Father of all, whose laws have stood

Within living memory the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17) were not only public features, by law, of the interior of a Church of England place of worship, and taught as a matter of course, and with application, to younger church members; they were also recited aloud (with due responses) near the beginning of the Prayer Book service of the Lord’s Supper. Even this last custom has been widely abandoned except by evangelical clergy who have not capitulated to antinomianism or the demand for brevity. So for many, these ‘ten words’ of Moses, frequently quoted in the Gospels and Epistles, are often referred to, seldom read, hardly known and rarely obeyed. But as Brian Edwards writes, ‘The greatest thing about the Ten Commandments is that they are there at all. Even the very law that condemns me as a sinner and reveals how short I fall is a massive token of God’s grace’ (The Ten Commandments for Today, 1996/2002).

Older hymns and current children’s songs have attempted to paraphrase God’s law in metre, as has the Canadian W Helder in Hear how the Lord on Sinai’s mountain (1979), but it is all the more useful to place David Mowbray’s text among the hymns, itself a signpost to these God-given ‘signposts’ he refers to. He wrote it in Broxbourne, Herts (where he was vicar), in 1977, to fill what to him was a clear gap in themes. This ‘seemed a challenge worth taking up, especially if [the commandments] could be linked with a NT refrain. And suddenly these words from Ephesians 3 came to mind’—DM.

He made it no.1 (of 53) in the first of his homegrown collections Kingdom Come; it was then published in HTC and elsewhere. While Praise! was being prepared, the author agreed to 3 changes which by an oversight did not all reach publication here. 3.3 substituted ‘parents’ for ‘partners’, which by then had often come specifically to mean unmarried couples living together, permanently or not. 3.4 changed ‘grow in confidence’ (very important) to ‘learn obedience’ (even more so, as a source of security: Ephesians 6:1). And 4.1 moved from ‘May bitter hearts fresh mercy feel’, to ‘… murderous … no anger feel’, as moving closer to Exodus 20:13 and Matthew 6:21ff. Some of these changes were suggested by Christopher Hayward, then on the Oak Hill College staff.

Henri F Hémy’s tune ST CATHERINE is one of at least 5 using that name, and to add to the confusion has itself acquired others including TYNEMOUTH, reflecting the NE home of its probable composer (he edited the book and is usually credited with the tune). It was published in London in Crown of Jesus Music, 1864, and has since been in demand for several hymns. There are several ‘St Catherines’ in the RC list from which the composer may have drawn. As for other tunes, the author recommended MELITA (915); .HTC chose Norman Cocker’s RYBURN, while ST MATTHIAS (79) is another option.

b Wallington, Surrey 1938. Dulwich Coll; Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge (MA); Clifton Theological Coll, Bristol (BD). Ordained (CofE) 1963, he served parishes in Northampton (as curate), Watford (lecturer), Broxbourne (Herts, as incumbent), Hertford and (from 1991) Darley Abbey, Derby, until retirement to Lincoln in 2004. His hymnwriting began in 1978 while on a month’s residential clergy conference at Windsor Castle, where 2 of his texts were immediately sung in St George’s Chapel. This was followed by ‘a great burst of writing’ for some 18 months. His own first words-only collections for parish and school were Kingdom Come, Kingdom Everlasting and Kingdom Within (1978–84), mainly recommending standard hymn tunes, and some 50 of these texts are now formally published, from Partners in Praise (1979) onwards. Several are in Jubilate books (6 in Come Rejoice!, 1989, 15 in Sing Glory, 1999, 5 in Carol Praise, 2006), and publications from Stainer and Bell; Come to us, creative Spirit (1979) remains his most popular, while First of the week and finest day is a rare 20thc text on a once much-loved theme (see also J Ellerton, note). Come Celebrate: contemporary hymns (2009) includes his share of 15 texts. ‘The usual flashpoint for writing is the combination of an idea plus a tune’—DM. He was a member of the words group for Sing Glory, and is probably the most outstanding contemporary hymnwriter not yet (by 2011) to have a collected volume of his texts. Nos.119B, 469, 584, 921, 1050, 1226