This text is from a publication called the Sarum Primer, originally published in 1514. I haven’t been able to find much about the history of this book. Anyone out there have more info??
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God Be In My Head and In My Understanding
God be in my head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and in my parting.
I love the piano and the flowing quality of the melody. It sounds like you’re on a boat. I’ve read these lyrics somewhere, but don’t remember having sung them. Thanks for the remake!
Should the final word of this hymn be “departing” rather than “parting”?
Thanks for checking out Hymns of the Weak. I came across several variations of the text when I started writing. You could definitely be right that “departing” is the original. I used a version I found on hymnary.org. Thanks again for listening.
There seems to be an awful lot of uncertainty about this beautiful hymn. Many hymn books attribute it to Pynson’s Horae (praise for each hour of the day) of 1514. Richard Pynson was a publisher who did publish religious works but I could not find an “Horae” in a catalogue of his Works for 1514.Others attribute it to a Sarum (Salisbury) primer of 1558.
Sorry is all I can do is create additional uncertainty.