From the recording Jefferson and Liberty
Religious life had an important place in the lives of early Americans. For this reason, we chose to include a hymn from the period, and this one in particular because of its references to music. The text of this hymn was written by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) to a tune from the Methodist Foundry Collection of 1742. This and many more of Charles Wesley's hymns were published by his brother, John, in A Collection of Hymnsfor the Use of the People called Methodists. Various editions of this collection were published from 1780 through 1889, and the original version of this hymn included a fourth verse (originally numbered Verse Two), which no longer appears in the Methodist Hymnal:
Publish, spread to all around the great Jehovah's name,
Let the trumpet's martial sound the Lord of hosts proclaim:
Praise him in the sacred dance, harmony's full concert raise,
Let the virgin choir advance, and move but to his praise.
Unfortunately, we did not discover this extra verse until after we had completed the album, so it is not included on the recording. The full text of the 1889 collection, along with a lot of other information about the Wesley family and their church may be found at the United Methodist Church web site.
Lyrics
Praise the Lord who reigns above and keeps His court below;
Praise the holy God of love and all His greatness show;
Praise Him for His noble deeds, praise Him for his matchless power;
Him from whom all good proceeds, let earth and heaven adore.
Celebrate the eternal God with harp and psaltery,
Timbrels soft and cymbals loud in His high praise agree;
Praise Him every tuneful string; all the reach of heavenly art,
All the powers of music bring, the music of the heart.
God, in whom they move and live, let every creature sing,
Glory to their Maker give, and homage to their King.
Hallowed be His name beneath, as in heaven on earth adored,
Praise the Lord in every breath, let all things praise the Lord.