Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God

1
Fill Thou my life, O Lord my God,
  In every part with praise,
That my whole being may proclaim
  Thy being and Thy ways.
2
Not for the lip of praise alone,
  Nor e'en the praising heart,
I ask, but for a life made up
  Of praise in every part:
3
Praise in the common things of life,
  Its goings out and in;
Praise in each duty and each deed,
  However small and mean.
4
Fill every part of me with praise;
  Let all my being speak
Of Thee and of Thy love, O Lord,
  Poor though I be and weak.
5
So shall no part of day or night
  From sacredness be free,
But all my life, in every step,
  Be fellowship with Thee.
19
Hannah

London, United Kingdom

There are some hymns that the Lord approves and this one of them. We are made to God and enjoy Him forever. What better to this allow our lives be filled praise to God our in Jesus Name. It is my utmost desire that my whole being be filled with prais to the Lover of soul. Lord, thank for Jesus and the write of timeless song. Amen!


Lisa Chiang

Los Angeles, California, United States

Not just our words or even our hearts, but our whole lives would be made up of praise.

Lord, we may be poor and weak, thinking or feeling (Oh Lord Jesus!) that we cannot be full of praise - this song couldn't possibly be describing us - BUT this song is our earnest plea! Lord, in every detail, every facet of our lives, fill it with Yourself as the One who leads us in praises to the Father! Fill us Lord as the One who is able and willing to praise unceasingly!


Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

Horatius Bonar was descended from a long line of Scottish preachers. ... He began his ministry in the slums, writing hymns for children. He was deeply involved in a movement of evangelicals that pulled out of the national church of Scotland to form the Free Church. And through it all, he worked incessantly. One biographer says, "He was unbelievably immersed in work." He loved to travel; he loved his family.

Though his life was busy and filled with the cares of family and congregation, he prayed that, most of all, his life might be filled with "praise in every part." - Great Songs of Faith by Brown and Norton

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Stanza 3 has been a bit modernized from the original below:

Praise in the common words I speak,

Life’s common looks and tones,

In fellowship in hearth and board

With my belovèd ones;

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There is an additional stanza following stanza 3:

Not in the temple crowd alone

Where holy voices chime,

But in the silent paths of earth,

The quiet rooms of time.

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There are 2 more stanzas before the last stanza:

So shalt Thou, Lord, from me, e’en me,

Receive the glory due;

And so shall I begin on earth

The song forever new.

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So shall each fear, each fret, each care

Be turned into a song,

And every winding of the way

The echo shall prolong;


Michele Mensing

Waco, TX, United States

To me, this hymn shows a development of praise. We need to praise with our lips, we need to praise with our heart, we need our whole being and life to be a praise to our God! Praise Him He is operating in us and in our environment and situations to make us this kind of people for the fulfillment of His heart's desire! Poor though we be and weak.


Billy Bedsaul

Galax, Virginia, United States

What an awesome song. It was really good and dear to me. Thx for letting me view this. Thank you. May God bless you always.


morine king

Bridgetown, West Indies, Barbados

I love this hymn because it was one of my mother's favorite songs. Being the mother of thirteen children I guess it was like a morning prayer to her. Fill Thou my life O Lord my God in every part with praise. What praise and adoration to her God. I know she really felt His presence in her life as she sang boldly: fill Thou my life O Lord my God in every part with praise. Amen.


Geoff Nelson

Whittier, California, United States

This song is yet another example for me of the power and depth of many old hymns, compared the the shallow, reality-denying nature of many Praise songs and choruses in vogue today.


Lawrence Gatei

Boston, MA, U.S.A.

I am deeply impressed with this hymn because the experience of praising the Lord in Christian life is perhaps the highest work carried out by God's children. A fellow believer once said that "we can say that the highest expression of a saint's spiritual life is his praise to God. God's throne is the highest point in the universe" country="yet He sits 'enthroned upon the praises of Israel (Psa. 22:3). God's name and even God Himself are exalted through praise." I pray that the the Lord may grant me a praising life—not just praising lips and a praising heart. Oh how enjoyous it is to praise the Lord. King David was a happy man because his life was a praising life. God testified concerning David that he was a man after God's heart. The word in in Psalms 8 say that the Lord ordained praise out of the mouth of the little ones to defeat His enemy and rapindly end his days. So when we praise we enthrone the Lord and expedite the ending of our God's enemy, Satan.


Johanna Cunanan

Manila, Philippines

The Lord has enlightened me that when I'm in constant fellowship with the Lord, then spontaneously, I will have a life of praising the Lord in all things! How wonderful it would be to be delivered from all care and self-introspection to be joined to the Lord always, to see things as He sees them, to have the mind of Christ, enjoying and declaring His victory!