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Thy Way, not Mine, O Lord

Representative Text

1 Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
however dark it be;
lead me by thine own hand,
choose out the path for me.

2 Smooth let it be or rough,
it will be still the best;
winding or straight, it leads
right onward to thy rest.

3 I dare not choose my lot;
I would not if I might:
choose thou for me, my God,
so shall I walk aright.

4 The Kingdom that I seek
is thine; so let the way
that leads to it be thine,
else I must surely stray.

5 Take thou my cup, and it
with joy or sorrow fill,
as best to thee may seem;
choose thou my good and ill.

6 Choose thou for me my friends,
my sickness or my health;
choose thou my cares for me,
my poverty or wealth.

7 Not mine, not mine, the choice
in things or great or small;
be thou my guide, my strength,
my wisdom, and my all.

Source: CPWI Hymnal #480

Author: Horatius Bonar

Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >

Thy way, not mine [ours] O Lord. H. Bonar. [Resignation.] Appeared in his Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st Series, 1857, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. It is sometimes given as, "Thy way, not ours, O Lord"; and as Father, Thy way, not mine." There is also an adaptation in three stanzas, beginning, "My portion, Thou! my cup," in the American Church Pastorals, 1864. The original is in extensive use in most English-speaking countries.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

Thy way, not mine [ours] O Lord. H. Bonar. [Resignation.] Appeared in his Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st Series, 1857, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. It is sometimes given as, "Thy way, not ours, O Lord"; and as Father, Thy way, not mine." There is also an adaptation in three stanzas, beginning, "My portion, Thou! my cup," in the American Church Pastorals, 1864. The original is in extensive use in most English-speaking countries.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Media

The Book of Common Praise: being the hymn book of The Church of England in Canada (revised 1938) #546b
The Cyber Hymnal #6992
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book: for the service of song in the house of the Lord #265e

Instances

Instances (201 - 300 of 402)
Page Scan

Select Songs for the Singing Service #189

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Select Songs for the Sunday School #189

Showalter's Gospel Songs No.3 #d95

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Singing on the Way #134b

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Songs for the Chapel #50

Songs for the New Life #d663

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Songs for the Sanctuary, or Hymns and Tunes for Christian Worship #993

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Songs for the Sanctuary; or Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (Baptist Ed.) #993

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Songs for the Sanctuary; or, Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship (Words only) #993

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Songs for the Sanctuary #993

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Songs for the Sanctuary #993

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Songs for the Sanctuary #993

Songs for the School #d174

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Songs for the Service of Prayer #262

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Songs for the Service of Prayer #388

Songs of Christian Praise with Music #d578

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Songs of Life #25

Songs of Salvation. Work songs #d204

Songs of Saving Power #d213

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Songs of the Christian Life #282a

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Songs of the Christian Life #282b

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Songs of the Church #591

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Songs of the Covenant #161

Songs of the Soul #d149

Songs of the Soul #d170

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Songs of the Soul #533

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Songs of Victory #202

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Songs of Victory #299

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Songs of Work and Worship #152

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Songs of Worship #144

Spiritual hymns of worship #d486

Student Volunteer Hymnal #d96

Student Volunteer Hymnal #d94

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Sursum Corda #587a

Page Scan

Sursum Corda #587b

Sweet Hosannahs for the Sunday School #d56

Temple Chimes #d254

The A. M. E. Zion Hymnal #330

The Alleluia #d238

The American Hymnal #d621

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The Assembly Praise Book #93

The Baptist Hymn and Praise Book #d505

Page Scan

The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book for Public Worship #691

Page Scan

The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book, for Public Worship #234.691

Page Scan

The Baptist Hymn Book #691

Page Scan

The Baptist Hymnal, for Use in the Church and Home #431

The Baptist Hymnal #431

The Baptist Hymnal. Shaped notes ed. #d597

The Best Loved Hymns and Prayers of the American People #119a

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The Best Standard Songs #55

The Book of Common Praise #d620

The Book of Common Praise #546a

ScoreAudio

The Book of Common Praise #546b

Page Scan

The Book of Common Praise #654

The Book of Praise #d385

The Book of Praise #506a

The Book of Praise #506b

The Book of Praise #511

The Book of Praise for Church, School and Home #149

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The Book of Praise for Sunday Schools #149

The Book of Praise #d812

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The Book of Worship #60

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The Calvary Selection of Spiritual Songs #385

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The Canadian Baptist Hymn Book #423

The Canadian Baptist Hymnal for the use of Churches and Families #d647

The Canadian Hymnal #144

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The Canadian Hymnal #144

The Canadian Hymnal #144

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The Catholic Hymnal #212

The Centennial Hymnal #d410

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The Chapel hymn book, with tunes #518

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The Chapel Hymnal #261

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The Chapel Hymnal #261

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The Chapel Hymnal with Tunes #120

The Children's Hymnal #d269

The Chilton Music for Standard Hymns #d118

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The Christian Hymn Book #913

The Church Hymnal #d450

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The Church Hymnal with Canticles #254a

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The Church Hymnal with Canticles #254b

TextPage Scan

The Church Hymnal #557

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The Church Hymnal #632a

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The Church Hymnal #632b

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The Church Hymnal #632a

Page Scan

The Church Hymnal #632b

The Church Hymnal #d442

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The Church Hymnal #396

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The Church Hymnary #285

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The Church Hymnary #645

The Church of God Selection of Spiritual Songs for the Church and Choir #d921

Page Scan

The Church Praise Book #468

The Church-Book #d465

Page Scan

The Clifton Chapel Collection of "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs" #635

Page Scan

The Cokesbury Hymnal #110

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The College Hymnal #430

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #6992

Page Scan

The Day School Hymn Book #137

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The Emory Hymnal #328

Pages

Exclude 390 pre-1979 instances
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