Scripture Verse

He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. Luke 24:50

Introduction

portrait
Friedrich F. Flemming (1778–1813)

Words: Lo­am­mi J. Ware, 19th Cen­tu­ry, cen­to, alt. The on­ly hym­nal we have seen which iden­ti­fies Ware as the au­thor of these words is the Book of Wor­ship for Unit­ed States Forc­es (Wash­ing­ton, DC: Armed Forc­es Chap­lains Board, 1974), num­ber 121.

Music: Flem­ming Fried­rich F. Flem­ming, 1811 (🔊 pdf nwc). Flem­ming wrote the tune for male voic­es for part of Hor­ace’s ode In­te­ger Vi­tae. It was first pub­lished as a hymn tune in the 1875 edi­tion of the Con­gre­ga­tion­al Psalm­ist.

If you know when this hymn was writ­ten, or where to get a good pic­ture of Ware (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Father Almighty, bless us with Thy blessing,
[alternate first line: O holy Fa­ther, bless us with Thy blessing]
 Answer in love Thy children’s supplication;
Hear Thou our prayer, the spoken and unspoken;
Hear us, O Fa­ther.

Shepherd of souls, who bringest all who seek Thee
To pastures green, beside the peaceful waters;
Tenderest Guide, in ways of cheerful duty,
Lead us, good Shepherd.

Father of mercy, from Thy watch and keeping
No place can part, nor hour of time remove us;
Give us Thy good, and save us from our evil,
Infinite Sprit!