Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
The one most Lutherans can sing without opening the book.
The words are public domain. We print a hymn only after checking it word for word against a dated old printing, and this one hasn’t been checked yet. Hymnary has it now.
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” at HymnaryAbout this hymn
If you ask a congregation to name a hymn, this is often the one. It is the hymn most requested at funerals and the one most likely to be sung well by a room that has not practised.
The reason is partly the tune, which rises where you expect it to, and partly that the text asks nothing complicated. It is praise without argument. There is no petition in it and nothing to work out.
Any season. Especially useful on a day when the congregation is tired and needs to sing something it already knows by heart.
For musicians and planners
| Words | Joachim Neander, 1680 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Translation | Catherine Winkworth, 1863 | Public domain |
| Tune | LOBE DEN HERREN · Anonymous; Stralsund Gesangbuch (Ernewerten Gesangbuch, Part II), 1665, 1665 | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against hymnary.org text, tune and person pages (attribution and rights only)
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.