God Is Working His Purpose Out
"God Is Working His Purpose Out" is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1894 by Arthur [Campbell Ainger] as a tribute to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson. The original music for the hymn was written at the same time by Millicent D. Kingham but a number of other pieces of music have been used for the hymn in recent times.
History
In 1894, Ainger was a Master at Eton College, where he had a reputation for being a fair teacher and had the respect of his pupils for a reasonable approach to discipline at the school. As the son of a vicar, he had written a number of songs and hymns for the school in English and in Latin. Ainger wrote "God Is Working His Purpose Out" as a tribute to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson, who was a former Master at Rugby School and headmaster at Wellington College. it was also written as a hymn for the boys of Eton. The hymn was first published in a leaflet with a tune composed by Kingham titled "Benson"."God Is Working His Purpose Out" was then published nationwide in the Church of England's "Church Missionary Hymn Book". It also started to be published within public school hymnals, however when it was published in "Public School Hymn Book" the tune was changed from "Benson" to a newly commissioned tune titled "Alveston". Some modern hymn books also do not use "Benson" as the tune, instead using "Purpose", written by Martin Shaw in 1953. although Common Praise continues to do so.
Scripture
"God Is Working his Purpose Out"'s refrain is based on Habakkuk 2:14; "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea." The hymn references God being always at work to realize his will for the world and for humanity. It also references Philippians 2:12–13 in that God works in humanity to act according to his purpose.Lyrics
The lyrics for the hymn were written by Ainger.
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Additional Verse.