Almighty God, Thy word is cast. J. Cawood. [After Sermon.] Written about 1815, and first published in Cotterill's Selection, 8th ed. 1819, No. 268, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and given for use "After a Sermon" [S. MSS.]. It was reprinted in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 252. From that date it grew in importance as a congregational hymn, until its use has become extensive in all English-speaking countries, in some cases with the omission of one or more stanzas, and in others, with the addition of a doxology. Two texts, purporting to be the original, are extant. The first is that of Cotterill as above, from which the hymn has been taken in a more or less correct form until 1862, when the second was given from the original manuscript in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, p. 470, and Lyra Britannica 1867, p. 131. One of the best arrangements of the hymn is a slightly altered form of the latter in Taring's Collection, 1882, No. 151.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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