Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him
Foundling Hospital Collection; v3 Edward Osler · 1796 · tune AUSTRIAN HYMN
Key of D · public domain
Words
Praise Him, angels, in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;
Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord! for He hath spoken;
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed;
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance He hath made.
Never shall His promise fail;
God hath made His saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim;
Heaven and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name.
Lord, we offer unto Thee;
Young and old, Thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in heaven adore Thee;
We would bow before Thy throne;
As Thine angels serve before Thee,
So on earth Thy will be done.
The story
Nobody knows who wrote this. It appeared in 1796 in a collection printed for the Foundling Hospital in London, a home for abandoned children, and the first two verses have been anonymous ever since. Edward Osler added the third some forty years later. The psalm behind it, Psalm 148, works outward and then inward: first the heavens, angels, sun, moon and stars, then the earth, sea creatures, weather, mountains, trees, animals, and only at the end kings and ordinary people. The hymn keeps that order. It is worth noticing where it was printed. A book of praise about the whole created order singing, sold to raise money for children nobody had claimed.
Chords in D
In the app you can move this to any key and it works out the capo for you.
Common questions
Who wrote Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him? Foundling Hospital Collection; v3 Edward Osler wrote the words in 1796.
What tune is it sung to? AUSTRIAN HYMN, set here in the key of D.
What scripture is it built on? Psalm 148.
Is Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him free to use in church? Yes. The words are public domain, which means any church may sing them, print them in a bulletin, put them on a screen or record them, without asking permission and without paying anyone.
The psalm it came from
Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens Adore Him is Psalm 148 set to a tune. The psalm itself is here in full — King James, Berean Standard and Reina-Valera side by side, with a note on what it is doing and where it sits in the book.
Themes
Psalms · Praise · Creation