E WOLE FOBA

Words: Robert Grant

E wole f'Oba, Ologo julo E korin ipaati ife Re Alabo wa ni, at'Eni Igbani O n gbenu ogo, Eleru ni iyin E so tipa Re, e so t'ore Re 'Mole laso Re, gobi Re orun B'ara ti n san ni keke ibinu Re Ipa ona ni a ko si le mo Aye yii pelu ekun re gbogbo Olorun, agbara Re lo da won O fi idi re mule, ko si le yi O si f'okun se oja igbaya re Itoju Re wa lara gbogbo won Ninu afefe, ninu imole Itoju Re wa nin'odo ti o n san O si wa ninu iri ati ojo Awa erupe, aw'alailera 'Wo la gbekele, O ki o da ni Anu Re ronu, o si le de opin Eleda, Alabo, Olugbala wa. 'Wo Alagbara, Onife julo B'awon angeli, ti nyin O loke Be lawa eda Re, niwon ta le se A o ma juba Re, a o ma yin O

Oh, worship the King, all-glorious above, Oh, gratefully sing His pow’r and His love; Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise. Oh, tell of His might, oh, sing of His grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space; His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm. Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light; It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail; Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

Sir Robert Grant was a busy man of the world--too busy to concern himself with hymns, you might think. He had been born in India in 1779, the son of the East India Company's director, Charles Grant, a man associated with the Clapham Sect (a group of evangelical social reformers from Clapham, England).

Born in the colonies Robert may have been, but it was in Magdalen College at the University of Oxford that he completed his higher education. He was admitted to the bar in 1807--which meant he could practice law. The following year, the 29-year-old won a seat in Parliament.

He remained in Parliament for many years. Like his father, he was deeply concerned with social issues. Through his persistent efforts a bill was eventually passed which emancipated England's Jews. He fought for other minority groups, too. In the meantime, he was a strong supporter of world missions and influential among evangelicals in the Church of England. He sketched a history of the East India Company. Yet somehow, he found time to write hymns.

In fact, he wrote a hymn which is considered one of the greatest in the English language. Reading William Kethe's translation of Psalm 104 in a 1561 psalm book prompted Robert to write his own version of the psalm, familiar to millions of church-goers.

--Source