Through All the Changing Scenes of Life

Through All the Changing Scenes of Life is a hymn text by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady (1696) in C.M. meter. Found in gtg 34, luyh 97, lw 370, th 94. Sung to ST. AGNES.

The hymn embodies Lutheran confidence in divine providence and the doctrine of sola fide, emphasizing that believers' protection and deliverance depend entirely on God's faithfulness rather than human strength. It reflects the Reformation emphasis on personal trust in God's Word and care, making Psalm 34's promises of protection immediately accessible to the congregation.

History & Background

This metrical version of Psalm 34 was published in the New Version of the Psalms by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady in 1696, a pioneering English psalter that introduced more singable and theologically refined psalm paraphrases. It became widely adopted in Protestant worship and remained a staple of Lutheran hymnals throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Hymnal Appearances

• Glory to God — 34
• Lift Up Your Hearts — 97
• Lutheran Worship — 370
• Trinity Hymnal — 94
• The Lutheran Hymnal — 29
• Voices Together — 79

Bulletin Note

Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady's 1696 paraphrase of Psalm 34, born from the Reformation's emphasis on personal trust in God's Word. A hymn that turns every changing scene into an opportunity to flee to Christ.

Preaching Connection

This hymn transforms the Law's demand to 'seek the Lord' into Gospel comfort by proclaiming that seeking itself is met by a God whose nature is to deliver—making our fear and want the very place where His faithfulness becomes real.

Catechism & Confessional Connections

• Of Justification Augsburg Confession

Stanza Arc

The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Law (conviction of sin and need for God's Word) → Gospel (Christ's redemption and grace) → Sanctification (Word as guide for holy living)

Background Research

Psalm 34 from Tate and Brady's New Version of the Psalms of David (1696), which slowly displaced the Old Version (Sternhold and Hopkins) in Anglican use. Eighteen quatrains numbered to the psalm's verses, close to the KJV and Prayer Book wording; revised in the 1698 editions (the Hodgkin text is authoritative). The two authors are not separately credited. It is among the few New Version paraphrases still widely sung: 'Through all the changing scenes of life, / in trouble and in joy, / the praises of my God shall still / my heart and tongue employ', with 'O taste and see that the Lord is good' (v. 8; also the old Communion verse). Some books add the New Version's doxology. Tune WILTSHIRE by George Thomas Smart, written c. 1795 when barely 20 (for the New Version Ps 48); he revised it for Ps 34 late in life (1863), and that form was adopted by Hymns Ancient & Modern in 1875.

Sources: hymnologyarchive.com 'Through all the changing scenes'.

Overview

A paraphrase of Psalm 34 from Tate and Brady's New Version of the Psalms (1696), one of the best-loved metrical psalms in English. It vows to praise God through all life's changes (st. 1), boasts of his deliverance so the distressed may take comfort (st. 2), invites others to magnify the Lord who answered the cry of distress (st. 3), sees the angel of the Lord encamped around the righteous (st. 4), invites all to 'make but trial of His love' — 'taste and see' (st. 5) — and concludes that those who fear God need fear nothing else (st. 6).

Central theme: Lifelong praise for God's deliverance, and confidence that those who trust and fear him lack nothing

Structure

Six common-meter quatrains following Ps 34:1-10. Vow (1) — testimony (2) — invitation (3) — angelic guard (4) — taste and see (5) — fear God (6).

Law & Gospel Shape

Gospel: deliverance, rescue, angelic protection; 'He'll make your wants His care' (6).

Confessional Connections

Ps 34:8 'Taste and see that the LORD is good' — 1 Pet 2:2-3 applies it to the Word; Lutheran use hears it also of the Lord's Supper. 'Make but trial of His love! Experience will decide' should be read with that: God's goodness is tasted through his means of grace, and faith rests on the promise, not on feelings (AC V). 'Fear Him… and you will then have nothing else to fear' — the First Commandment (SC: 'fear, love, and trust in God above all things'). Angels guard believers (Ap XXI.8; Luther's Morning and Evening Prayers).

Liturgical Use (Study Notes)

General praise; Thanksgiving; times of trial; Trinity season.

Historical Notes

Tate (1652-1715) and Brady (1659-1726) published the New Version of the Psalms of David (1696), which replaced the Old Version in many English churches.

About the Tune

ICH SINGE DIR (Harmonischer Liederschatz, Frankfurt, 1738).

Scripture References

Ps 34:1-10 Phil 4:11-12 2 Cor 1:3-4 Ps 50:15 Heb 1:14 2 Kgs 6:16-17 Ps 34:8 1 Pet 2:3 Prov 1:7 Matt 10:28 Matt 6:33

Stanza by Stanza

Themes

Divine providence and protection Trust in God's faithfulness God's care through trials Praise and thanksgiving

Look Further

• Search Hymnary.org for "Through All the Changing Scenes of Life" ↗
• Search IMSLP for public-domain scores of "ST. AGNES" ↗