WORSHIP >> Adoration & Praise
SDAH 1
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join ye in glad adoration!
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Praise to the Lord
A timeless call to worship, Praise to the Lord was originally written by Joachim Neander (1650–1680) in 1680 while he was serving as assistant preacher at St. Martin’s Church in Bremen, Germany. Inspired mainly by Psalm 103:1-6 and Psalm 150, Neander’s hymn was published in Alpha and Omega, Practice of Faith and Love of Joachim Neander. The well-known English translation we sing today was completed by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878) in Chorale Book for England (1863), though some stanzas from Neander’s original text have been omitted.
The hymn tune, LOBE DEN HERREN (meaning “Praise the Lord”), was adapted from a melody first published in a 1665 songbook in Stralsund, Germany. The arrangement found in many hymnals, including the SDA Hymnal, was harmonized by William Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt.
For generations, this hymn has stirred hearts with its majestic praise, calling all that has life and breath to adore the Lord.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Celebrating God’s sovereignty and inviting the church to worship Him together, underlining that true loyalty is to God above all divisions. ( Living in the Land; Lesson 11, 2025 4th quarter )
Is a hymn that expresses profound gratitude and admiration for God’s creation, protection, and guidance, His greatness, His benevolent care over all creation and His faithful provision. ( Inside Out; Lesson 6, 2024 3rd Quarter )
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” is a hymn celebrating God’s greatness, power, and mercy. It expresses gratitude and adoration, acknowledging God as the source of all goodness and calling on creation to join in praise. Written by Joachim Neander in German and translated into English by Catherine Winkworth, It’s a beloved Christian hymn sung in worship services worldwide. ( Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord; Lesson 9, 2024 1st Quarter )
The Lord of heaven and earth, the King of Creation, stoops to listen to our heartfelt prayers, gently sustains us in our weakness with His strength, and desires with all His heart to be our Best Friend. We are His workmanship, witnesses to His power to save. ( Worship the Creator; Lesson 7, 2023 2nd Quarter )
Because Jesus overcame by His blood, we can have comfort and courage to face the trials in our personal life. With Him prospering and defending us, we do not fight hopelessly, but with the assurance of victory. ( Jesus Wins, Satan Loses; Lesson 1, 2023 2nd Quarter )
We owe the Lord everything. The Almighty King Who created us and redeemed us sustains us day by day, prospers our work and defends us from the enemy. His goodness and mercies are new every morning, and call forth not just songs but a daily life of praise and obedience. ( Remember, Do Not Forget; Lesson 10, 2021 4th Quarter )
Joachim Neander (1650-1680) wrote these words in 1680 when He was assistant preacher at St. Martin’s, Bremen, basing it mainly on Psalm 103:1-6 and Psalm 150. Many translations have been made of this hymn, the present one by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878), appearing in her Chorale Book for England, 1863, Neander’s words were published in Alpha and Omega, Joachimi Neandri Glaub- und Libesübung, Bremen, 1680 (Alpha and Omega, Practice of Faith and Love of Joachim Neander) in five stanzas of five lines each. Miss Winkworth omitted his stanza 4 in her translation, and SDAH further omits Neander’s last stanza, which was:
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound for His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him!
The tune LOBE DEN HERREN (Praise the Lord) is named for the opening words of Neander’s German hymn, but he adapted it from a similar melody that appeared in Ander Teil des Erneuerten Gesangbuchs, printed in Stralsund, a Baltic port of East Germany, in 1665. There it had secular words, which raises the possibility of its having been used for an even earlier secular song. In Winkworth’s Chorale Book for England the melody, as with the other hymns in the book, has been harmonized by the musical editors, William Sterndale Bennette (1816-1875), professor of music at Cambridge, conductor of the Philharmonic Society, and principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and Otto Goldschmidt, the husband of Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish vocalist known as the “Swedish nightingale.”
Stanza:
1 – Psalm 42:11
2 – Psalm 36:7
3 – Psalm 23:6
Text
1
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join ye in glad adoration!
2
Praise to the Lord, Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shieldeth thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
3
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Hymn Info
Author
Joachim Neander (1650-1680)
Translator
Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)
Year Published
1863
Hymn Tune
LOBE DEN HERREN
Metrical Number
14.14.4.7.8.
Arranger
Wm. S. Bennett
Tune Source
Chorale Book for England, 1863
Theme
ADORATION AND PRAISE
Recommended Reading
Explore other blog articles relevant to this hymn
One of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s most popular sonnets is “How Do I Love Thee” where she lists the depth of her love for her husband through hyperbole, or exaggeration. Joachim Neander wrote “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in the same vein by listing the reasons why we should praise God.
For the past few days, I’ve been waking up with this tune in my head. And it’s actually a very beautiful tune that perfectly matches Joachim Neander’s hymn about extolling praises to God. So I tried googling around to see any arrangements that fits the grandiose, majestic, and yet devoted nature of God when it comes to relating with us.
The year was 1670. The Pietist movement was sweeping fast across the Protestant areas of Germany. Many sermons placed an emphasis on personal religion. And at St. Martin’s church in Bremen, it was no different. Using 1 Peter 1 as a basis of his sermon, the preacher gave a powerful call to a real spiritual rebirth, a true inward holiness.
Explore more hymns:
