I bow before the God of matchless care

This is the first, and briefest, of the 18 texts by Martin Leckebusch chosen for Praise! An overlapping selection of 14 appears in Sing Glory which was in preparation at the same time and published a few months earlier. Like several in both books, this one appears here for the first time in a major hymnal, having been included earlier in his own first collection More than Words (Kevin Mayhew, 2000). The metre is meticulously noted there as ‘10 12 14 14 10 14 15 11’. Like others in this section, it reflects an awareness of the greatness of God combined with his personal and fatherly love; written in April 1993, it arose from a time of particular family sadness. 9 years on it remained the author’s only single-stz text; during revision he considered adding a 2nd stz ‘but decided it was complete in itself’. As well as the NT Scriptures he had in mind, he also points to Isaiah 40:12 and Zechariah 3:5. The tune MATCHLESS CARE was composed for this text by Linda Mawson while the book was being compiled. ‘Many of the texts we were reviewing’, she says, ‘have stood out as an expression of my experience of the Lord and have drawn me to set them.’ The author ‘had some ideas for tunes … but was willing for us to suggest alternatives. I therefore attempted this setting, and hope that it effectively captures what Martin wished to express.’

b Leicester 1962. King Edward VII Coll, Coalville, Leics; Oriel Coll Oxford; BA/MA (Maths) 1983; Brunel Univ Middx, MSc (Numerical Analysis) 1984. He worked for 16 yrs as a Computer Systems Programmer, followed by 5 as Support Specialist. In 2006 he was redirected to the role of Technical Design Authority for the IBM mainframe platform within Lloyds TSB. He has belonged to various CofE and Free Churches, including 6 yrs as a Methodist Local Preacher (1992–1998); currently a member of Kendal Rd Baptist Ch, Longlevens, Gloucester since 2001. His hymn-writing began in 1987; 144 hymn texts were collected in More than Words, 2000, some of which had appeared in earlier books including NewStart (1999, 6 hymns in a total of 71), Sing Glory (14 hymns), and Praise! A collection of 150 texts based on the Psalms, for singing to well-known tunes, appeared in 2006, giving a total of 275 texts by then in print. 6 of these are in Carol Praise (2006). In that year he also joined the Text Advisory Group (TAG) of Jubilate Hymns which he later chaired, and he also consults regularly with representatives of the more informal songwriters; he is active in the Hymn Soc, and lives with his family in Gloucester. In the 2005 edn of A Panorama of Christian Hymnody, which features 2 of his texts, Paul A Richardson notes their ‘conservative theology, biblical imagery and structural ingenuity’, adding that ML ‘advocates a restoration of hymnody in traditional forms to those who, like him, are in the charismatic wing of the church’. He is also keen to explore some issues often neglected by contemporary writers. By 2010, which saw the publication of a further collection Never Let the Songs End, the total number of his hymns had exceeded 400. Nos.270, 278, 285, 322, 381, 586, 604, 665, 756, 770, 771, 841, 856, 882, 892, 926, 936, 942, 1023, 1029, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1139, 1140, 1141, 1142, 1167, 1168, 1170, 1171, 1173, 1176, 1177, 1182, 1194, 1196, 1197, 1202, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1217, 1240, 1243.