Scripture References:
st. 1 = Mark 10:13-16
st. 2 = Gen. 17:7
st. 3 = Mark 10: 13-16
st. 4 = Titus 3:5
st. 5 = Ps. 119: 133,135
"O God, Great Father" alludes to the gospel story of bringing little children to Jesus, especially in stanzas 1 and 3 (Mark 10:13-16). The Reformed view of God's covenant shows up in stanza 2, and the work of the Holy Spirit appears in stanza 4. Stanza 5 is similar to the consecration prayer that follows the act of baptism in the Psalter Hymnal's baptism forms.
Methodist Bishop Elijah Embree Hoss (b. Washington County, TN, 1849; d. Muskogee, OK, 1919) composed these words for a baptismal service he conducted in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, in November 1903. The text was printed in the Nashville Christian Advocate in early 1904 and subsequently published in The Methodist Hymnal of 1905; Hoss served on the Joint Commission that produced this hymnal. An ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Hoss served parishes in Knoxville, Tennessee; San Francisco, California; and Asheville, North Carolina. He was also professor of church history at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and president of Emory and Henry College, Emory, Virginia.
Liturgical Use:
Infant baptism.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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