O God of Love, Give Peace Again

Written by Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877) and titled "The Lord Shall Give His People the Blessing of Peace," the text of "O God of Love, Give Peace Again" was published in the 1861 edition of the landmark English hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern. Baker, who is perhaps best remembered for his hymn "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," was chairman of the committee that prepared that hymnal. Because war is a constant in the world, Baker's text is always relevant. Stanza 1 is an entreaty that God would "make wars throughout the world to cease." Stanza 2 asks that God recall his "works of old," for only by God's hand can peace be given again. Stanza 3 extends this thought by asking "Whom shall we trust but thee, O Lord? Where rest but on thy faithful word?" and noting that "none ever called on Thee in vain." A fourth verse, omitted in some hymnals, ends on the hopeful note that as saints and angels are bound "in holy love," so we might also be bound to them and to one another in love and peace. In this original setting of Baker's text, stanza 1 is sung by unison voices, stanza 2 by unison women, stanza 3 by unison men, and stanza 4 in parts following a recapitulation of the introduction and a modulation to the relative major key.