Scripture References:
st. 1 = Ps. 100:4
st. 2 = Ps. 115:1
st. 3 = Ps. 46:1
st. 4 = Matt. 6:13
John H. Kromminga (b. Grundy Center, lA, 1918; d. Grand Rapids, MI, 1994) wrote this text in 1956, the same year he became president of Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids. He and his wife, Claire, who composed the tune, submitted this text in the centennial hymn contest held as a part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Christian Reformed Church in 1957. Marie J. Post's "O Lord, Beneath Thy Guiding Hand" set to an Adrian Hartog tune (1959 PsalterHymnal 486) was the winning entry. But the Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee chose to publish the Kromminga hymn, not the Post/Hartog hymn, in the 1987 Psalter Hymnal.
The first three stanzas reveal a Trinitarian pattern of praise: to God the Father, whom we have come to worship (st. 1); to Jesus Christ, who died for our sin (st. 2); and to the Holy Spirit, who guides us by the Word (st. 3). The final stanza affirms that our praise to God–our doxology–is orthodox (right praise) only when it is accompanied by our daily obedience in witness and service.
Kromminga studied at Calvin College and Calvin Seminary and received his Th.D.from Princeton Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1946. He was a pastor in three Christian Reformed Church congregations before he joined his alma mater, Calvin Seminary, as professor of church history (1952-1983) and then as president (1956-). After his retirement in 1983 he served as president of International Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He wrote many articles and four books, including The Christian Reformed Church: A Study in Orthodoxy (1949).
Liturgical Use:
General hymn of praise for many occasions (like the anniversary service for which it was written); profession of faith; marriage; ordination; stanzas 1-3 at the beginning of worship, stanza 4 at the end of worship.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook