From All that Dwell Below the Skies

I have to admit that I am not as familiar with this hymn “From All that Dwell Below the Skies” as I am some, but I do know the tune and remember singing it often enough that it comes easy to my ears.  This hymn surprisingly was written by a number of different folks.

Isaac Watts wrote vs 1-2, Someone unknown vs 3 (though some say Robert Spence wrote this one as well), and then Robert Spence wrote vs 4 (and others say as editor he added the last two from an unknown author).  In my hymn book I only have the first three stanzas. 

Isaac Watts: A smart lad born into a Puritan family, he was writing poetry at age 6, he became a believer at age 15.  He was a man of poor health, called to the clergy, poet and hymn writer. He wrote his music in order to reach the ordinary Christian believer. He wrote nearly 30 theological treatises; essays on psychology, astronomy, and philosophy; three volumes of sermons; the first children’s hymnal; and a textbook on logic that served as a standard work on the subject for generations. (source)

Robert Spence: was the editor of  A Pocket Hymn-Book, Designed as a Constant Companion for the Pious in 1781.  I haven’t learned a lot else about him.

Lyrics

From all that dwell below the skies,
Let the Creator’s praise arise;
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.

Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends Thy Word.
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.

Your lofty themes, ye mortals, bring,
In songs of praise divinely sing;
The great salvation loud proclaim,
And shout for joy the Savior’s name.

In every land begin the song;
To every land the strains belong;
In cheerful sounds all voices raise,
And fill the world with loudest praise.

Add Alleluia, Alleluia after every second line for
 Lasst Une Erfreuen tune that I am most familiar with

I don’t tend to sing this hymn to the following tune, but it is an alternative. 🙂