JESUS CHRIST >> KINGDOM & REIGN
SDAH 225
God is working His purpose out
As year succeeds to year;
God is working His purpose out,
And the time is drawing near;
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Hymn Spotlight: God Is Working His Purpose Out
With words drawn from Habakkuk 2:14, this hymn resounds with assurance: God’s plan will be fulfilled. Written in 1894, it captures the Adventist spirit of mission and hope. Martin Shaw’s purposeful melody, PURPOSE, marches confidently toward that glorious end. Sing it boldly—God’s glory will indeed fill the earth.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Each stanza of this hymn ends with a refrain that is from Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” It was written in 1894 at the prestigious English school Eton, while the author was an assistant master (teacher) there. One can almost hear the glorious sound of 1,000 clear-voiced boys singing it in the resonant Eton chapel! Ainger dedicated the hymn to Archbishop Benson and published it in leaflet form before it was included in the Church Missionary Hymn Book, 1899. Author Campbell Ainger was born July 4, 1841, at Greenwich, Kent, and education at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained first class honors in classical studies. As assistant master at Eton for more than 35 years, he was remembered thus: “One of the most distinguished masters, a man of clear head, wind accomplishments, a fine scholar with a remarkable memory, punishment, and his justice, courtesy, and unruffled good humor won the respect and admiration of the boys.” Some of his poetry was set to music by Joseph Barnby, and he assisted in the publication of an English-Latin Verse Dictionary.
He died October 26, 1919. Martin Shaw (1875-1958; see Biographies) composed PURPOSE especially for the enlarged Song of Praise, 1931. The following, folk song-like unison melody is so skillfully put together that the bass line is an exact canon throughout, beginning on the downbeat of measure two.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Stanza:
1 – Habakkuk 2:14
Text
1
God is working His purpose out
As year succeeds to year;
God is working His purpose out,
And the time is drawing near;
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be
When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.
2
From utmost east to utmost west,
Where’er man’s foot hath trod,
By the mouth of many messengers
Goes forth the voice of God;
Give ear to me, ye continents,
Ye isles, give ear to me,
That the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.
3
March we forth in the strength of God
With the banner of Christ unfurled,
That the light of the glorious gospel of truth
May shine throughout the world:
Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin
To set their captives free,
That the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.
4
All we can do is nothing worth
Unless God blesses the deed;
Vainly we hope for the harvest tide
Till God gives life to teh seed;
Yet nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Hab 2:14
Author
Arthur C. Ainger (1841-1919)
Year Published
1894
Copyright
Music from Enlarged Songs of Praise by permission of Oxford University Press
Hymn Tune
PURPOSE
Metrical Number
Irregular
Composer
Martin Shaw (1875-1958)
Year Composed
1931
Theme
KINGDOM & REIGN
