God Is Love

Representative Text

1 God is Love; His mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove;
Bliss He wakes and woe He lightens:
God is wisdom, God is love.

2 Chance and change are busy ever;
Man decays, and ages move;
But His mercy waneth never:
God is wisdom, God is love.

3 E'en the hour that darkest seemeth
Will His changeless goodnees prove;
From the gloom His brighness streameth;
God is wisdom, God is love.

4 He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above;
Everywhere His glory shineth;
God is wisdom, God is love.

Amen.

Source: Worship and Service Hymnal: For Church, School, and Home #2

Author: John Bowring

James Bowring was born at Exeter, in 1792. He possessed at an early age a remarkable power of attaining languages, and acquired some reputation by his metrical translations of foreign poems. He became editor of "The Westminster Review" in 1825, and was elected to Parliament in 1835. In 1849, he was appointed Consul at Canton, and in 1854, was made Governor of Hong Kong, and received the honour of knighthood. He is the author of some important works on politics and travel, and is the recipient of several testimonials from foreign governments and societies. His poems and hymns have also added to his reputation. His "Matins and Vespers" have passed through many editions. In religion he is a Unitarian. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charl… Go to person page >

Notes

God is love, His mercy brightens. Sir J. Bowring. [The Love of God.] This hymn is sometimes attributed in error to his Matins and Vespers, 1823. It actually appeared in his Hymns in 1825, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, stanza i. being repeated as stanza v. In 1853 it was given without the repetition of the first stanza, in the Leeds Hymn Book, from whence it passed into numerous collections. Its use in English-speaking countries is very extensive, and it has become one of the most popular of the author's hymns. Original text, Turing's Collection, No. 292, with “the mist," altered to "the gloom," and the omission of the repetition of stanza v. This is the generally accepted form of the hymn.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Instances

Instances (201 - 300 of 726)
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Hymns for First-Day Schools (Rev. and Enl.) #46

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Hymns for Public Worship #280

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Hymns for Schools and Colleges #121

Hymns for Schools and Families #d36

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Hymns for Schools and Families #59

Hymns for Social Worship and Private Devotion #d47

Hymns for Social Worship, Compiled for the Use of Canadian Baptist Churches #d86

Hymns for Social Worship. 6th ed. #d74

Hymns for Sunday School Worship #d23

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Hymns for the Christian Church, for the Use of the First Church of Christ in Boston #54

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Hymns for the Church #49

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Hymns for the Church of Christ (3rd thousand) #137

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Hymns for the Church of Christ. (6th thousand) #137

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Hymns for the Living Age #68

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Hymns for the Living Church #39

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Hymns for the Sanctuary #120

Hymns for the Use of the Brethren in Christ #d148

Hymns for Use in Divine Worship ... Seventh-Day Adventists #d327

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Hymns for Worship #37

Hymns of Devotion #d49

Hymns of Faith and Life #70

Hymns of Full and Free Salvation #d67

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Hymns of Grace and Truth #158

Hymns of Grace and Truth. 2nd ed. #d91

Hymns of Progress #d47

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Hymns of the Centuries (Chapel Edition) #41

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Hymns of the Centuries #151

Hymns of the Christian Life #d113

Hymns of the Christian Life #d112

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Hymns of the Christian Life #75

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Hymns of the Christian Life. No. 3 #250

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Hymns of the Church, Ancient and Modern #323

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Hymns of the Church #312

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Hymns of the Faith with Psalms #352

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Hymns of the Faith #461

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #27

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #27

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Hymns of the Kingdom of God #34

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Hymns of the Spirit #296

Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #83a

Hymns of the Spirit for Use in the Free Churches of America #83b

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Hymns of the United Church #22

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Hymns of the United Church #22

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Hymns of Worship and Service #83

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Hymns of Worship and Service (15th ed.) #83

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Hymns of Worship and Service (Chapel Ed., 4th ed.) #49

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Hymns of Worship and Service #83

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Hymns of Worship and Service #49

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Hymns of Worship and Service. (Chapel ed.) #49

Hymns of Worship and Songs of the Gospel #d83

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Hymns of Worship #467

Hymns Tried and True #d33

Hymns, Psalms and Gospel Songs with Responsive Readings #d95

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Hymns, Psalms and Gospel Songs #227

Hymns, Religious and Patriotic #d15

Hymns, Selected and Original, for Sunday Schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church #d112

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In Excelsis #151

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In Excelsis #a151

Inter-Church Hymnal #d109

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International Song Service #294

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Isles of Shoals Hymn Book and Candle Light Service #129

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Joy to the World #130

Jubilate Deo #162

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Junior Hymns #60

Junior Youth Hymnal #d44

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Kingdom of Song for the Sunday School #190

Lasting Songs #d37

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Laudamus #78

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Laudes Domini #161

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Laudes Domini #36

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Life-Time Hymns #7

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Life-Time Hymns #229

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Light in the Valley #59

Liturgy and Hymnal for the Use of the General Church of the New Jerusalem #d32

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Loving Voices #36

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Lutherförbundets Sångbok #E81

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Magnificat #27

Majestic Hymns #d54

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Manual for the chapel of Girard College #56

Manual of Devotion and Selection of Hymns for ... Girard College for Orphans #d63

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Many Voices; or, Carmina Sanctorum, Evangelistic Edition with Tunes #6

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Melodies and Hymns for Divine Service in Appleton Chapel #a82

Melodies of Heaven #d39

Mennonite Hymn Book #d104

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Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #37a

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Methodist Hymn and Tune Book #37b

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Montreat Hymns #227

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Morning Stars #186

Music for the Junior Choir #d20

My Little Singing Book #d20

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National Hymn and Tune Book #175

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New Baptist Hymnal #48

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New Manual of Praise #362a

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New Manual of Praise #362b

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New Onward and Upward #213

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Northfield Hymnal No. 2 #139

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Northfield Hymnal No. 3 #137

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Northfield Hymnal #143

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Ocean Melodies, and Seamen's Companion #72b

Pages

Exclude 716 pre-1979 instances
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