Invocation

Representative Text

1 O Thou who dwellest up on high,
To whom our prayers and praises fly,
Once more our voices all unite
In song to thee, O God of light!

2 Our humble gratitude we speak,
For all the blessings of the week,
As at thy throne of grace we bow
And ask thee for a blessing now.

3 O bless us as we meet to-day,
While unto thee we sing and pray;
O bless the word of truth we hear,
And to each heart be very near.

4 'Tis vain within these walls to kneel
Unless our need of thee we feel;
'Tis vain to lift the voice in praise
Unless devotion tunes our lays.

5 Help us to worship thee aright;
Let self be banished from our sight,
Unless thy Spirit prompts the view
To search our motives through and through.

Source: The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book: for use in divine worship #1

Author: F. E. Belden

Belden was born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1858. He began writing music in his late teenage years after moving to California with his family. For health reasons he later moved to Colorado. He returned to Battle Creek with his wife in the early 1880s, and there he became involved in Adventist Church publishing. F. E. Belden wrote many hymn tunes, gospel songs, and related texts in the early years of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Belden was able to rapidly write both music and poetry together which enabled him to write a song to fit a sermon while it was still being delivered. He also wrote songs for evang­el­ist Bil­ly Sun­day. Though Belden’s later years were marred by misunderstandings with the church leadership over his royal… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O Thou, who dwellest up on high
Title: Invocation
Author: F. E. Belden
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

[O Thou, who dwellest up on high] (Hakes)


OLD HUNDREDTH

This tune is likely the work of the composer named here, but has also been attributed to others as shown in the instances list below. According to the Handbook to the Baptist Hymnal (1992), Old 100th first appeared in the Genevan Psalter, and "the first half of the tune contains phrases which may ha…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)

Hymns for Use in Divine Worship ... Seventh-Day Adventists #d825

Page Scan

Pearly Portals #83

TextPage Scan

The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book #1

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