I’ve got another of Fanny Crosby‘s hymns selected for this week’s addition to my series, Then Sings My Soul: The Hymns of My Youth. “To God be the Glory” was written in 1875, with music by W. Howard Doane. With this hymn, the sound of the organ swells in my ears. In my youth, we sang this hymn a lot, and it was one of those hymns that seemed to get an extra bit of “oomph” out of a congregation’s singing voices. I remember enjoying the melody of the verses and the way the chorus took off in a boisterous manner.

Many of us whose childhoods included a vast array of hymns will recall skipping verses from most of the hymns we sang each Sunday, but this was not one of them. True, there were only three verses, but the hymn being one of the favorites, I think we sang each of them for all they were worth. Just one thing, through the eyes of a youngster: “Transport”? What’s that all about? —Never mind, here comes the chorus again…

To God be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain