The God of Abraham Praise
The God of Abraham praise
The hymn celebrates God's unchanging character and covenant promises, emphasizing the continuity between Old Testament faith and New Testament fulfillment through Christ. It particularly resonates with Lutheran emphasis on justification by faith and God's grace demonstrated through Abraham's exemplary faith.
History & Background
Written in 1772 by Methodist preacher Thomas Olivers, this hymn is based on the Jewish Yigdal Doxology and Hebrew liturgical poetry. It was first published in Olivers' collection and has become one of the most beloved expressions of Abrahamic faith in Christian hymnody.
This text is based on a Jewish doxology of thirteen articles formulated by Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) in the latter part of the twelfth century. A fourteenth-century metrical version of that doxology, YigdalElohim (“magnify the Lord”), is traditionally used in daily morning synagogue services and during the Sabbath eve in Jewish family worship. That version is variously attributed to Daniel ben Judah or to Immanuel ben Solomon, both of whom lived in Rome. After hearing the Jewish cantor Meyer Lyon 796 THE NEW CREATION sing this Yigdalin the Duke’s Place Synagogue, London, Scripture References England, Thomas Olivers (b. Tregynon, Montgomeryshire, st. l=Ex. 3:6,15 England, 1725; d. London, England, 1799) prepared an English Dan. 7:9,13, 22 paraphrase in twelve stanzas (around 1770). About his para st. 2 — Gen. 22:16-17 phrase, Olivers reportedly said, “I have rendered it from the Mal. 3:6 Hebrew, giving it, as far as I could, a Christian character, and I st. 3 = Rev. 22:1-2 have called on Leoni [the cantor Lyon] who has given me a st. 4 = Jer. 23:6 synagogue melody to suit it.” Jer. 33:16 Orphaned at the age of four, Olivers was negligently cared st. 5 = Isa. 6:3 for by various relatives and received very little formal education. Rev. 4:8-11 He worked as a cobbler but lived such a scandalous life that he was forced to leave his hometown. However, his life changed drastically after he was converted by a George Whitefield sermon on the text “Is not this a branch plucked out of the fire?” (Zech. 3:2). At first a follower of Whitefield, Olivers joined John and Charles Wesley in 1753. He served as an itinerant Methodist preacher, traveling one hundred thousand miles on horseback through much of England, Scotland, and Ireland until 1777. He became editor of the Arminian Magazine in 1775, but John Wesley dismissed him in 1789 because of flagrant printing errors and the insertion of articles that Wesley did not approve. Olivers wrote only a few hymns, of which “The God of Abraham Praise” is most well-known. His text with Leoni’s tune was published as a leaflet, “A Hymn to the God of Abraham,” in 1772. The hymn was also published byJohn Wesley in his Sacred Harmony (1780) and in 1830 in Joshua Leavitt’s popular American frontier hymnal The Christian Lyre . It appears in most modern hymnals (but should not be confused with another hymnic translation of the TzgzWthat begins, “Praise to the living God,” by Max Landsberg, Newton Mann, and William Gannett). The Psal
Hymnal Appearances
- Chalice Hymnal — 24
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 797
- Glory to God — 49
- The Hymnal 1982 — 401
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 544
- Lutheran Service Book — 798
- Lift Up Your Hearts — 369
- Lutheran Worship — 450
- New Century Hymnal — 24
- Psalter Hymnal — 621
- Trinity Hymnal — 34
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 40
- United Methodist Hymnal — 116
- Voices Together — 77
Liturgical Use
As a monumental hymn of praise, especially at the close of a service; with eschatological preaching; during Advent.
Bulletin Note
Thomas Olivers' 1772 hymn adapts the Hebrew *Yigdal*, drawing directly from Jewish doxological tradition while centering Christian trust in God's eternal character and Christ's fulfillment of Abraham's covenant.
Preaching Connection
This hymn proclaims the Gospel thread running from Abraham through Christ: justification not by human achievement but by God's faithful promise, inviting the sermon to show how His covenant grace reaches every believer.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- Of Justification Augsburg Confession
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: From God's eternal nature and covenant promise through individual faith and ascension to corporate heavenly praise
Themes
God's sovereignty and covenant faithfulness Trinitarian praise God's eternal nature Abraham's faith and legacy Praise and adoration