“Lord, Hear Us for Our Native Land” (also known by its incipit, “Lord while for all mankind we pray”) was written by the Rev. John Reynell Wreford (1800-1881), an English Unitarian minister, in honor of the accession of Britain’s Queen Victoria to the throne in 1837. It was published that same year in his “Lays of Loyalty,” a collection of poetry commemorating both the passing of King William the Fourth and the accession of the then-18-year-old Victoria.
Fitting for national celebrations, Wreford’s text speaks of a nation’s humility before God and reliance on His providence and blessing. This new tune and arrangement for unison voices and organ is reminiscent of “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (being in the same 8.6.8.6 meter), with triplet fanfares that echo the American national hymn, “God of Our Fathers.”
Lord, while for all mankind we pray
Of every clime and coast,
O hear us for our native land,
The land we love the most.
O guard our shores from every foe;
With peace our borders bless;
With prosperous times our cities crown,
Our fields with plenteousness.
Unite us in the sacred love
Of knowledge, truth, and thee;
And let our hills and valleys shout
The songs of liberty.
Lord of the nations, thus to thee
Our country we commend;
Be thou her refuge and her trust,
Her everlasting friend.
Unison voices/organ score (4 pages, 8.5×11″) — $2.00 USD/copy
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