God be Merciful

View this hymn using FlexPresent: Hymnary.org's free tool provides this hymn's music notationand lyrics synchronized with its audio

O God, to us show mercy And bless us in thy grace

Published in 38 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Playable presentation: Lyrics only, lyrics + music
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Song available on My.Hymnary

Representative Text

1 O God, to us show mercy
and bless us in Your grace;
cause now to shine upon us
the brightness of Your face;
that so Your way most holy
on earth may soon be known,
and unto every people
Your saving grace be shown.

2 O God, let all men praise You,
let all the nations sing;
in every land let praises
and songs of gladness ring;
for You shall judge the people
in truth and righteousness,
and through the earth the nations
shall Your just rule confess.

3 O God, let people praise You,
let all the nations sing,
for earth in rich abundance
to us her fruit shall bring.
The Lord our God shall bless us,
our God shall blessing send,
and all the earth shall fear Him
to its remotest end.

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #67A

Text Information

First Line: O God, to us show mercy And bless us in thy grace
Title: God be Merciful
Meter: 7.6.7.6 D
Language: English
Notes: Spanish translation: See "Oh Dios, ten misericordia" by Priscilla Piñero
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

A communal prayer for God’s promised blessing on his people; a call to all nations to join in God's praise.

Scripture References:
[Psalm 67]
st. 1 = vv. 1-2
st. 2 = vv. 3-4
st. 3 = vv. 5-6

This short communal prayer for God's blessing may have served as a liturgical prayer of the people at the close of worship. Its echoes of the priestly benediction (Num. 6:22-27) suggest that it may have been used just prior to that divinely authorized blessing. The prayer begins with an allusion to the priestly blessing and asks that God will fulfill the purpose of that blessing-to bring "salvation among the nations" (v. 2; st. 1). In its request that all earth's people may join in praise to God, whose universal rule is just and good (st. 2), this prayer anticipates God's blessings upon the earth for such praise. And it anticipates as well the whole world's recognition that the LORD is the one true God (st. 3). The versification of this psalm was altered from The Book of Psalms (1871), a text-only psalter that was later published with music in 1887.

Liturgical Use:
The combination of blessing from God and praise to God in this psalm makes it most useful at the end of worship. It can also be used for Pentecost and whenever the church reflects on its evangelistic mission, since the psalmist calls all nations to acknowledge and praise God.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Tune

AURELIA

Composed by Samuel S. Wesley (PHH 206), AURELIA (meaning "golden") was published as a setting for “Jerusalem the Golden” in Selection of Psalms and Hymns, which was compiled by Charles Kemble and Wesley in 1864. Though opinions vary concerning the tune's merits (Henry J. Gauntlett once condemned…

Go to tune page >


MEIRIONYDD

William Lloyd (b. Rhos Goch, Llaniestyn, Caernarvonshire, Wales, 1786; d. Caernarvonshire, 1852) composed MEIRIONYDD, which was first published in manuscript form with the name BERTH in Caniadau Seion (Songs of Zion, 1840, ed. R. Mills). The tune is named after the Welsh county Meirionydd in which L…

Go to tune page >


LANCASHIRE (Smart)

Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed the tune in 1835 for use at a missions festival at Blackburn, Lancashire, England. For that festival, which celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in England, the tune was set to Reginald Heber's (PHH 249) “From Greenland's Icy Mountains.”…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
The Cyber Hymnal #4884
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #67
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)

Instances

Instances (1 - 6 of 6)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4884

Text InfoTextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Glory to God #341

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #67A

Text InfoTune InfoTextScoreAudioPage Scan

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #67

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #437

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #67A

Include 32 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us