Scripture References:
st. 2 = Rom. 6:4
st. 3 = Luke 24:35
ref. = Ps. 118: 14, 24
Written by John E. Bowers (b. London, England, 1923), this text was first published in More Hymns for Today, a 1980 supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern. Originally entitled “The House of God,” the first stanza began "Christians, lift up your hearts." The seven-stanza text dealt with various aspects of Christian worship such as gathering, praising God, confessing and forgiving, preaching, taking the sacraments, and departing to serve. The Psalter Hymnal includes Bower's stanzas 1 (now the refrain), 3, 4, and 6.
The refrain's text borrows from the Sursum Corda ("Lift up your hearts") of the Lord's Supper liturgy and from Psalm 118:14, 24. Like Q&A 65 of Lord's Day 25 in the Heidelberg Catechism, the three stanzas focus on preaching and the sacraments (st. 1), baptism, and the Lord's Supper (st. 2 and 3).
Bowers served in the British and Indian army during World War II and then studied at King's College, London University, England, from 1947 to 1951. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1952, he served both as a chaplain in the territorial army and as a priest in various parishes in the diocese of Leicester. He retired in 1988.
Liturgical Use"
The opening of regular Sunday worship; baptism; Lord's Supper; a choral processional at festive church services and worship conferences (in this case choirs may want to learn additional stanzas and add a descant; see other hymnal settings of "Hail Thee, Festival Day").
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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