Great God, We Sing Your Guiding Hand

Representative Text

1 Great God, we sing that mighty hand
by which supported still we stand;
the opening year thy mercy shows;
that mercy crowns it till it close.

2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,
still are we guarded by our God;
by his incessant bounty fed,
by his unerring counsel led.

3 With grateful hearts the past we own;
the future, all to us unknown,
we to thy guardian care commit,
and peaceful leave before thy feet.

4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
thou art our joy, and thou our rest;
thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
adored through all our changing days.

5 When death shall interrupt these songs,
and seal in silence mortal tongues,
our helper God, in whom we trust,
shall keep our souls and guard our dust.

Source: Trinity Psalter Hymnal #554

Author: Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >

Notes

Great God, we sing that [Thy] mighty hand. P. Doddridge. [New Year.] Published by J. Orton in the posthumous edition of Doddridge's Hymns, &c, 1755, No. 157, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and again with variations in the text, by J. D. Humphreys's edition of the same, 1839, No. 282, the general heading in both being, "Help obtained of God, Acts xxvi. 22. For the New Year. "In some collections it begins, "Great God, we praise Thy mighty hand"; and in others, "Great God, we sing Thy mighty hand." Usually, however, the alterations, both in the English and American hymn-books, are very slight.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

WAREHAM (Knapp)

William Knapp (b. Wareham, Dorsetshire, England, 1698; d. Poole, Dorsetshire, 1768) composed WAREHAM, so named for his birthplace. A glover by trade, Knapp served as the parish clerk at St. James's Church in Poole (1729-1768) and was organist in both Wareham and Poole. Known in his time as the "coun…

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GERMANY (Gardiner)


DUKE STREET

First published anonymously in Henry Boyd's Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1793), DUKE STREET was credited to John Hatton (b. Warrington, England, c. 1710; d, St. Helen's, Lancaster, England, 1793) in William Dixon's Euphonia (1805). Virtually nothing is known about Hatton, its composer,…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #2038
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  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 487)
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A Choice Selection of Evangelical Hymns, from various authors #404

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A Collection of Evangelical Hymns #CLXXIX

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A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy for the Use of Evangelical Lutheran Churches #409

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A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy #409

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A Collection of Hymns and A Liturgy #409

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A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #412

A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America #d179

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A Collection of Hymns, for the Christian Church and Home #378

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A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ #833

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A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America. #547

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship #546

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (10th ed.) #546

A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (6th ed.) #546

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship. (3rd ed.) #546

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship. (45th ed.) #546

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship. 16th ed. #546

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship #CLVIII

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Publick Worship #CLVIII

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Social and Private Worship #XCI

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Sanctuary #620

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Use of Universalist Societies and Families 16ed. #505

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, for Social and Private Worship #434

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, for Social and Private Worship (Rev. ed. with supplement) #434

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns #510

A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs #d102

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A Manual of Worship #69

A Selection of Hymns #d91

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A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #H.CCCXCV

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A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #H.CCCXCV

A Selection of Hymns for the Use of Church of England Sunday Schools, Bible Classes ... New ed. #d93

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A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. #510

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A Selection of Hymns #DX

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A Selection of Sacred Poetry #510

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A Selection of Sacred Poetry #510

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A Selection of Sacred Songs. 2nd ed. #144

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A Selection of Spiritual Songs #1061

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African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #581

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African Methodist Episcopal hymn and tune book #396

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American Lutheran Hymnal #369

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American Psalmody #332

At Worship, a hymnal for young churchmen #d92

Australian Hymn Book #52

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Baptist Hymn Book #a666

Book of Hymns for the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin and Other States #d79

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Book of Worship (Rev. ed.) #545

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Book of Worship with Hymns and Tunes #551

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Book of Worship #545

Calvary Selection of Spiritual Songs with Music for the Church and the Choir #d283

Carmina for Social Worship #d84

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Carmina Sanctorum, a selection of hymns and songs of praise with tunes #725

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Carmina Sanctorum #725

Text

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #564

Chapel and Family Hymn Book #d45

Chapel Hymns #d190

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Christian Hymns for Public and Private Worship #715

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Christian Hymns #17

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Christian Praise #645

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Christian Praise #62

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Christian Praise #62

Christian Worship and Praise #d143

Christian Worship #586

Christian Youth Hymnal #161

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Church Book #137

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Church Book #137

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Church Choral-Book #13

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Church Harmonies #853

Church Hymn Book . 3rd ed. #d174

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Church Hymnal for Lutheran Services #82

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Church Hymnal, Mennonite #587

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #587

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #d168

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Church Hymns and Tunes #633

Church Melodies, a Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d347

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Church Melodies #204

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Church Pastorals, hymns and tunes for public and social worship #945

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Church Psalmist #606

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Church Psalmist #606

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Church Psalmist #606

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Church Psalmody #H684

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Church Psalmody #684

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Church Psalmody #493

Collection of Hymns for Public and Private Worship. 4th ed. #d99

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Common Praise #652

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Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church #482

Congregational Singing Book #d24

Pages

Exclude 467 pre-1979 instances
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