From 1 Chron. 29:14.
This is one of the mostly widely used offertory responses, usually sung by a congregation during the consecration of the offering.
The setting of the words is significant in its conception of the spirit of sacrifice and worship. David was assembling the material with which Solomon might build the temple. The people and leaders brought their gifts, all voluntarily, with no mention of a tithe or temple tax. Gratitude for what God had done for them stirred their generosity and they counted it a privilege to give back to God what came to them from His hand.
MUSIC. The tune is an arrangement from Beethoven. The work from which it comes has not been identified.
For comments on Ludwig van Beethoven see [Hymn 10].
BENEDICTIONS
613. May the grace of Christ our Savior
John Newton, 1725-1807
A metrical version of the apostolic benediction in II Cor. 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” The hymn has been translated into several languages. For more than 100 years the weekly meeting of the Presbyterian ministers in New York City closed with the singing of these words.
MUSIC. DORRNANCE first appeared in The Choral, 1845, by Isaac B. Woodbury and Benj. F. Baker.