O God of love, O King of peace

O God of love, O King of peace. Henry Williams Baker* (1821-1877). Written for the First Edition of A&M (1861), where it appeared in the section ‘In times of Trouble’. It was preceded by ‘’The Lord shall give His people the blessing of peace’ (Psalm 29: 10 in the Book of Common Prayer). It was entitled ‘War’, and was evidently intended to be sung in time of war: the last line of each verse is ‘Give peace, O God, give peace again’. Although the nation was not at war in 1861, the Crimean War of 1853-56 was a recent unhappy memory, and Baker may well have thought it necessary to provide a hymn for future need. Certainly it had a renewed relevance in the 20th century. It was retained in all...