Hymns: The God of Abraham Praise

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.

Today’s song is The God of Abraham Praise from 1772.

The God of Abraham praise, Who reigns enthroned above,
Ancient of everlasting days, and God of Love.
Jehovah, great I AM! by earth and heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred Name forever blessed.
 
The God of Abraham praise, at Whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys at His right hand;
I all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame, and power,
And Him my only Portion make, my Shield and Tower.
 
He by Himself has sworn; I on His oath depend;
I shall, on eagles’ wings upborne, to heav’n ascend.
I shall behold His face; I shall His power adore,
And sing the wonders of His grace forevermore.

There dwells our Lord and King, the Lord our Righteousness,
Triumphant o’er the world and sin, the Prince of peace;
On Zion’s sacred height His kingdom He maintains,
And glorious with His saints in light forever reigns.
 
The whole triumphant host gives thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!” they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God, and mine! I join the heav’nly lays;
All might and majesty are Thine, and endless praise.

This hymn originated in Judaism. Thomas Olivers created the paraphrase after hearing it sung in Hebrew at London’s Great Synagogue in 1770. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

You can see from the videos that it’s popular in traditional churches, from high Anglican churches to Baptist churches. We used to sing it in my own Baptist church in Cork. Back in the early 1980s, I used to mix with many new charismatics and I often popped into their meetings. They tended to dislike anything “churchy”, so you wouldn’t get them singing it. But I always liked this one. My favourite lines are the following:

The God of Abraham praise, at Whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys at His right hand;

So why did God identify Himself as the God of Abraham? Well, throughout the world, people believe in God, but they have a wide range of ideas about his attributes. Moses had lived in Egypt, where hundreds of gods were worshipped. Even nowadays in Christian countries we can easily create a “god” who matches what we’d like to be if we were god rather than believe in the true God. So, if I want to know the true God, I read the Scriptures, and in the New Testament, we have a much richer revelation than we had in Old Testament times. Maybe that’s why Paul identifies God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 1:1-2
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Ephesians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

But of course, He is also the God of Abraham, and the God of all those who believe in Him in heaven and on earth. And even unbelievers have no-one else who created and sustains them, even if they do know acknowledge Him.

Here are some other versions of today’s hymn: