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ancientandmodernAll people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid He did us make;
We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take.
O enter then His gates with praise;
Approach with joy His courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
For it is seemly so to do.
For why? the Lord our God is good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
The God Whom Heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore.
The Old Hundredth is as ancient as it gets. One of the first hymns and, to my mind, one of the best. All People That On Earth Do Dwell as we know it dates from the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561, but it's based on Psalm 100, which puts it well into BCE:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
The verse translation is attributed to William Kethe; the tune to Louis Bougeois. As one of the hymns of the Genevan Psalter, it was one of the first written to be sung by everybody, not just the clergy. Could there be a hymn so appropriate for such a ground-breaking concept?
It's an extremely cheerful hymn, a joyful hymn, when sung fast enough. And inclusive. All people. Not just the Church. Not just the Jews. We were all made by God; we all belong to him, and he cares for every last one of us. What is the appropriate response to this? Praise; it is seemly, it is fitting to praise him, for his goodness, his mercy, his truth.
This hymn says it all. It proclaims a truth that we've been celebrating for thousands of years. Praise God, because he made us, and we belong to him.
The tune has grandeur, but is simple to sing. I've sung it with a couple of friends, with a massed choir, as part of a modern composition, on its own, on a minibus, at parties, at Quaker meeting houses, at my own wedding... You can sing it alone, with organ, with orchestra, with band, with anything you like.
Here it is given the Ralph Vaughan Williams treatment for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation:
And here are some new verses, by Pete Seeger:
All people that on earth do dwell
Sing out for peace 'tween heav'n and hell
'Tween East and West and low and high,
Sing peace on earth and sea and sky.
Old Hundred you've served many years
To sing one people's hopes and fears
But we've new verses for you now
Sing peace between the earth and plow
Sing peace between the grass and trees
Between the continents and the seas
Between the lion and the lamb
Between young Ivan and young Sam
Between the white, black, red and brown
Between the wilderness and town
Sing peace between the near and far
'Tween Allah and the six-pointed star
The fish that swim, the birds that fly
The deepest seas, the stars on high
Bear witness now that you and I
Sing peace on earth and sea and sky
Old Hundred please don't think us wrong
For adding verses to your song
Sing peace between the old and young
'Tween every faith and every tongue.
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid He did us make;
We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take.
O enter then His gates with praise;
Approach with joy His courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
For it is seemly so to do.
For why? the Lord our God is good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
The God Whom Heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore.
The Old Hundredth is as ancient as it gets. One of the first hymns and, to my mind, one of the best. All People That On Earth Do Dwell as we know it dates from the Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561, but it's based on Psalm 100, which puts it well into BCE:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
The verse translation is attributed to William Kethe; the tune to Louis Bougeois. As one of the hymns of the Genevan Psalter, it was one of the first written to be sung by everybody, not just the clergy. Could there be a hymn so appropriate for such a ground-breaking concept?
It's an extremely cheerful hymn, a joyful hymn, when sung fast enough. And inclusive. All people. Not just the Church. Not just the Jews. We were all made by God; we all belong to him, and he cares for every last one of us. What is the appropriate response to this? Praise; it is seemly, it is fitting to praise him, for his goodness, his mercy, his truth.
This hymn says it all. It proclaims a truth that we've been celebrating for thousands of years. Praise God, because he made us, and we belong to him.
The tune has grandeur, but is simple to sing. I've sung it with a couple of friends, with a massed choir, as part of a modern composition, on its own, on a minibus, at parties, at Quaker meeting houses, at my own wedding... You can sing it alone, with organ, with orchestra, with band, with anything you like.
Here it is given the Ralph Vaughan Williams treatment for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation:
And here are some new verses, by Pete Seeger:
All people that on earth do dwell
Sing out for peace 'tween heav'n and hell
'Tween East and West and low and high,
Sing peace on earth and sea and sky.
Old Hundred you've served many years
To sing one people's hopes and fears
But we've new verses for you now
Sing peace between the earth and plow
Sing peace between the grass and trees
Between the continents and the seas
Between the lion and the lamb
Between young Ivan and young Sam
Between the white, black, red and brown
Between the wilderness and town
Sing peace between the near and far
'Tween Allah and the six-pointed star
The fish that swim, the birds that fly
The deepest seas, the stars on high
Bear witness now that you and I
Sing peace on earth and sea and sky
Old Hundred please don't think us wrong
For adding verses to your song
Sing peace between the old and young
'Tween every faith and every tongue.