John Wesley preached a series of sermons on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
In one of them, sermon 22 in the book of 44 sermons (1944), based on Matthew 6 v16-18, the larger part of the message is an exposition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Helpful and useful though that is, the more interesting addition to the sermon is a paraphrase of the prayer written as a hymn in 9 verses.
Wesley further adapted parts of his paraphrase in two more hymns which can be found in Hymns & Psalms but dropped from Singing the Faith.
‘Father of all, whose powerful voice…’ is number 21 in H&P set to the tune Eisenach. The other hymn is number 766 in H&P ‘Eternal Son, eternal love’ set to the tune St Pancras. Both these hymns were first published in 1742 in Hymns and Sacred Poems. Wesley’s paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer goes as follows –
Father of all whose powerful voice, Called forth this universal frame;
Whose mercies over all rejoice, Through endless ages still the same
Thou, by Thy word, upholdest all; Thy bounteous love to all is showed;
Thou hear’st Thy every creature’s call, And fillest every mouth with good.
Verse 3 Thee, sovereign Lord, let all confess, That moves in earth or sea or sky,
Revere Thy power, Thy goodness bless, Tremble before Thy piercing eye.
All ye who owe to Him your birth, In praise your every hour employ;
Jehovah reigns! Be glad, O earth! And shout, ye morning stars for joy!
Verse 9 Blessing and honour, praise and love, Co-equal, co-eternal Three,
In earth below, in heaven above, By all Thy works be paid to Thee.
Thrice holy! Thine the kingdom is, The power omnipotent is Thine;
And when created nature dies, Thy never-ceasing glories shine.
This is but a taste; the whole hymn is well worth reading.
Charles wasn’t the only hymn writer!