O Worship the Lord
SDAH-006SDAH Hymn #6 — "O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness" was written by John S.B. Monsell in 1863 and published in his collection Hymns of Love and Praise for the Church's Year. Monsell paraphrased Psalm 96:9 — "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth" — and shaped it into four stanzas inviting the worshipper to bring gold of obedience, incense of lowliness, truth, and love as offerings at God's shrine. The tune WAS LEBET, WAS SCHWEBET (also called MORGENGLANZ DER EWIGKEIT in some sources) is an anonymous German melody from the Rheinhardt manuscript of 1754 — a setting whose long, dignified phrases match Monsell's vision of unhurried, attentive worship. The Twi translation appears as Hymn #6 in the Twi SDA Hymnal under the title "O Monsom Aw'Rade 'Hokeka."
Psalm 96:9; 1 Chronicles 16:29
Psalm 96:9 — "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: tremble before him, all the earth." Monsell expands the psalm into a meditation on what the worshipper brings to God: not wealth or eloquence, but obedience, lowliness, truth, and love.
Stately 3/4 — let the long note values breathe. The four-stanza structure unfolds an offering: each verse names what to bring, and the chorale phrasing should give each gift its weight. Resist rushing the dotted figures. The harmonic stillness of WAS LEBET wants a warm, sustained legato in all parts; no part is melodic alone — the soprano carries the line but the inner voices give it ground.
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