We turn to you, O God of every nation

We turn to you, O God of every nation. Frederik Herman Kaan* (1929-2009). First sung in 1965 at the Pilgrim Church, Plymouth, of which the author was the minister. It is a hymn for United Nations Day, 24 October. It was printed in Kaan’s Pilgrim Praise (1968), and rapidly taken up by the Methodist supplement, Hymns and Songs (1969). It later appeared in MHfT (1980) and has since become widely known. The final verse is particularly effective as an image of the Holy Spirit defeating the Babel of national misunderstanding and distrust. In common with Kaan’s other hymns, it has undergone revision in the interests of providing inclusive language, and also (in this case) to remove the ‘fight’...