God is working his purpose out

1.
God is working his purpose out as year succeeds to year.  
God is working his purpose out, and the time is drawing near.  
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

2.
From utmost east to utmost west, where human feet have trod,
by the mouth of many messengers goes forth the voice of God,
"Give ear to me, ye continents, ye isles, give ear to me,
that the earth may be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

3.
March we forth in the strength of God,
With the banner of Christ unfurled,
that the light of the glorious gospel of truth may shine throughout the
world.  Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin to set the captives free,
that the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

4.
All we can do is nothing worth unless God blesses the deed.  
Vainly we hope for the harvest-tide till God gives life to the seed.  
Yet nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

Words:  Arthur C. Ainger, 1894, Church Missionary Hymn Book, 1899, alt.
   Tune:  Martin Shaw, Enlarged Songs of Praise, 1931
                   

            God's kingdom is coming! It is expressed in this text with such confidence as to be a nearly inexorable fact. In their speaking and their serving, God's people will be its messengers, but God alone can "give life to the seed." The final line of each stanza comes from Habakkuk 2:14: "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." A similar passage appears in Isaiah 11:9. These prophetic assurances came at times when oppression was at its heaviest and God's purpose seemed obscured.

            Written while Ainger was a teacher at Eton College in England, this text was dedicated to Archbishop Edward White Benson. In stanza 2:1-2, "Where'er man's foot hath trod" is changed to "where human feet have trod." Stanza 3 of the original five has been omitted. It asks:
    What can we do to work God's work, to prosper and increase
    the brotherhood of all mankind, the reign of the Prince of peace?
    What can we do to hasten the time, the time that shall surely be,
    when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
    as the waters cover the sea?

            Composed for this text, the splendid melody of PURPOSE reflects the style of some English folk tunes. It is also one of the few hymn tunes composed as a canon (round). It should be sung "in moderate time. With breadth" (Enlarged Songs of Praise). When Ainger's text was first published in leaflet form, it appeared with the tune BENSON, by Millicent D. Kingham.

from Hymnal Companion

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