Shine, mighty God, on this our land,
with beams of heavenly grace;
reveal your power through all our coasts,
and show your smiling face.
Come, sing to God, all distant lands,
sing loud, with solemn voice;
let thankful tongues exalt his praise,
and grateful hearts rejoice.
Earth shall obey its Maker's will,
and yield a full increase;
our God will crown the fields of earth
with fruitfulness and peace,
for God, the Lord, the sovereign Judge,
that sits enthroned above,
wisely commands the worlds he made
with justice and with love.
Source: In Melody and Songs: hymns from the Psalm versions of Isaac Watts #28
First Line: | Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine |
Title: | The Nation's Prosperity, and the Church's Increase |
Author: | Isaac Watts |
Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine. J. Watts. [Ps. lxvii. National Hymn.] Appeared in his Psalms of David, &c, 1719, p. 170, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, with the heading, "The Nation's prosperity, and the Church's increase," and with the following note:—
"Having translated the scene of this Psalm to Great Britain, I have borrow'd a devout and poetical Wish for the Happiness of my native Land from Zech. 2.5. and offer'd it up in the 2nd Stanza, “I will be a Wall of Fire round about, and will be the Glory in the Midst of her.'"
This second stanza, which is bracketed as not being a part of the Psalm, is:—
"Amidst our Isle exalted high
Do Thou, our Glory, stand,
And like a Wall of Guardian Fire
Surround the Favourite Land."
This version of Ps. 67 is used (1) in its original form; (2) with the omission of stanza ii.; (3) as "Shine, mighty God, on this our land"; (4) as "Shine, mighty God, on Zion shine;" and (5) as "Shine on our land, Jehovah shine."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine, p. 1055, ii. This paraphrase of Ps. lxvii. was given in Watts's Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 1st ed., 1707, bk. i.,No. 35, and repeated in his Psalms of David, 1719.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)