Scripture References:
st. 1 = Ps. 34:1, Ps. 71:8
Horatius Bonar (PHH 260), famous Scottish evangelical preacher and poet, wrote this text in twelve, four-line stanzas. Entitled "Life's Praise," the text was published in the third series of Bonar's Hymns of Faith and Hope (1866). Like most other hymnals the Psalter Hymnal includes only half of the original text with minor alterations (the most obvious being the change from "intercourse" to "fellowship" in st. 2, which is more in accord today with Bonar's meaning).
The text's theme is the consecration of all life as a doxology to God–the equivalent in hymn form of the neo-Calvinist concept that all of life is religion. Echoing an emphasis of the Old Testament prophets (see Ps. 50 or Isa. 1), this text affirms that "lip service" or an orthodox heart is not enough; we must live our Christianity in every aspect of our lives each day. That sanctity of life includes the intimate setting of family life and, by extension, the entire family of God, the church (st. 2). Such a holy lifestyle is possible only in communion with God, in "fellowship with thee."
Liturgical Use:
Because the whole of Christian life should be a true doxology to the Lord, many occasions of worship.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1987
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