Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken

Representative Text

1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God.
He whose Word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou may'st smile at all thy foes.

2 See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.

3 'Round each habitation hov'ring,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a cov'ring,
showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner
light by night and shade by day,
safe they feed upon the manna
which He gives them on their way.

4 Savior, since of Zion's city
I through grace a member am,
let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name.
Fading is the worldling's pleasures,
all his boasted pomp and show;
solid joys and lasting treasures
none but Zion's children know.

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #416

Author: John Newton

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumul­tuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Glorious things of thee are spoken
Title: Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
Author: John Newton (1779)
Meter: 8.7.8.7 D
Language: English
Notes: Spanish translation: See "Glorias mil de ti se cuentan" by Juan de los Santos
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Glorious things of Thee are spoken. J. Newton. [Church of Christ.] First published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 60, in 5 stanzas of 8 lines, and entitled, "Zion, or the City of God," Is. xxxiii. 20, 21. It has attained to great popularity in all English-speaking countries, and ranks with the first hymns in the language. It is used, however, in various forms as follows:—
1. Original text in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory People's Hymnal.
2. A cento composed of stanzas i., ii. and v. This appeared in Cotterill's Selection, 1819, from whence it has passed into a great number of collections. It is by far the most popular arrangement of the hymn in use, and may be found in fifty or more hymnals, as in Hymnal Companion, No. 234, and sometimes with Cotterill’s slight alterations, as in the Rev. F. Pott's Hymns, &c, 1861-67.
3. A cento composed of stanzas i., iii. and v., given in Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Hymns, 1852, but not popular.
4. A cento, stanzas i., ii. and doxology in four lines, not by Newton, in the Cooke and Denton Hymnal, 1853.
5. A cento, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, beginning, "Glorious things of old were spoken," is given in Isaac G. Smith's Hymn Book, 1855-57. It is thus composed: stanza i., Newton altered; ii., I. G. Smith; iii., Newton; iv., dox. from Cooke & Denton. This is the least successful of any arrangement.
6. The whole hymn revised by J. Keble for the Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857, and included therein, as No. 130, with the four-line doxology from Denton. This, with slight returns to the original in two places (stanzas i., v.), and the omission of the doxology, was repeated in the Sarum Hymnal (broken into two parts, pt. ii. beginning "Blessed city, holy nation), 1868; and a cento therefrom again altered, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines in T. Darling's Hymns, &c, edition 1887. Another cento, also with alterations, is given in the Hymnary, from which it passed into the New Mitre Hymnal, 1875.
7. Cento of stanzas i., ii., iv., v., unaltered as in the Book of Praise Hymnal, Thring's Collection, and others.
8. In the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, stanzas i.-iv. with slight alterations in stanzas i., ii., and iii.
In the American collections the same diversity of use prevails as in Great Britain. Sometimes the hymn is broken into two parts, with pt. ii. beginning, "Blest inhabitants of Zion." In addition other arrangements of minor importance are given in collections of less importance; but in most cases the original text is maintained. Stanzas i., ii., v., have been rendered into Latin by the Rev. R. Bingham, and included in his Hymnologia Christiana Latina, 1871, "Dicta do te sunt miranda."

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
Baptist Hymnal 1991 #398
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
The Cyber Hymnal #1845
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #506
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
The United Methodist Hymnal #731
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
Worship and Rejoice #598

Instances

Instances (1 - 95 of 95)

A Teaching Hymnal #74

TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #521

Ambassador Hymnal #293

Text

Ancient and Modern #641a

Text

Ancient and Modern #641b

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #223

TextAudioPage Scan

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #398

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #55

TextPage Scan

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #282

Text

Chalice Hymnal #709

Page Scan

Christian Science Hymnal #479

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #857

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #87C

Church Family Worship #183

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #646

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #335

TextPage Scan

Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #738

Clarion Call #226

TextPage Scan

Common Praise (1998) #388

Text

Common Praise #435a

TextPage Scan

Common Praise #435b

TextPage Scan

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #205a

Text

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #205b

Page Scan

Complete Mission Praise #173

TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #310

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #214

TextAudio

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #647

Text InfoTextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Glory to God #81

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #447

Hymnal #619

Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #172

Hymns and Psalms #817a

Hymns and Psalms #817b

TextPage Scan

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #485

Text

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #494a

Text

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #494b

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Faith #76

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise #738

Hymns of the Christian Life #397

TextPage Scan

Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints #46

Hymns of Truth & Light #81

Hymns Old and New #158

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #336

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Lift Up Your Hearts #286

Living Hymns #20

Living Hymns #20

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Service Book #648

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Worship #294

TextPage Scan

Moravian Book of Worship #522

TextPage Scan

One in Faith #608

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #165

Page Scan

Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #129

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #416

TextPage Scan

Psalms for All Seasons #87D

Text

Psalms for All Seasons #87E

Text InfoTune InfoTextScoreAudioPage Scan

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #506

Rejoice Hymns #4

TextPage Scan

Rejoice in the Lord #393

TextPage Scan

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #423

Sing Glory #35

TextPage Scan

Sing Joyfully #116

Sing Praise to God #8

Singing the Faith #748

Songs of Fellowship #127

TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #306

The Baptist Hymnal #518

Text

The Book of Praise #483

TextPage Scan

The Celebration Hymnal #400

The Christian Life Hymnal #319

The Covenant Hymnal #594

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #1845

Text

The Hymnal 1982 #522

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal 1982 #523

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #278

TextPage Scan

The Irish Presbyterian Hymbook #143

TextPage Scan

The New Century Hymnal #307

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #362

The New Harp of Columbia, Restored Edition #30

TextPage Scan

The New National Baptist Hymnal (21st Century Edition) #426

Text

The Presbyterian Hymnal #446

The Sacred Harp #148

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #157

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The United Methodist Hymnal #731

Text

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #27

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #28

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The Worshiping Church #694

Text

Together in Song #446

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #345

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #403

Page Scan

Voices United #772

TextScoreFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Worship and Rejoice #598

TextPage Scan

Worship and Service Hymnal #171

Worship His Majesty #35

TextAudio

Worship in Song #6

찬송과 예배 = Chansong gwa yebae = Come, Let Us Worship #256

Include 1182 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us