This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
I praise you, Lord
I praise you, Lord
I praise you, Lord, for all you have created:
the sun above that gives us light and heat,
the moon and stars that fill the sky,
the plants and trees that beautify
the earth that you have set beneath my feet.
I thank you, Lord, for giving me this bounty:
a universe that feeds and cares for me.
So may I return to you, my God,
my thankfulness and praise for all I see.
I praise you, Lord, that you are my redeemer:
that you, the Son of God, should come to earth,
and take our human frailty,
and live in great humility,
and die for folk like me of little worth.
I thank you, Lord, you wanted my reaction,
that I should come to you, receive your grace,
and so I return to you, my God,
and trust in you, that I may see your face.
I praise you, Lord, that you are my inspirer,
that you did not leave me alone on earth,
but met my spirit deep within,
convinced, convicted me of sin,
and joined with me and brought me to new birth.
I thank you, Lord, you grace me with your presence,
and grow your gifts and fruit within my heart,
so may I return to you, my Lord,
a life lived by your strength in every part.
Words and tune copyright © John Hartley 2006.
Story behind the song
The shape of this song was suggested by Stuart Wesley Keene Hine's hymn "How great thou art" ("O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder ..."): it begins with praise for God's creation, moves onto thanks for redemption, and looks forward to glory. I wanted to express the same movement in the first two verses, but also to refer to the way God transforms the life of the believer by his Holy Spirit. The three verses address the three persons of the Trinity in thanks for their particular ministry to the singer: I guess this is a hymn for Harvest or Trinity.
John Hartley
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.