Wondrous King, all glorious, Sovereign Lord victorious, O, receive our praise with favor!
These words begin a glorious hymn of praise composed by the German Reformed hymn-writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). According to John Julian’s Dictionary of Hymnology, the hymn was based on Psalm 150:6, and intended for “Thanksgiving” with the original title: “Inciting oneself to the Praise of God.” It was published in 1680 (the year of Neander’s death) in a collection with other hymns that he had written, including “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.”
Neander composed both the tune and the text for “Wondrous King All-Glorious.” The first 16 measures of the tune are based on an often-used chord progression of his day. It is the same chord progression that Johann Pachelbel also adapted and made famous in his “Canon in D.” Pachelbel’s Canon was written sometime in the 1680s, near the time Neander’s tune was composed.
Wondrous King, All-Glorious
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 150:6)
Wondrous King, all glorious, Sovereign Lord victorious, O, receive our praise with favor! From thee welled God’s kindness Though we in our blindness Strayed from Thee, our blessed Savior. Strengthen Thou, Help us now; Let our tongues be singing, Thee our praises bringing.
Heavens, spread the story Of our Maker’s glory, All the pomp of earth obscuring. Sun, thy rays be sending, Thy bright beams expending, Light to all the earth assuring. Moon and star, Praise afar Him who glorious made you; The vast heavens aid you.
O my soul, rejoicing, Sing, thy praises voicing, Sing, with hymns of faith adore Him! All who here have being, Shout, your voices freeing, Bow down in the dust before Him. He is God Sabaoth; Praise alone the Savior, Here and there forever.
Hallelujahs render To the Lord most tender, Ye who know and love the Savior. Hallelujahs sing ye, Ye redeemed, O, bring ye Hearts that yield Him glad behavior. Blest are ye Endlessly; Sinless there forever, Ye shall laud Him ever.
Download free sheet music (PDF) for this hymn, including guitar chord charts, an arrangement of the hymn tune WUNDERBARER KÖNIG for classical guitar, and an arrangement for the tune for instrumental ensemble.
Below is a list of psalm settings, hymns, and spiritual songs that teach on the doctrine of Scripture: Special Revelation. The songs are arranged under 17 theological statements, including one for which I have not yet found related songs
If you have additional suggestions for songs related to the doctrine of Scripture that should be included in the index, please comment or send me a message.
Note: The songs are listed below by title and author. For more complete entries (including tunes and hymnal page numbers) see the page for Songs and God’s Word in the Theological Index of Music for Worship online. I will be updating the online Index with more songs and topics in the days ahead as I receive recommendations.
Psalm 146 reminds us to put our hope and trust in God alone.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146:1–10, NKJV)
Below is one of my favorite psalm settings of Psalm 146 from The Psalter, 1912.
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah
Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, O my soul, Jehovah praise; I will sing the glorious praises Of my God through all my days. Put no confidence in princes, Nor for help on man depend; He shall die to dust returning, And his purposes shall end.
Happy is the man that chooses Israel’s God to be his aid; He is blessed whose hope of blessing On the Lord his God is stayed. Heav’n and earth the Lord created, Seas and all that they contain; He delivers from oppression, Righteousness He will maintain.
Food He daily gives the hungry, Sets the mourning pris’ner free, Raises those bowed down with anguish, Makes the sightless eyes to see. Well Jehovah loves the righteous, And the stranger He befriends, Helps the fatherless and widow, Judgment on the wicked sends.
Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, O my soul, Jehovah praise; I will sing the glorious praises Of my God through all my days. Over all God reigns forever, Through all ages He is King; Unto Him, your God, O Zion, Joyful hallelujahs sing. “Hallelujah Praise Jehovah”
Download free sheet music (PDF) for this hymn, including guitar chord charts, an arrangement of the hymn tune RIPLEY for classical guitar, and an arrangement for the tune for instrumental ensemble.
This is the first of what I hope to be many posts exploring the connection between music for worship and the study of theology. Below is a list of psalm settings, hymns, and spiritual songs that teach on the doctrine of creation: natural revelation. The songs are arranged under 16 theological statements, including 5 statements for which I have not yet found related songs.
If you have additional suggestions for songs related to the doctrine of creation that should be included in the index, please comment or send me a message.
Note: The songs are listed below by title and author. For more complete entries (including tunes and hymnal page numbers) see the page for “Songs and God’s Creation” in Theology and Song: A Theological Index of Music for Worship online. I will be updating the online Index with more songs and topics in the days ahead as I receive recommendations.
Songs and God’s Creation: Natural Revelation
1. Creation affirms that there is a Creator—God created heaven and earth
All Things Bright and Beautiful (Cecil F Alexander)
Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne—Psalm 100 (Isaac Watts / John Wesley)
God, the Lord, a King Remaineth—Psalm 93 (John Keble)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas Obediah Chisholm)
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah—Psalm 146 (The Psalter, 1912)
Hast Thou Not Known, Hast Thou Not Heard (Isaac Watts)
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Isaac Watts)
Let All Things Now Living (Katherine Davis • Welsh melody)
The Spacious Firmament on High (Joseph Addison)
This Is My Father’s World (Maltbie Babcock)
Vast the Immensity, Mirror of Majesty (Edmund Clowney)
With Glory Clad, With Strength Arrayed—Psalm 93 (Tate and Brady’s New Version)
Wondrous King, All-Glorious (Joachim Neander / William Schaefer)
2. Creation glorifies God—all things exist for His glory and praise
All Creatures of Our God and King (St. Francis of Assisi / William H Draper)
All Glory to You (Steve and Vikki Cook) • Sovereign Grace Music
All People That on Earth Do Dwell—Psalm 100 (William Kethe / Thomas Ken)
All that I Am I Owe to Thee—Psalm 134:14–24 (The Psalter, 1912)
Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne—Psalm 100 (Isaac Watts / John Wesley)
Behold Our God (Ryan, Jonathan & Meghan Baird / Stephen Altrogge) • Sovereign Grace Music
Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim—Psalm 135 (The Psalter, 1912)
For the Beauty of the Earth (Folliott Sandford Pierpoint)
From All That Dwell Below the Skies—Psalm 117 (Isaac Watts)
God, the Lord, a King Remaineth—Psalm 93 (John Keble)
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah—Psalm 146 (The Psalter, 1912)
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Isaac Watts)
Let All Things Now Living (Katherine Davis • Welsh melody)
Of the Father’s Love Begotten (Prudentius / J. Neale / H. Baker)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Joachim Neander / Catherine Winkworth)
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above (Jonann Schütz / Francis Cox)
The Spacious Firmament on High (Joseph Addison)
This Is My Father’s World (Maltbie Babcock)
With Songs and Honors Sounding Loud—Psalm 147 (Isaac Watts)
Wondrous King, All-Glorious (Joachim Neander / William Schaefer)
3. Creation testifies of God’s wisdom and design
All that I Am I Owe to Thee—Psalm 134:14–24 (The Psalter, 1912)
Hast Thou Not Known, Hast Thou Not Heard (Isaac Watts)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Joachim Neander / Catherine Winkworth)
Vast the Immensity, Mirror of Majesty (Edmund Clowney)
4. The testimony of creation is insufficient for knowing the way of salvation.
Vast the Immensity, Mirror of Majesty (Edmund Clowney)
5. The testimony of creation leaves man inexcusable
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6. God delights in creation—all things were made for His pleasure
All Glory to You (Steve and Vikki Cook) • Sovereign Grace Music
Vast the Immensity, Mirror of Majesty (Edmund Clowney)
7. God made all of creation and pronounced it good
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Isaac Watts)
8. The world was spoken into existence by God’s Word.
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Isaac Watts)
Of the Father’s Love Begotten (Prudentius / J. Neale / H. Baker)
Vast the Immensity, Mirror of Majesty (Edmund Clowney)
9. The world was created by God ex nihilio (out of nothing).
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10. The world continues to be upheld and sustained by God
All Things Bright and Beautiful (Cecil F Alexander)
Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim—Psalm 135 (The Psalter, 1912)
Forever Settled in the Heavens—Psalm 119:89–97 (The Psalter, 1912)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas Obediah Chisholm)
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah—Psalm 146 (The Psalter, 1912)
Hast Thou Not Known, Hast Thou Not Heard (Isaac Watts)
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (Isaac Watts)
Let All Things Now Living (Katherine Davis • Welsh melody)
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above (Jonann Schütz / Francis Cox)
With Glory Clad, With Strength Arrayed—Psalm 93 (Tate and Brady’s New Version)
With Songs and Honors Sounding Loud—Psalm 147 (Isaac Watts)
11. God creates all people—He is the One who gives and sustains all life.
All People That on Earth Do Dwell—Psalm 100 (William Kethe / Thomas Ken)
Let All Things Now Living (Katherine Davis • Welsh melody)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Joachim Neander / Catherine Winkworth)
12. God created man (male and female) out of the dust of the earth
Before Jehovah’s Awful Throne—Psalm 100 (Isaac Watts / John Wesley)
13. Man was breathed into a living being by God.
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14. God made man (male and female) in His own image
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15. God gave man dominion over all other living things on the earth.
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16. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.
Today We Gather in This Place (Ken Puls) • Ken Puls Music
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The next post in the series will be “Songs and God’s Word: Special Revelation.”
For more complete entries (including tunes and hymnal page numbers) see the Theological Index of Music and Worship online:
Music and theology have always been closely entwined. Theology (in the broadest sense) encompasses what we understand to be true about God, His Word, and the world He has made. Music, as it comes alongside theology, helps the church say and celebrate in song what it believes and affirms to be true.
God’s people have been writing music for thousands of years. Beginning with the rich wellspring of the psalms, music has served the church to carry the voice of God’s people in praise, prayer, and proclamation. Within the many settings of psalms, and numerous hymns and spiritual songs is an opulent banquet of truth. For those who are willing to search, there are many savory delights to be found.
Unfortunately many churches miss out on this feast of song. Some shy away from doctrinally rich lyrics and prefer instead those that are lighter and more subjective. Some, despite Paul’s paradigm in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, exhorting the church to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, impose a more narrow interpretation: “only the psalms,” “only the old hymns that have stood the test of time,” or “only what is new, contemporary, and speaks to me today.” Some are content to sing a limited number of favorites. Others select music based on emotional appeal or a catchy melody, rather than theological soundness.
In this new series, Theology and Song, I hope to encourage pastors and musicians to think theologically about music in worship. Each post will focus on a specific theological topic and will feature a portion of my Theological Index of Church Music.
I began the Index 26 years ago (in 1993) as a project for one of my PhD seminars when I was at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The index listed 350 psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and arranged them according to the theological truths that they highlight. It proved especially valuable in ministry for planning worship and selecting music that would underscore the sermon. You can read more about the Index in an earlier article: “Selecting Music for Worship—Know Theology.”
As I post this series on my blog, I will be updating and expanding the Index so I can make it available on my website as a resource for worship leaders. My list of songs will certainly not be exhaustive. I’ll be asking for your suggestions and adding songs (as well as more topics) to the Index in the days ahead.
Here is list of some of the upcoming topics: [updated]
Songs and God’s Creation (Natural Revelation) Songs and God’s Word (Special Revelation) Songs and the Trinity (One God in Three Persons) Songs and Knowing God (God’s knowability and Incomprehensibility) Songs and God’s Presence (God’s Immanence and Transcendence) Songs and God’s Sovereignty Songs and God’s Decrees Songs and God’s Will
Here is another hymn from my archives. According to my journal, I composed my 2nd hymn 34 years ago (September 1985) as “a call to worship proclaiming God’s sovereignty in salvation as well as in creation.” The title is taken from the prayer recorded in the 2nd chapter of Jonah. In this prayer Jonah says: “Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God (2:6)” At the end of the prayer in verse 9 he declares: “Salvation is of the Lord.”
Salvation Is of Our Lord!
But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9)
1. We, Your children, praise You, Father, And receive Your love outpour’d. We proclaim this truth in wonder: Salvation is of our Lord!
2. We were sinners lost in darkness, Bound to death by sin’s strong cord. Your free grace has wrought our freedom; Salvation is of our Lord!
3. We, Your saints beforehand chosen, Called of God, by You adored, Given part in Christ’s atonement; Salvation is of our Lord!
4. Guide us, Father, as we worship, Join our hearts in one accord. Joyfully we sing before You: Salvation is of our Lord!
Everything God has said in His Word will most certainly come to pass!
This is an axiom, a truth upon which you can trust your soul. What God says will happen.
This is an anchor for your soul when your life gets stirred up and clouded by things you were not expecting.
Yet too often, (I know I find this true of myself) when temptations come and they whisper their enticing promises, I am prone to hear and pursue the false promises, rather than resting in the sure and proven promises of Scripture. When troubles come, I am too quick to be fearful, when I should be trusting; too quick to doubt, when I should cling to truth.
I have often wondered in the midst of my own struggles with doubt and sin, in the times when I am reeling in my own failures and capriciousness,… I have often wondered how much sin and misery I could avoid if I would just simply learn to take God at His Word.
The Word of God is abundant with promises. It teaches us, reproves us, corrects us, and instructs us in the path of righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
No matter what situation we may find ourselves in, God’s Word is an ever-present help and guide.
If we are tempted to sin, God teaches us in His Word: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
If we are lonely, He promises: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
If we are weak, He tells us: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
When we are enticed to sin, He warns us: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
If we fall into sin, He tells us: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
When we need wisdom, we are told: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).
This list could go on and on as we think through the rich and abundant pages of Scripture.
And all God says in every verse is true and sure. We can believe it. We can trust in it. We can treasure it in our hearts and count on it.
This is the song I wrote for my daughter and sang at her wedding.
Composed for the wedding of Anna Puls and Joey Johnson
August 10, 2019
Anna’s Song
From little girl to radiant bride
From dolls and toys to dresses sewn
God’s hand has guided every step
With joy I’ve watched you as you’ve grown
In early days when you were small
To fountains, shops and malls we went
Your hand I held to keep you close
And treasured all the time we spent
For years you dreamed about this day
In patience waited, made your plans
You prayed and rested in God’s hands
You sought your prince, now here he stands
The day has come to say your vows
Now two are one for all of life
Your hand in marriage now I give
To make a home as man and wife
Now in your home may Christ be known
In you His gospel on display
Your lives committed to His hands
His love your anchor day by day
For years you dreamed about this day
In patience waited, made your plans
You prayed and rested in God’s hands
You sought your prince, now here he stands
When we hear or read God’s Word, we should always pray for understanding and wisdom. And when we have opportunity to gather with the church and sit under the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, we should pray for the pastor. Apart from God’s grace, all our efforts to worship and serve Him will be in vain.
Lord We Come to Hear Your Word
A Prayer for God’s Grace in Worship
Lord, we come to hear Your Word.
Shine Your light! Unsheathe Your sword!
Send Your Spirit forth in pow’r.
Come and bless Your church this hour.
We confess, our thoughts have strayed;
Minds distracted and dismayed.
On the Son fix now each thought;
Help us worship as we ought.
Lord, as we prepare to hear,
Wake each soul, unstop each ear.
Conquer every stubborn heart;
Mercy, saving grace impart.
We confess, without Your grace,
Vain our efforts in this place.
Send illumination’s light;
Open eyes and give us sight.
Lord, we lift up to Your care
Him who stands now to declare
Truth that teaches, warns, consoles;
Bless this feast to feed our souls.
For Your Word, O Lord, we yearn;
Empty, let it not return.
Come, accomplish all Your will —
Draw, convict, give life and fill.
For Your Word, O Lord, we yearn;
Empty, let it not return.
Come, accomplish all Your will —
Draw, convict, give life and fill.
Draw, convict, give life and fill.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Pressing on We Journey
Christ our greatest treasure,
He our highest aim!
Christ our deepest comfort,
Him we now acclaim!
By His death, He saved us,
By His life, we live.
To the King of glory,
All our lives we give .
Pressing on, we journey,
Christ we now confess,
Seeking first His kingdom
And His righteousness.
Rescued from destruction,
Told to seek the light;
Pulled up from the mire,
Fitted for the fight.
Christ, in every instance
Guides us in the Way,
Graciously providing
Mercies every day.
Pressing on, we journey,
Pilgrims we progress,
Seeking first His kingdom
And His righteousness.
Fret not for tomorrow,
Fear not past regrets.
He heals every sorrow,
Sure the course He sets.
All these things are added,
What to eat and wear;
All our needs provided,
By His loving care.
Pressing on, we journey,
Joys we now possess,
Seeking first His kingdom
And His righteousness.
We long for that day when
We’ll see face to face
Christ, the King of Glory,
Full of truth and grace.
But until that moment,
Finally He descends,
We will ever seek Him,
Faithful to the end.
Pressing on, we journey,
Hope we now express,
Seeking first His kingdom
And His righteousness.
This hymn, from the album The Lord is My Delight, is based on Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:33 to seek “first His kingdom and His righteousness” and on John Bunyan’s allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress.
