879

Lord of All Good

Scripture References

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

When we sing about the offering of our gifts, we quickly find several thoughts interwoven with each other. The first is the foundational thought that God’s generosity in Christ has brought us salvation and all good things in life. God has “created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing” (Belgic Confession, Article 12) and he continues to “provide whatever I need in body and soul” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 9, Question and Answer 26). But God’s greatest act of generosity is shown in the gift of his Son “by a most perfect love” (Belgic Confession, Article 20) through whom we find the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. This generosity of God is always in the background of each song in this section.

 

God’s children are called to respond thankfully to God’s generosity. Our gifts, therefore, take on the nature of a testimony of thankfulness to our generous God. We aim that “with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 32, Question and Answer 86). Indeed, all our living, including our gifts, are intended to show “how I am to thank God for such deliverance” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, Question and Answer 2). It is natural, therefore, that our giving of offerings is accompanied with songs that express this gratitude.

879

Lord of All Good

Assurance

By Christ’s power
our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him,
so that the evil desires of the flesh
may no longer rule us,
but that instead we may offer ourselves
as a sacrifice of gratitude to him.
—Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 43
— Worship Sourcebook Edition Two

Additional Prayers

A Prayer of Dedication
 
Loving God, you overflow with gifts for your creatures.
Lord of all good,
Our gifts we bring to you.
 
We bring our best thinking and highest imagining.
Our gifts we bring to you.
 
We bring the best work of our hands.
Our gifts we bring to you.
 
We bring compassion for the afflicted and a hunger for justice.
Our gifts we bring to you in Jesus’ blessed name. Amen.
— Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
879

Lord of All Good

Tune Information

Name
GENEVAN 124 (OLD 124TH)
Key
F Major
Meter
10.10.10.10.10
879

Lord of All Good

Hymn Story/Background

GENEVAN 124 (also known as OLD 124TH) was first published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter. One of the best known from the Genevan Psalter, the tune is published in most North American hymnals. By 1564 it was adopted in English and Scottish psalters and became known either as OLD 124TH or as the abridged TOULON, which omits the third couplet. Originally, the rhythm for the second couplet was the same as the fifth, and the third line contained a spritely syncopation: H QQ H H QH H QH. 
— Bert Polman

Author Information

Alfred F. Bayly (1901-1984) studied briefly at the Royal Dockyard School at Portsmouth to prepare himself for the shipbuilding industry. However, in 1925 he began studying for the ministry at Mansfield College, Oxford. He became a Congregationalist minister and served seven churches. Bayly wrote missionary pageants and numerous hymns, many of which used more contemporary language and concepts than had been customary in previous hymn writing. Because of the publication of his collection Again I Say Rejoice (1967), Bayly is often acknowledged as the pioneer of the revival of British hymn writing in the 1960s and 70s. His hymns were published in four collections: Rejoice, 0 People (1951), Again I Say Rejoice (1967), Rejoice Always (1971), and Rejoice in God (1978).
— Bert Polman

Composer Information

The Genevan Psalter is the major gift of the Reformed branch of the Reformation to the song of the church. John Calvin (1509-1564) first experienced congregational singing of the psalms in Strasbourg when serving as a pastor of French exiles there, and when returning to Geneva in 1541 he finally persuaded the city council to permit congregational singing, which they had banned entirely under the influence of Ulrich Zwingli. Just two months after returning to Geneva, Calvin wrote in his Ecclesiastical Ordinances: "It will be good to introduce ecclesiastical songs, the better to incite the people to pray to and praise God. For a beginning the little children are to be taught; then with time all the church will be able to follow." Calvin set about overseeing the development of several metrical psalms with melodies, rather than the hymns, or chorales, of the Lutheran tradition, and also in contrast to the published psalters with texts only that followed in England and Scotland. The emerging Genevan Psalter was published in instalments until completed in 1562, including the 150 psalms, the Ten Commandments and the Song of Simeon. He employed the best French poets and composers to prepare metrical settings rather than continuing to chant the psalms, since poetry in meter was the popular form of the day—and also the choice for the Lutheran chorale.
 
The publication event was the largest in publishing history until then; twenty-four printers in Geneva alone, plus presses in Paris, Lyons, and elsewhere produced more than 27,000 copies in the first two years; more than 100,000 copies were available in over thirty editions. The Genevan Psalter was extremely popular, and almost immediately translated into Dutch, Hungarian, and German. Due to the intense persecution of the French Huguenots in the 16th century, the center of activity of the Reformed branch of the Reformation moved away from France and especially to the Netherlands, and from there to Indonesia, South Africa, and North America. The most recent translation (2004) of the entire psalter is into Japanese. The most recent English translation of the entire Genevan Psalter is available with melodies from the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise, available at http://www.canrc.org/?page=23 .
Calvin’s goal was to provide a distinct tune for every psalm, so that each psalm would have its own identity. Every tune would then bring to mind a particular psalm. The psalter didn’t quite reach this goal: it contains 125 different tunes. Today, only a few of those Genevan tunes are in wide use, among them the psalm tune most widely known around the world, often identified as OLD HUNDRETH, or simply, “The Doxology.” 
— Emily Brink

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