O for a thousand tongues to sing

Psalm 147:1, ESV

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

Story Behind this hymn

If you have sung this hymn before, you know there are a lot of verses. They are also often sung in different orders. Charles Wesley, the author of this hymn, originally wrote 18 verses!

He wrote it in 1739, a year after a special day in his life when he firmly recommitted to follow the Lord. He had faced many hard questions and doubts about his Christian faith. Reading His Bible again, and with the help of Christian friends, his faith was made new. The words he wrote are both in celebration and thankfulness to God.

His first verse began ‘Glory to God and praise and love’. But the hymn became known by a later verse ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing’. As he sings, he wishes he had more tongues than just his own so that he could sing out with them all in praise to God. How wonderful it is that when we sing together our voices can join in such a big sound of praise.

In the UK and Australia, we often sing the lyrics to a melody by Thomas Jarman called ‘Lyngham’. In the US, most people use the melody ‘Azmon’ written by Carl G Glaser in 1828 and arranged by Lowell Mason. It’s good to hear different arrangements of this song.

I’ve must have sung this hymn a thousand times. I just noticed the progression from a thousand tongues to a thousand hearts. We start by confessing His name with our lips and then we sing praises to Him. Eventually He really starts to work in our heart and we ask for a thousand hearts to love Him. That is true gain and a marvelous inspiration.

amen

Oh for a thousand tongues to sing and shout my great REDEEMER'S praise.

Thank YOU JESUS for saving me (us) again and again and forever in JESUS Mighty Name... Amen!

One of grandma's best hymns
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace.

Thank you, Jesus

I love this so much

Oh that I could live this, every day nothing barred. Thank you for the revelation.

CHRIST—HIS PERSON

Some Bible students have a superficial understanding of why we need Christ as well as God. Some may think that besides God we have Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. They may give the impression that God is not our Redeemer and Savior and that Christ is someone besides God who is our Savior and Redeemer. This understanding is not accurate. It is more accurate to say that without being Christ God could not be our Savior, and that without being Christ God could not be our Redeemer. In order to be our Savior and Redeemer, God must be Christ. This is why the New Testament reveals that both God and Christ are the Savior and the Redeemer. This does not mean that we have two Saviors or two Redeemers. On the contrary, we have one Savior and one Redeemer. The fact that we have one Savior and one Redeemer and that both God and Christ are the Savior and the Redeemer indicates that God and Christ are one. Apart from being Christ, our God could not redeem us. Apart from being Christ, He would not have a way to save fallen sinners.

The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
Message 21(LSM)

See all 18 original verses in Wikipedia.