My Heart Is Fixed, O God

Representative Text

1 My heart is fixed, O God,
A grateful song I raise;
Awake, O harp, in joyful strains,
Awake, my soul, to praise.

2 Among the nations, Lord,
To Thee my song shall rise;
Thy truth is great above the heavens,
Thy mercies reach the skies.

3 Above the heavens, O God,
And over all the earth,
Let men exalt Thy glorious Name
And tell Thy matchless worth.

4 Stretch forth Thy mighty hand
In answer to our prayer,
And let Thy own beloved ones
Thy great salvation share.

5 The holy God has said,
All lands shall own My sway;
My people shall My glory share,
The heathen shall obey.

6 O who will lead our hosts
To triumph o'er the foe,
If Thou shalt cast us off, O God,
Nor with our armies go?

7 The help of man is vain,
Be Thou our Helper, Lord;
Through Thee we shall do valiantly
If Thou Thy aid afford.

Source: Psalter Hymnal (Red): doctrinal standards and liturgy of the Christian Reformed Church #232

Author: Anonymous

In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries. Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: My heart is fixed, O God, A grateful song I raise
Title: My Heart Is Fixed, O God
Author: Anonymous
Meter: 6.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Praise of God’s faithful mercies toward his people, and prayer for God's help against threatening foreign powers.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-2
st. 2 = vv. 3-4
st. 3 = v. 5
st. 4 = v. 6
st. 5 = vv. 7-9
st. 6 = vv. 10-11
st. 7 = v. 12-13

With slight modifications, Psalm 108 is made up of Psalm 57:7-11 (vv. 1-5) and Psalm 60:5-12 (vv. 6-13). Scholars are not sure what occasioned this new combination, but it may have risen out of the crisis of a new threat from foreign enemies. Through praise the psalmist expresses confidence in God (st. 1) and vows to praise the LORD among the nations for being faithful and merciful (st. 2). The psalmist proclaims God's glory above the heavens and over all the earth (st. 3), and then prays, "Save us and help us" (v. 6), O God, from the threat of our enemy (st. 4). Recalling God's commitments to parcel out the land of Canaan to the tribes of Israel (st. 5), the psalmist asks, Who will lead us in triumph if God has rejected us (st. 6)? Then comes this confession: Our only hope is God, and he will not fail us (st. 7). The versification is significantly altered from that in the 1912 Psalter.

Liturgical Use:
Because this is a composite psalm, stanzas 1 through 3 can stand alone as praise for God's steadfast love. The remainder of the psalm is useful for times when the church is threatened by enemies.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune

ST. THOMAS (Williams)

ST. THOMAS is actually lines 5 through 8 of the sixteen-line tune HOLBORN, composed by Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) and published in his Collection (1763, 1765) as a setting for Charles Wesley's text "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (570). The harmonization is by Lowell Maso…

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Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)

Christian Worship #108B

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Lift Up Your Hearts #734

Psalms for All Seasons #108A

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Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #108

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The Cyber Hymnal #4241

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