Revive your church, O Lord

Prayers for revival in Scripture are often memorable, as in Psalm 85:6 and Habakkuk 3:2. For much of the late 20th c the subject was the focus of much study, some prayer, but scant experience; sometimes a barometer, occasionally a bandwagon hindering hard work or hard thinking. But what exactly is to be revived, or brought back from dying or death? It seemed to both the Jubilate and Praise! editors, and others borrowing this version, that biblically it is the people of God, his church, who need such reviving, in the mode of 531 among others. This must be what the prophet Habakkuk means; Albert Midlane’s hymn, widely known as Revive thy work, O Lord, is amended accordingly. It appeared in The British Messenger in 1858, and two years later in The Evangelical Hymn Book. From here it spread to the USA, and Fanny Crosby was moved to add her own 4-line refrain, as still printed in (eg) Hymns and Psalms (1983) and The New Redemption Hymnal (1986), and which GH uses as a 2nd stz. The hymn without refrain featured in two edns of the even more churchy A&M, but dropped out in 1983. The Jubilate text is adopted here except for ‘soul-thirst’ restored at 4.2, and stz 5, omitted from HTC and other books. This version adapts 1.2 from ‘thy mighty arm make bare’; 2.2–3 from ‘this sleep’ (as in CH) and ‘quicken the …’; 3.3–4 from ‘… the Holy Ghost, our love/ for thee and thine inflame’; 4.3–4 from ‘a hunger … / our spirits to renew’; 5. from ‘give power unto …’; 6.2–4 from ‘… give Pentecostal [often ‘refreshing’] showers;/ the glory shall be all thine own,/ the blessing, Lord, be ours.’

The many tunes to which the hymn has been sung include W H Doane’s REVIVAL (=REVIVE THY WORK, 1870, with refrain); among those keeping the author’s SM are CARLISLE (198), DAY OF PRAISE (476), SILCHESTER (189), SWABIA (765) and VENICE (858). Ralph Harrison’s CAMBRIDGE (=CAMBERWELL) dates from Vol 1 of his Sacred Harmony, 1784. It features 3 times in CH, but not with this hymn; it often accompanies Watts or Wesley texts. Both tune-names have been used by other composers or editors; neither is explained in this case, but for identification Harrison’s name should normally be attached to his.

b Carisbrooke nr Newport, Isle of Wight, Hants 1825, d Newport, 1909. Following a printing apprenticeship he joined his father as a tinsmith and ironmonger, later to run his own business in Newport IoW. He belonged to the St James’s Street Congregational Ch, where he was encouraged by his Sunday School teacher and wrote his first hymn at the age of 17, before joining the Strict (or Closed) Brethren at 23. Among them he became known as ‘the poet-preacher’; John Andrews describes him as ‘moderate Exclusive’ who wrote too much. His first hymn, written at Carisbrooke Castle, was published in The Youth’s Magazine in 1842. He was to write at least 500 (Gordon Taylor, following David Sale, says ‘more than 1000’; elsewhere the figure 1100 is quoted), many for children and for Sunday School use, publishing these over a period in 6 volumes. Some also appeared in The Gospel Hall Hymn Book of 1904; that year also saw the arrival of The Bright Blue Sky Hymn Book (with 315 of his hymns) and a broadsheet of 7 hymns for Jewish Children, connected with the Mildmay Mission to the Jews. The ‘bright blue sky’ is a phrase from line 2 of There’s a Friend for little children (1859) which enjoyed wide popularity for a century and is still in use, often much-revised (as in HTC). It was sung by 3000 children in St Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate its ‘jubilee’ in 1909, with a similar event in Newport IoW in its author’s presence not long before his death. Julian devotes 3 full columns to Midlane’s work, which dealt more in practical applications (including gospel invitations) than with doctrine. It was also favoured by C B Snepp (see under F R Havergal) and C H Spurgeon, who chose 24 of his hymns for Our Own Hymn Book (1866). Carisbrooke Castle houses a museum containing some Midlane memorabilia including photos etc. No.540.