O for a Thousand Tongues

“If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ with them all.” So said Peter Böhler to Charles Wesley, inspiring the first line of the classic hymn, “Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer’s praise” (Psalter Hymnal Handbook.) Written to celebrate the one year anniversary of Charles’ conversion to Christianity, this declaration of Christ’s power and victory in his own life, rich in Biblical imagery of the Kingdom of God, becomes our own hymn of praise. We stand with the angels before the throne of God, lifting our voices as one church to glorify the one who “bids our sorrows cease.”

And yet, we also sing in the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is not yet fully realized. We proclaim Christ’s victory as a declaration of hope that we will see Christ reign over all. We stand with the voiceless, the lame, the prisoner, and the sorrowing, and lift our song of expectation.

Text:

Originally consisting of eighteen stanzas, most hymnals have modified the text to include stanzas 7-12 (the first six stanzas are primarily autobiographical of Wesley’s conversion experience), and end with the original stanza 1, the doxology stanza. The title of the song was acquired by Wesley from his friend Peter Böhler, a Moravian, who said, “If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ with them all” (Psalter Hymnal Handbook.) Böhler was in fact quoting from Johan Mentzner’s German Hymn, “O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte,” (“Oh that I had a Thousand Voices.”) The reference to “a thousand tongues” may allude to Revelation 5:11: “I heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands.”

The reference to Revelation is not accidental. The hymn is rich in imagery of the Kingdom of God, both now and in the new heaven and earth. The text speaks of the power of Christ to heal, to forgive sins, to comfort, and to make us new and clean. As such, it acts both as a declaration of what Christ has already done in us, and as a reminder of the hope we have in what is yet to come. To declare the present-tense work of Christ, some hymnals have changed the line “his blood availed for me” in the fourth stanza to “his blood avails for me.”

Tune:

The most common tune used for this hymn, especially in the United States, is AZMON, a tune adapted by Lowell Mason. The British often use RICHMOND or LYNGHAM. David Crowder provides a contemporary setting of the hymn, using the tune AZMON with guitar and drums and adding an original refrain: “So come on and sing out, let our anthem grow loud, there is one great Love, Jesus.” This setting works particularly well when the hymn is paired with another contemporary song such as “He Reigns” or “Revelation Song” (see "When/Why/How" below). Another option for both organ and praise bands is to begin the hymn with the organ through stanza 1, hold on to the organ on the final note of the verse and softly bring in a guitar riff and build into the second verse with piano and drums. Bring the organ back in as a synth foundation after a few verses. This can be a powerful way of blending old and new worship styles.

Matthew Perryman Jones wrote a new tune for Indelible Grace that uses the words "O for a thousand tongues to sing" as a refrain. You can find his version and a lead sheet on Indelible Grace's website.

How/Why/When:

Because of the two-fold function of the hymn as both present declaration and future hope, the hymn can be used in a variety of ways throughout the liturgical year and throughout the worship service. Some suggestions are:

• Pentecost: use to focus on the Holy Spirit enabling all to speak and hear the Gospel with “a thousand tongues.”
• World Communion Sunday: again primarily referencing “a thousand tongues,” this is a powerful hymn of unity in the global church. To pair it with a contemporary song, try transitioning out of this hymn into “He Reigns” by the Newsboys, another song about the church around the world lifting their voices to praise God. Another option is to put the text of the hymn to a different tune from another culture or time – for example, use the tune MCKEE, a 20th century African-American tune.
• Christ the King Sunday: this lesser known liturgical marker is the last Sunday before Advent begins, and is a time in which the church declares Christ to be king over all. The hymn “All Creatures of our God and King” offers a beautiful tie-in to both the theme of kingship and unity of the church. Using the words of this hymn that declares Christ’s victory, a worship leader could also pray that the church would continue to see that victory in our lives today; that we would see the “broken hearts rejoice,” and all “our sorrows cease.”
• Advent: when used in the Advent season, this hymn can primarily be sung as a prayer of longing for the second coming of Christ and the complete redemption of all things, for Christ’s kingship to be evident to all. A possible contemporary song to pair it with in this case is “Revelation Song” by Kari Jobe.

Within a worship service, the hymn can be sung in many places:

• Praise – Frame with Scripture from Rev. 5:13 – “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!” or Psalm 145:10-12: “All your works praise you, Lord…”
• Assurance of Pardon - Col. 2:14 can be said as the Assurance, as the words “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” directly reference stanza 4.
• Intercessory Prayer - As mentioned above, the words of this hymn could easily be used as a spoken prayer of intercession, potentially as a framework within which specific prayers of the congregation are offered. The hymn can also be sung as a response to an intercessory prayer.

Suggested music:

• O for A Thouaand Tongues to Sing - for Choir
• Weber, Paul D. Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing - (Choral score) - Choir with optional Congregation part
• Raney, Joel. O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing - Choir, piano, and handbells
• Smith, Mark Brampton. Partita on Azmon - Organ

Laura de Jong,
Hymnary.org

FlexScores are available in the Media section below.