This may be my favorite hymn, but then, I have so many favorites. It is surely right up at the top of my favorites. We almost always close Evensong with this hymn. We won’t get to sing it on Sunday mornings this month because it is an evening hymn. But we will sing it at Evensong on Wednesday, March 25, at 6:00 p.m. for the Feast of the Annunciation. So mark your calendar. You won’t want to miss either Evensong or getting to sing this hymn.
You will notice that our Hymnal 1982 includes only four stanzas, omitting the 4th stanza: The sun that bids us rest is waking … . The hymnal committee likely omitted that stanza in an attempt to make the hymn usable at times other than evening. Nevertheless, it is an egregious omission in my view. That stanza describes so beautifully how God is receiving praise continually as the world turns. When we sing it at Christ Church, I always include it!
This hymn is based on Psalm 113: 3: From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised. It speaks of how we praise God upon rising in the morning, and upon going to bed at night. Furthermore, because of the turning of the earth, there is always someone rising to praise God, and praising God again upon retiring at night.
Other scripture references are Hebrews 1:8: “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; Psalm 145:13: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations; Hebrews 13:15: Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise; Psalm 45:6 and Hebrews 1:8: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; Psalm 92:1-2: It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O most High: To tell of your loving kindness early in the morning, and of thy faithfulness in the night season.
The hymn writer, John Ellerton (1826-1893), an Anglican priest, wrote and translated 86 hymns. He was a great believer in the power and importance of church music. I feel a great kinship with him because he was such a champion of church choirs. He even organized an association of church choirs in his area, and he wrote Savior, Again, To Thy Dear Name We Raise, H1982 345 (an earlier hymn of the month) as the closing hymn for a church choir festival. The Day Thou Gavest is, of course, also a good closing hymn, but, unlike Savior, Again, To Thy Dear Name We Raise, it is specifically an evening hymn.
We are particularly indebted to Ellerton. In fact, we could hardly do church without him. At Christ Church, the Easter Day prelude begins with everyone singing Ellerton’s Welcome! Happy Morning (H1982 No. 179), which is his translation of the Latin hymn Salve, festa dies. It is hard to imagine Easter Day without Welcome! Happy Morning. [Our opening hymn on Pentecost, Hail Thee, Festival Day! (H1982 No. 225), is another translation of the same Latin hymn.]
The tune, ST. CLEMENT, by Clement Schoefield (1839-1904), a curate in South Kensington, London, was composed specifically for this text. It does indeed fit the text beautifully. The sweeping melody and the rich Victorian harmony work with the rich and elegant poetry to give a feeling of being wrapped up in a velvet blanket of God’s love for the evening.
In their colonial period, the British were fond of saying that the sun never set on the British Empire. This hymn reminds us that the sun never sets on the praise of God! The last stanza even compares God’s kingdom to the kingdoms of the earth. The British probably understand this stanza better than most: Thy throne shall never, like earth’s proud empires, pass away.
In fact, this has been a favorite hymn among the British for many years. It was sung as part of the celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, again at the Hong Kong handover ceremony a century later, and again at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
It is indeed a great hymn, a treasure of our tradition.
— Carolyn Parmenter, Music Director
