GOSPEL >> Consecration
SDAH 320
Lord of creation, to you be all praise!
Most mighty your working, most wondrous your ways!
Your glory and might are beyond us to tell,
And yet in the heart of the humble you dwell.
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Hymn Spotlight: Lord of Creation
This modern hymn of consecration was penned by Anglican priest and missionary John Copley Winslow, first published in his A Garland of Verse in 1961 and later included in ecumenical hymnals such as the Australian Hymn Book (1977). Winslow, who spent years in India as a missionary and was deeply engaged in Christian-Hindu dialogue, wrote this hymn as a prayer of surrender, offering body, mind, and will to the Lord of creation. The SDA Hymnal version modernizes the language and omits the fourth stanza, focusing on the heart of discipleship. The tune SLANE—named after a hill in Ireland and adapted from an old Irish folk melody—adds a timeless beauty and reverence to the prayerful text. Harmonized by Melvin West, it’s the same beloved tune used in “Be Thou My Vision.” As we sing this hymn, may its gentle melody and honest words remind us to yield every part of our lives to the Creator who seeks our complete devotion.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
The author of this text first published the poem in his A Garland of Verse, 1961, and then in Hymnal for Church and School, 1964. In 1977 a committee representing the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches in Australian Hymn Book. They included this consecration hymn, modernizing archaic pronouns. SDAH has used their version, omitting the fourth stanza.
John (Jack) Copley Winslow was born August 18, 1882, at Hanworth, Middlesex, England. He was educated at Eton, Balliol (Oxford), and Wells theological college, and was ordained in the Church of England in 1907. After serving as priest in Southwark, as curate of Wimbledon, and as a lecturer at St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury, he went to India in 1914 as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. For 19 years he worked in four different cities, and as examining chaplain to the Bishop of Bombay. Back in England in 1936, he has a distinguished career as pastor of Milton, Kent; Beckley, Sussex; and Hanworth churches. He was chaplain at Bryanston School in Dorset for six years, and a t Lee Abbey for 14 years before retirement to Godalming in 1962. He died april 1, 1974. Among a number of books he wrote are the Christian Approach to the Hindu, 1958, and The Dawn OF Indian Freedom,1931.
SLANE is the name of the hill near Tara in County Meath, Ireland; the melody comes from an Irish folk song. The arrangement SDAH uses is by Melvin West (1930- ; see Biographies). See SDAH 547 for more comments on this tune, where it is in a unison setting.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Lord of creation, to you be all praise!
Most mighty your working, most wondrous your ways!
Your glory and might are beyond us to tell,
And yet in the heart of the humble you dwell.
2
Lord of all power, I give you my will,
In joyful obedience your tasks to fulfill.
Your bondage is freedom; your service is song;
And held in your keeping, my weakness is strong.
3
Lord of all wisdom, I give you my mind,
Rich truth that surpasses man’s knowledge to find;
What eye has not seen and what ear has not heard
Is taught by your spirit and shines from your word.
4
Lord of all being, I give you my all,
If I ever disown you, I stumble and fall;
But led in your service your word to obey,
I’ll walk in your freedom to the end of the way.
Hymn Info
Biblical Information
(a) Rom 11:33; Isa 57:15 (c) 1 Cor 2:9
Author
Jack Copley Winslow (1882-1974) alt.
Copyright Information
Words by permission of Mrs. J. Tyrrell.
Arrangement copyright 1984 by Melvin West.
Hymn Tune
SLANE
Metrical Number
10.11.10.11.
Arranger
Melvin West, 1984 (1930-)
Tune Source
Irish Melody
