Hymn of the Week: Sunday, March 30, 2025
TO GOD BE THE GLORY
Author: Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915)
Composer: William Howard Doane (1832-1915)
Fanny Crosby was a blind poet and prolific hymnwriter who lived in New York City. She wrote over 8000 hymns, including more than a dozen still sung today, with the most popular being this hymn, “Jesus is Tenderly Calling,” and “Blessed Assurance.” She frequently wrote anonymously and often supplied words for hymn composers in search of text, without seeking attribution. Her other hymns were sung throughout America during the revivals and evangelism meetings of the late 1800’s and well into the 1900’s, but “To God Be the Glory” was not known in America until “discovered” and introduced by the Billy Graham crusades in 1954. Oddly enough, it had already been widely sung in Great Britain for almost 80 years, having been introduced there by Ira Sankey during the Dwight Moody evangelism tours. Fanny Crosby also became well known for her work in rescue mission and for public speaking about education for the blind. She became the first woman to speak on the floor of the US Senate when she read a poem supporting the blind. When asked if she wished she could have been cured of blindness, she wrote, “Darkness may throw a shadow over my outer vision, but there is no cloud that can keep the sunlight of hope from a trustful soul.” At her request, her very small tombstone is inscribed, “She hath done what she could.” Forty years after her death, fans added a large monument containing the first stanza of “Blessed Assurance.”
Related Scripture:
Psalm 145:1, 3-4
1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; no one can measure his greatness.
4 One generation shall exalt your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.
Psalm 108:5
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.
Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Romans 11:36
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Galatians 1:3-5
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The following lyrics are to enhance your study and reflection before or after worship. Some hymn critics believe Crosby hymns are too simplistic and “mushy,” but the enduring relevance of her faith poetry continues to serve worshippers very well!
1. To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done.
2. Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Refrain
3. Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. Refrain
NOTE: our hymnbook only uses stanzas 1 & 3
