Robert Grant was impressed to write this hymn based on Psalm 104 after reading William Kethe’s (see SDAH 16) quaint rendering of this psalm. It is not strictly a paraphrase, bu several verses are followed quite closely. The hymn first appeared in 1833 in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody and posthumously in Grant’s Sacred Poems, 1839. It was originally entitled “Glory and Goodness of God” and had three stanzas, each of eight lines.

Robert Grant was born in Bengal, India, in 1779 and went to England for his education. He graduated from Magdalen College, Cambridge, with a B.S. in 1801 and an M.A. in 1804. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1807. Becoming a member of Parliament in 1818, he was made a privy counselor in 1831 and judge advocate-general in 1832. In 1834 he was knighted and appointed governor of Bombay. He died at Dalpoorie in western India on July 9, 1838.

LYONS was probably composed in 1770 by Johann Michael Haydn, younger brother of the more famous Franz Joseph (see SDAH 96). He was born in Rohrau, Austria, near Vienna, on September 14, 1737. He was a chorister and deputy organist at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna from 1745 to 1755. In 1757 he was appointed kapellmeister to Count Firmian, the bishop at Grosswardein; five years later the archbishop of Salzburg appointed him musical director and concertmaster. He served as organist at the churches of Holy Trinity and St. Peter. Despite tempting offers from Vienna, Haydn remained in Salzburg. He composed a great deal of music, including about 300 pieces for the church, all of which were initialed O.a.m.D.Gl., “Omnia ad moharem Del Gloriam” (All for the Greater Glory of God). SDAH 599, GREENLAND, is one of his compositions. He died at Salzburg on August 10, 1806.

The arrangement was made by William Gardiner (1770-1835; see SDAH 177) and appeared in his Sacred Melodies II, 1815. Gardiner also arranged the tune GARDINER, which is used for SDAH 177, 355, and 376.