Hymn History: 'Doxology'

This directive is most often interpreted to mean that the hymns were meant for private devotion, not the gathered assembly, and yet these four lines, often referred to as The Lesser Doxology, have “been sung more often than any other lines ever written” (Gealy, 1993, 200). The hymn texts were published later as an appendix in his 1695 pamphlet as “revised” versions.

Much of the beauty of these four lines lies in its reflection of the joyous outbursts of the psalms. Here we see both the “host” of heaven and the “creatures here below” of earth praising God as in Psalm 96:11-12a and the final jubilant line of Psalm 150:6:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it. (Psalm 96: 11-12a, NRSV)
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6, NRSV)

Commonly called “The Doxology,” Ken’s acclamation of praise is actually one of many doxological declarations that appear in many hymns, often in final stanza. See, for example, the last stanzas of the fourth-century hymn “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” William Draper’s versification (c. 1919) of a thirteenth-century poem by Francis of Assisi, “All Creatures of Our God and King,” and Catherine Winkworth’s translation (1858) of Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart’s “Now Thank We All Our God” (1647). Though less common now, the pattern for many mainline Protestant congregations has been to sing another doxological acclamation, the “Gloria Patri,” earlier in a worship service, and Ken’s stanza at the time of the offertory. Of note is the cosmic character of Ken’s praise—“all creatures here below” and “above ye heavenly hosts”—calling on the entire cosmos to praise God.

The Trinitarian structure of Ken’s hymn has also led to its common liturgical use. The first line describes the person of God the Father as the source of all blessings (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3). The second line, though, speaks to God the Spirit through whom all creatures praise God (Psalm 104:24-30; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13). The third line points to God the Son, who is begotten of the Father, firstborn of heaven and superior to angels and the heavenly host (Hebrews 1:4). The fourth line summarizes the stanza and all of praise in general, since all praise is directed toward God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The United Methodist Hymnal pairs this text with the hymn tune OLD 100^th, which is attributed to John Calvin’s composer, Louis Bourgeois (c. 1510–1559). The first two lines of Ken’s text were later adapted with additional inclusive words by United Methodist pastor Gilbert H. Vieira (b. 1926) to be sung with LASST UNS ERFREUEN from Ausserlesene Catholische, Kirchengesänge (1623), harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Pastor Vieira’s use of inclusive language reflects his continuing strong stands for inclusive and carefully chosen language (see Vieira, 2020, n.p.).

The hymn tune MORNING HYMN was composed by François Hippolyte Barthélémon (1741–1808) for the text of “Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun.” The appropriateness of the tune works well for this final stanza, where the words of the second phrase, “Praise him, all creatures here below,” are sung by descending stepwise through an entire scale. The third phrase, “Praise him above, ye heav’nly host,” is sung through a similar ascension that returns to the highest note of the tune in the final stanza, acknowledging the Trinitarian nature of God. Sheila Doyle comments on the hymn text saying, “The language is simple and precise, and the opening images of light and rising up, appropriate to morning, pervade the hymn and convey a powerful sense of renewal and aspiration” (Doyle, “Awake, My Soul,” n.p.).

SOURCES:

Sheila Doyle, “Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/a/awake,-my-soul,-and-with-the-sun (accessed September 27, 2020).

_____, “Thomas Ken,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/t/thomas-ken (accessed September 27, 2020).

Fred D. Gealy, Research Files for the 1970 Companion to the Hymnal [1966] quoted in Young, Carlton R. Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1993), 200.

Thomas Ken, A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester College
(London: Printed for John Martyn, 1675), http://anglicanhistory.org/ken/manual.html (accessed September 27, 2020).

Gilbert H. Viera, “Let’s Watch Our Language,” United Methodist Insight (February 24, 2020), https://um-insight.net/perspectives/let-s-watch-our-language (accessed September 27, 2020).