Blessed be God our God

Nick Needham’s second contribution (see 185) borrows its opening line, and a pattern of rhymes and repeats in a hitherto unique metre, from Horatius Bonar’s 6-stz hymn of 1857 based on the conclusion of Romans 8 (vv32ff). That earlier text featured as no.1 in the Christian Brethren book Hymns of Light and Love, 1900. Bonar’s first stz rhyme is used (Son/One, now in stz 4), but none of the others. It invites structural and metrical comparison with 285 and verbal comparison with 277, since like this latter the text is firmly based on Luke 1:68–79, though not indicated here as such. The first word accurately represents the exclamation with which Zechariah’s prophecy begins. Unlike most other paraphrases, including Michael Perry’s, it explicitly names both Abraham and John (the Baptist), whose birth has occasioned this outburst of prophetic joy after his father’s
long involuntary silence.

HEREFORD NEW is the only tune in this metre listed in the standard Hymns and Tunes Indexed by David W Perry (1980). It comes in only 3 other books included there (though CH and GH should be added), and unfortunately no source or composer is known. All these hymnals set the tune to Bonar’s text, as does the earlier Golden Bells (1st edn 1890, the year after Bonar’s death). All this may suggest that words and music were intended for each other, but which came first is not certain. Not even its name gives any clue, and no link with S S Wesley’s HEREFORD has been traced. But the tune and now the text will require careful indexing to avoid confusion.

b London 1959. Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar Sch; he was converted in 1976, and a year later read Augustine’s Confessions, which proved a life-changing experience. Edinburgh Univ 1978–87 (BD, PhD) including time at New College as student and as a teacher on Zwingli; he became the first Librarian of Edinburgh’s Rutherford House theological research centre. He taught Systematic Theology at the Scottish Baptist Coll in Glasgow for some years before moving back to N London as an Asst Baptist Pastor. From there he returned to Scotland to lecture at the Highland Theological College, Dingwall nr Inverness, and was called to pastor the Inverness Reformed Baptist Ch. He has also taught more briefly in Africa and served as an occasional consultant for Praise! His first two books were on Scottish church history; others include Thomas Erskine of Linlathen (his PhD subject, 1989), The Doctrine of the Holy Scripture in the Free Church Fathers (1990) and books on general church history, Christian experience and prayer. His major 5-volume historical work, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, was published between 1998 and 2006. The texts in Praise! were written in London from 1995 onwards; 2 of them appear also in the 2004 edn of CH. (An earlier hymn-writing Needham was the 18th-c Baptist minister John N who also adapted the hymns of others, with a brief biography and 14 texts noted in Julian.) Nos.185, 293, 638, 802, 900.