HYMN OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER
God of Mercy, God of Grace
The Hymnal 1982 No. 538
1 God of mercy, God of grace,
show the brightness of thy face.
Shine upon us, Savior, shine,
fill thy church with light divine,
ans thy saving health extend
unto the earth’s remotest end.
2 Let thy people praise thee, LORD;
be by all that live adored.
Let the nations shout and sing
glory to their Savior King;
let all be, below, above,
one in joy, and light, and love.
The hymn writer, Henry Francis Lyte (pronounced “light”) (1793-1847), a Scottish Anglican priest, had a chaotic childhood. When he was nine years old, his father deserted the family and married another woman, with whom he had eight other children. However, before he left, he arranged for Lyte’s schooling. Recognizing that Lyte was gifted, the headmaster of the school paid Lyte’s fees and treated him as one of his own family. Lyte’s mother and younger brother died in poverty.
At university, Lyte received poetry prizes. He abandoned his original intention to study medicine and studied theology instead. He was quite a prolific hymn writer, but his most famous, and widely sung, hymn is Abide With Me (H1982 No. 662). Always in poor health, Lyte died in his early 50s. He is memorialized in Westminster Abbey with an alabaster tablet containing his name, dates, and a line from his most famous hymn: “Abide with me; fast falls the eventide.”
The three Lyte hymns in our hymnal are very different from one another. Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven (H1982 No. 410) is unrestrained grand and glorious praise to God. Abide with Me is a prayer, asking God to be with us always: in the evening, when the darkness deepens; when we have no other help or comfort; and in life, and in death. Our hymn of the month begins as a prayer for God’s face to shine on us and fill us with light but ends with a prayer for all people and nations to praise God and become one in joy, and light, and love.
God of Mercy, God of Grace first appeared in Lyte’s Spirit of the Psalms (London 1834), which he wrote for use in his own church. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 67:
May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and
come to us. Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all
nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the
nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide
all the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples
praise you. The earth has brought forth her increase; may God, our own God,
give us his blessing. May God give us his blessing, and may all the ends of the
earth stand in awe of him.
Nevertheless, the themes of this hymn are found in numerous other scriptures as well. Here are some examples.
– God’s mercy and grace: Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9 (Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. . . . For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. ); Lamentations 3:22-23 (It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, Because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.) [This passage calls to mind another hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness (LEVAS No. 189)].
– The brightness of God’s face shining upon us: Psalm 80:7 (Restore us, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved); Numbers 6:23-26 (The Lord bless you and keep you, the LORD lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.) [The Choir often sings a lovely setting of this blessing.]
– Sing and shout praise to God: Psalm 66:1 (O be joyful in God, all ye lands; sing praises unto the honour of his Name; make his praise to be glorious.); Psalm 100:1-2 (Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness.).
– God’s saving health: Psalm 119:174 ( I have longed for thy saving health, O LORD; and in thy law is my delight.) [Another Choir anthem]
This hymn focuses on the “soft power” of God – God of mercy and grace. The word “power” generally denotes things antithetical to mercy and grace. It is not very hard to see why people found it difficult to believe Jesus was the Messiah. We might well have made the same mistake. The Collect for Proper 21, which we just prayed on September 27, speaks to this very issue.
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing
mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we,
running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of
your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen.
The tune is LUCERNA LAUDONIAE, by Welsh musician David Evans (1874-1948), means “Lantern of the Lothians,” which is believed to refer either to a monastery in East Lothian that was destroyed in the 14th century, or to the church that replaced it in the 15th century. We also use this tune for For the Beauty of the Earth (H1982 No. 416). There are other Evans tunes in our hymnal. He put together the Irish folk melody SLANE with the English translation of the 8th Century Irish text for our hymn Be Thou My Vision (H1982 No. 488), and he adapted and harmonized the Finnish folk melody NYLAND, for O Jesus, I Have Promised (H1982 No. 655). In addition, he wrote the hymn tune CHARTERHOUSE for O Jesus Christ, May Grateful Hymns Be Rising (H1982 No. 590).
© 2026 Carolyn Parmenter
