O King of mercy, from Thy throne on high
O King of mercy, from Thy throne on high. Thomas Rawson Birks* (1810-1883).
This paraphrase of Psalm 80 is from Birks’s The Companion Psalter: or, Four hundred and fifty versions of the psalms, selected and original, for public or private worship (1874). The Psalm begins (in the Book of Common Prayer) ‘Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel’, which gives Birks his stanza 2; but the translation is very free, omitting a number of awkward verses (‘Thou hast made us a very strife unto our neighbours; and our enemies laugh us to scorn’, verse 6). In the manner of Isaac Watts*, it also turns the Psalm into a Christian statement. The result is a nine-stanza hymn of comfort and hope:
O King of mercy,...
If you have a valid subscription to Dictionary of Hymnology, please log inlog in to view this content. If you require a subscription, please click here.
MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "O King of mercy, from Thy throne on high."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 25 Jun. 2019.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/o/o-king-of-mercy,-from-thy-throne-on-high>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "O King of mercy, from Thy throne on high."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed June 25, 2019,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/o/o-king-of-mercy,-from-thy-throne-on-high.