Skip to content

A copy of Advent Hymnals. Open this page on adventhymnals.org →

Hymns and Tunes 1886 1

O Thou who dwellest up on high

Music: Guillaume FrancTune: Old HundredL.M.

1O Thou who dwellest up on high,
To whom our prayers and praises fly,
Once more our voices all unite
In song to thee, O God of light!

2Our humble gratitude we speak,
For all the blessings of the week,
As at thy throne of grace we bow
And ask thee for a blessing now.

3O bless us as we meet to-day,
While unto thee we sing and pray;
O bless the word of truth we hear,
And to each heart thy voice draw near.

4'T is vain within these walls to kneel
Unless our need of thee we feel;
'T is vain to lift the voice in praise
Unless devotion tunes our lays.

5Help us to worship thee aright;
Let us be banished from our sight,
Unless thy Spirit prompts the view
To search our motives through and through.

Meter
L.M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.8.8.8 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 61% of beats fit
Rhyme
AABB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

O Thou who dwellest up on high,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
To whom our prayers and praises fly,˘˘˘/˘/˘/8A
Once more our voices all unite//˘/˘///8B
In song to thee, O God of light!˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 2

Our humble gratitude we speak,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
For all the blessings of the week,˘/˘/˘˘˘/8A
As at thy throne of grace we bow˘˘//˘/˘/8B
And ask thee for a blessing now.˘//˘˘/˘/8B

Verse 3

O bless us as we meet to-day,˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A
While unto thee we sing and pray;//˘/˘/˘/8A
O bless the word of truth we hear,˘/˘/˘/˘/8B
And to each heart thy voice draw near.˘˘//////8B

Verse 4

'T is vain within these walls to kneel/˘/˘/˘/˘/9A
Unless our need of thee we feel;˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
'T is vain to lift the voice in praise/˘/˘/˘/˘/9B
Unless devotion tunes our lays.˘/˘/˘/˘/8B

Verse 5

Help us to worship thee aright;/˘˘/˘/??8A
Let us be banished from our sight,/˘˘/˘˘˘/8B
Unless thy Spirit prompts the view˘///˘/˘/8C
To search our motives through and through.˘/˘/˘/˘/8C

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.