All Praise to Thee My God This Night

All Praise to Thee My God This Night is a hymn text by Thomas Ken (1674) in L.M. (8.8.8.8) meter. Found in CW21 788, CW93 592, bh08 319, ch95 556.

This hymn embodies Lutheran emphasis on daily thanksgiving and trust in God's sovereign care through the night seasons, reflecting the rhythm of prayer and devotion integral to Christian life. Its placement in evening worship connects personal piety with corporate acknowledgment of God's protective providence throughout the day.

History & Background

Thomas Ken composed this evening hymn around 1674 as part of a collection intended for Winchester College; it has become one of the most enduring evening hymns in English Protestantism.

Anglican bishop Thomas Ken (b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, Scripture References England, 1637; d. Longleat, Wiltshire, England, 1711) wrote a st. 1 = Ps. 91:4 group of three hymns for morning, evening, and midnight st. 2 = Prov. 3:24 devotions for the students at Winchester College; this is the st. 3 = Ps. 4:8 evening hymn. Ken suggested that the students sing these hymns “in your chamber devoutly. ” Although an unauthorized pamphlet version of the evening hymn appeared in 1692, the text was first published in Henry Playford’s Harmonia Sacra (1693). Ken published the text in his Manual ofPrayers (1695 ed.) and revised it for his 1709 edition. That edition is the source of the Psalter Hymnalversion, which presents a modernized text of four of the original twelve stanzas (st. 1,2,4, and 12). Some hymnals begin the text with these words: “Glory to Thee, my God, this night,” a line from Ken’s 1695 publication. Typical of the piety of Ken’s day, the original stanza 3 read: 604 CREATION & PROVIDENCE Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed; Teach me to die, that so I may Rise glorious at the awful day. The oldest and most popular of the traditional English evening hymns, “All Praise to You” has standard features of an evening hymn: thanksgiving for the day that is past (st. 1), penitence for sin committed (st. 2), prayer for peaceful sleep (st. 3), and confidence in God’s care and keeping (st. 1-3). The final stanza (st. 4) has become the most famous doxology in the English language (also found at 637 and 638). Thomas Ken studied at Winchester College, Hart Hall, and New College, Oxford, England. Ordained in the Church of England in 1662, he served variously as pastor, chaplain at Winchester College (1669-1679), chaplain to Princess (later Queen) Mary in The Hague, and bishop of Bath and Wells (1685-1691). He was a man of conscience and independent mind who did not shirk from confrontations with royalty. When King Charles II came to visit Winchester, he took along his mistress, the famous actress Nell Gwynne. Ken was asked to provide lodging for her. The story is told that Ken quickly declared his house under repair and had a builder take off the roof! He later was dismissed from the court at The Hague when he protested a case of immorality. Then, later in 1688, Bishop Ken refused to read King James H’s Declaration of Indulgence in the churches, which granted greater religious freedom in England, and he was briefly imprisoned in the Towe

Hymnal Appearances

• Christian Worship: Hymnal — 788
• Christian Worship — 592
• Baptist Hymnal — 319
• Chalice Hymnal — 556
• Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 565
• Glory to God — 662
• The Hymnal 1982 — 43
• Lutheran Book of Worship — 278
• Lutheran Service Book — 883
• Lift Up Your Hearts — 77
• Lutheran Worship — 484
• New Century Hymnal — 103
• Psalter Hymnal — 441
• Trinity Hymnal — 163
• The Lutheran Hymnal — 558
• United Methodist Hymnal — 682
• Voices Together — 839

Liturgical Use

A fine evening hymn well suited to the close of evening worship; midweek prayer meetings; Old Year’s Eve services (“night” would then be used in the figurative sense).

Bulletin Note

Thomas Ken (1637–1711) wrote this evening hymn for daily household worship. Its tune, Tallis Canon, carries the solemnity of medieval English cathedral tradition into personal prayer, making corporate worship portable and intimate.

Preaching Connection

This hymn transforms the Gospel's promise of God's protective grace into lived devotion, answering the Law's exposure of our helplessness with the comfort of daily, moment-by-moment reliance on Christ's finished work.

Background Research

Ken's Evening Hymn, from the 1695 Winchester Manual of Prayers (see TLH 536). His first line was 'Glory to thee, my God, this night'; 'All praise to thee' is a later alteration. It was written for the Winchester scholars to sing before bed and ends with the doxology (TLH 644). The best-known line, 'Teach me to live that I may dread / The grave as little as my bed', makes going to sleep a daily rehearsal for death and resurrection. TALLIS' CANON (Tallis, c. 1567, from Archbishop Parker's Psalter) was first paired with it in 1732; it is a canon, so the tenor follows the melody a measure behind and can be sung as a round. From memory, not checked: Ken is said to have sung his hymns daily to a lute.

Sources: hymnologyarchive.com 'Three Hymns and a Doxology'.

Overview

Ken's companion to 'Awake, My Soul,' written for Winchester College. It thanks God for the day and asks for protection (st. 1), forgiveness for the day's sins so one may sleep at peace with the world, oneself, and God (st. 2), and the famous prayer to live and die well (st. 3); it asks for restful sleep for renewed service (st. 4), protection in sleeplessness (st. 5), and ends with the Common Doxology (st. 6). It parallels Luther's Evening Prayer closely.

Central theme: Evening thanks, confession, and commendation to God, rehearsing death and resurrection

Structure

Thanks and protection (1); forgiveness (2); living and dying (3); sleep (4); night watches (5); doxology (6).

Law & Gospel Shape

Law in 'the ill that I this day have done'; Gospel in forgiveness 'for Thy dear Son.'

Confessional Connections

Luther's Evening Prayer: 'forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong… into Your hands I commend myself.' Fifth Petition. Forgiveness for Christ's sake (AC IV).

Liturgical Use (Study Notes)

Evening prayer; Compline; family devotion; funerals (st. 3).

Historical Notes

Ken (1637-1711) told the Winchester boys to sing it in their rooms at night. His doxology (st. 6) became the Common Doxology.

About the Tune

TALLIS' CANON (Thomas Tallis, 1567) — a round in which tenor follows soprano at the octave.

Scripture References

Ps 91:4 Ps 17:8 Eph 4:26 Matt 6:12 Ps 90:12 1 Thess 4:13-16 Ps 4:8 Ps 63:6 Eph 6:12

Stanza by Stanza

Themes

Evening prayer and thanksgiving Divine providence Trust in God's care Doxology

Look Further

• Search Hymnary.org for "All Praise to Thee My God This Night" ↗