devonshire, England) was first set to the words "Ave Maria, klarer und lichter Morgenstern." During the first half of the nineteenth century various German hymnals altered the…

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WEBB

George J. Webb (b. Rushmore Lodge, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, 1803; d. Orange, NJ, 1887) composed WEBB (also known as MORNING LIGHT) on a voyage from England to the United States. The tune was published in The Odeon, a collection of secular music compiled by Webb and Lowell Mason (PHH 96) i…

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Timeline

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Media

Scores
Audio

The Cyber Hymnal #1566

Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
XML score (XML)

MIDI file from The Cyber Hymnal #1566
MIDI file from Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #596

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Page Scans

View Page

The Book of Praise (1997), p.1018

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Instances

Instances (1 - 78 of 78)

Piano/Organ Partita on Lancashire Pedals and Pipes for Postludes and Praise Shine on Us (Illuminating Hymns of Guidance and Strength for Organ) More Piano/Organ...
Choral A Hymn to God: Creator More Choral...
Instrumental Majestic Praise (Brass Solos for Worship for Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, or Baritone T.C.) Majestic Praise (Brass Solos for Worship for Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, or Baritone T.C.) Worship the King More Instrumental...
Handbells HYMNS OF JOY AND PRAISE, VOL. 3 Through Darkness to Light (Reproducible Hymn Settings for Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost) Through Darkness to Light (Reproducible Hymn Settings for Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost) More Handbells...
PowerPoint HOSANNA, LOUD HOSANNA (Lift Up Your Hearts 145) More PowerPoint...

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From Ocean unto Ocean

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