O God, Creation's Secret Force

O God! creation's secret Force

Paraphraser: J. M. Neale; Author: St. Ambrose
Published in 20 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 O God, creation’s secret force,
Yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,
You, from the morn till evening's ray,
Through all its changes guide the day:

2 Grant us, when this short life is past,
The glorious evening that shall last;
That, by a holy death attained,
Eternal glory may be gained.

3 Almighty Father, hear our cry
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord Most High,
Whom with the Spirit we adore
For ever and for evermore.


Source: Hymnal Supplement 1991 #789

Paraphraser: J. M. Neale

John M. Neale's life is a study in contrasts: born into an evangelical home, he had sympathies toward Rome; in perpetual ill health, he was incredibly productive; of scholarly tem­perament, he devoted much time to improving social conditions in his area; often ignored or despised by his contemporaries, he is lauded today for his contributions to the church and hymnody. Neale's gifts came to expression early–he won the Seatonian prize for religious poetry eleven times while a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1842, but ill health and his strong support of the Oxford Movement kept him from ordinary parish ministry. So Neale spent the years between 1846 and 1866 as a warden of Sackvi… Go to person page >

Author: St. Ambrose

Ambrose (b. Treves, Germany, 340; d. Milan, Italy, 397), one of the great Latin church fathers, is remembered best for his preaching, his struggle against the Arian heresy, and his introduction of metrical and antiphonal singing into the Western church. Ambrose was trained in legal studies and distinguished himself in a civic career, becoming a consul in Northern Italy. When the bishop of Milan, an Arian, died in 374, the people demanded that Ambrose, who was not ordained or even baptized, become the bishop. He was promptly baptized and ordained, and he remained bishop of Milan until his death. Ambrose successfully resisted the Arian heresy and the attempts of the Roman emperors to dominate the church. His most famous convert and disciple w… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O God! creation's secret Force
Title: O God, Creation's Secret Force
Author: St. Ambrose
Paraphraser: J. M. Neale
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

O HEILAND, REISS DIE HIMMEL AUF

O HEILAND, REISS DIE HIMMEL AUF is a German chorale melody published anonymously in Rheinfelsisches Deutsches Catholisches Gesangbuch (1666 ed.). Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee member Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) prepared the harmonization in 1985. The tune is in Dorian mode and exhibits two main rhyt…

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[O God, Creation's secret force]


Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)

Common Praise (1998) #4

TextPage Scan

Hymnal Supplement 1991 #789

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4841

The Hymnal 1982 #14

The Hymnal 1982 #15

Include 15 pre-1979 instances
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